General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E.A Adeboye has a lot of stories to say about his past which a lot of people don’t know.
In this interview with Sunday Alabi, Adetunji Adeyombo, Tunde Opalana, Tolu Olamiriki and Taiwo Olanrewaju , he explained how he met his wife, his first encounter in RCCG, and how he used to have a lot of girlfriends.
Talking about what made him choose the work of the ministry over his teaching career, he said,
”Well, I have shared the testimony that I had a problem that all my mathematics couldn’t solve.
The problem had to do with one of my children who had a sickness that the doctors couldn’t handle and somebody referred me to the Redeemed Christian Church of God. I got there, they prayed for the child and the child was made whole. Well, they were alright, I must confess I didn’t like their mode of worship, their worship was too noisy for me. But the first
thing that attracted me to the Redeemed Christian Church of God was their sincerity and their fervour. Whatever they were doing, they were doing it with their whole heart, they were not pretending. I also saw in the faces of the leaders, they were always contented, they looked as if they had no problem in the world at all, they had peace more than anything else.
Fortunately for me, they didn’t solve the problem of my child immediately, they kept on saying I must surrender my life to Jesus Christ, I must confess my sins to Him, which irritated me to start with because I felt that I didn’t know about sin. What they were calling sin then by my own interpretation was just a way of life. We were doing everything everybody was doing. You have a wife in the house, one or two girlfriends by the side. That was what everybody was doing. But after about one month, suddenly the message penetrated and I suddenly realised that they were not asking me to surrender to any man, they were asking me to surrender to my God, my maker. I grew up in a home where you can’t call it holiness but at least where they taught us to fear God. After I grew up, particularly around the time I was about to enter the university, all these pranks became the order of the day. I remembered those days when early piety became the order of the day and I thought it was a good time really.Then I felt if what these people are saying is that I should return to those days, then why not.
I went forward, gave my life to Jesus Christ and everything changed. Everything changed since then till now.’
Talking about the first miracle God performed through him, He said,
Oh! you are talking about the first healingmiracle. The first one I can say is spectacular, because there are several others, the first was the healing of a dumb child. The mother brought the child, the child was babbling a lot, the child was eleven or twelve years old and has never spoken all her life and the mother brought her, she said this my child is dumb. I
was going to pray like any other pastor and believe that over the next weeks or months, the child will begin to talk or something. As I lay my hand on that child and I said, “In The Name of Jesus”, the child said “Amen”. This frightened me that I nearly jumped out of the window because I was not expecting the child to speak even after I have prayed and I have not prayed.
All I have said was, “In The Name of Jesus” and the child said “Amen”. Of course, the mother was on the floor rolling and there was no need to pray any more. I believe God did it that way so that I won’t take any credit for it. Not just because I prayed, but because God just wanted to perform the miracle.
When exactly was that sir?
It was a long time ago. I am sorry I cannot remember.
Furthermore, he was asked about his past relationship with girls and how he met his wife, He said,
”That is quite an interesting story, so I will tell you. I said when I was growing up, I grew up where piety was the order of the day. I can still say very proudly today that all my elder sisters, when they got married, they were virgins. That was how rigid my parents were. I was raised up like that. Then as I grow, I became a sports man, my hobby happens to be photography.
That is a dangerous combination for a young man because it opens the door to having as many girlfriends as possible. Ladies love a sportsman particularly if he is winning medals and if you are a photographer and always take pictures of women. So, I ended up having so many girlfriends to the extent that at a point in time, I didn’t even know their numbers And I have fun of giving them various days of the year as my birthday. To one girlfriend, my birthday will be January something, to another, it may be September something. The reason of course is that when I’m celebrating, only one girlfriend would show up. So, the birthday is for you as a particular person. And I expect of course on my birthday, that the girlfriend should bring a gift. When it was the turn of the lady I married, she sent me a gift. I was at
Nsukka when she was in Ibadan. She posted the gift to arrive on my birthday and it was a small parcel. As soon as I collected the parcel at the Post Office, I said ah, this one has lost. She wants to marry me an undergraduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and she is sending me this kind of a gift. Then I opened the gift and it was a New Testament Bible and two snow-white handkerchiefs. I said she has lost double now. Can you imagine sending a Bible to me on my birthday? But before that day was over, I have written off the other girls. It was as if the Bible was charmed (I’m using the word charmed the way a sinner will use it). I just found that from the Post Office to my hostel, something came over me and all of a sudden I began to remember my days when I used to be a holy boy and said this girl is calling me back to my former days, the handkerchiefs were so white and of course I knew this is the girl I would marry. I didn’t sleep that night until I have written the others to tell them sorry, no quarrel but let us go our various ways. That is how that one happened.”