Pastor S.G. Elton affected my life through his personal counselling. I used to be with him regularly for personal counselling and discussion after I have known him and his counsels were profound.

He also affected me through his incisive teachings. He had a deep insight into the word of God. His teachings were revolutionary, at the time.

He affected me through the prophetic grace upon his life. He prophesied so many things that looked and sounded weird in those days. For example, he prophesied that the move of God would be so strong in Nigeria there wouldn’t be enough buildings to take the crowd. Now churches are moving into the campus for the multitude of the people. He prophesied that God is going to use Nigerians to spread the Gospel all over the world. He prophesied that one day we are going to have a born-again believer as the President of Nigeria. In the seventies, it took only a prophet of the Lord to know these things.

Finally, he affected me by a specific prophetic direction I can never forget. I was in UNILAG as an Engineering and Survey student. But the hand of the Lord and His anointing upon my life was very strong. I was so committed to the preaching of the Gospel that I wanted to abandon my University education and go out to preach the gospel. That would have been a disaster. Then we hosted Pastor Elton for the first time on the campus. He stood up to preach the first night. “Some of you are under the mighty hand of the Lord. You are burning with so great a passion to serve Him that you want to abandon your University education. Don’t do it. God has a purpose in bringing you here. When He begins a matter, He also finishes it. Even if you will not use your certificate at all, yet stay and finish your course. Otherwise, in the future, people will call you a drop out. They will say it is because you cannot cope with University education that you have opted for the ministry. Stay and finish your course and God will use it to enhance your calling”. That was a word for me; I can never forget.

Pastor Elton was very simple in his lifestyle. He was accessible. He loved to draw the younger generation to himself and impact grace on them, though he was then over 70. He had a spiritual depth that is very rare. He truly walked with God.

Pastor Elton loves controversy. He loves to stir the honest nest. His teaching, were provocative and confrontational to traditional Christianity.

Towards the latter end of his life Pastor Elton exhibited a bias against organized Church system. As a matter of fact, he strongly discouraged me and several other now prominent men of God from starting ‘new’ ministries or churches. On four occasions after his counsel, I called off the idea of starting our ministry, but the Holy Spirit would just not let me rest, until one day after discussing with him I had to settle down with God, and with a heavy heart, prayed through to victory. That was the day I had a practical experience of what Romans 8:26-27 means about “praying with groaning that cannot be uttered”. It was several hours of agonizing prayer. Then came a breakthrough and a season of laughter in prayer. And The Sword of the Spirit Ministry was born contrary to Pastor Elton’s counsels. Two years later, he came to speak for me. When he saw what God had done he said, “Francis, this is the finger of God”. Thus, the leading of the Holy Ghost in my life was vindicated, and it was made clear that great prophets sometimes do make mistakes, like Samuel in the choice of a king for Israel.

I believe a good number of our colleagues in school at that time would have been doing great work for God today but for the fact that they received that counsel without praying through like I did. This is not to diminish the fact that Pa S.G. Elton was truly a great man of God and God used him mightily to shape the future of the move of the Holy Spirit in Nigeria. It is to just indicate that the best of us only know in part and prophesy in part until that which is perfect comes (I Cor. 13:9-13)

I really thank God for the life and ministry of Pa S.G. Elton. Even though he has gone into his eternal reward, we celebrate him today for what God used him to do in his 50 years sojourn in Nigeria.