Adeboye at 77: The amazing miracles

No birthday party is expected as Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) turns 77 years old. The church of millions of people worldwide will not be cutting cakes and singing his praise. He will be humble self, conducting the evening sermon of the Special Holy Ghost Congress of the church later today at the Redemption Camp. Even at that age, he will stand for hours preaching with radar-sharp alertness without any sign of fatigue.

God has used the pastor to perform any amazing miracles, and mantles he has blessed, including handkerchiefs, have been used to heal and raise the dead.

Indeed, one may not have to look far for the miracles. He is one himself.

As Vice President Yemi Osinbajo puts it, “For a man born to financially-challenged parents in the remote village of Ifewara, Osun State, who had no shoes at 18 years old, who was not a Born Again Christian until the time he was a mathematics teacher at the University of Lagos, becoming the leader of a church with a strong presence in over 198 countries (the church had only 4 parishes when he took over as General Overseer), and with over 32,000 parishes in Nigeria alone, is indeed, a miracle worth knowing.

“For this same man to remain infectiously humble, in spite of his enormous power, influence and popularity is also a miracle in itself.”

The Special Holy Ghost Service was itself birthed in a mracle.

Pastor Adeboye’s account: “In 1986, I was in London preparing the Sunday school booklet for the mission when I heard from God. He said, “Son, what do you want for your birthday?”

I was shocked. The reason I was shocked was that I didn’t know God was interested in my birthday. Secondly, I didn’t know He could be asking me about what I wanted as present.

So, I said, “Lord if that is you, please repeat the question.”

He assured me it was Him and asked again what I wanted as a birthday present.

I replied, “What I want is that all my members will get miracles.”

He asked, “Is that’s all?’

I replied, “That’s all I want.”

Then He said, “In that case when you get home, call them together and I will give them whatever they ask for.”

I needed to call the service a name, so I asked Him.

And He said, “Holy Ghost Service.”

What happened at the first Holy Ghost Service was wonderful. And when we finished, my people came to me to request that I consult God for the service to hold every year.

God granted the request.

But soon after that, members of the church suggested that I request for a monthly Holy Ghost Service. And that is why we have been holding it every month now.”

Selecting from the thousands of miracles God has used Pastor Adeboye to perform is a difficult task. The following are a few from testimonies shared by him and others.

A journalist’s Testimony

“It was a Friday in the month of August but my surgery wasn’t until the following Wednesday. The doctor had assured me I would be fine till then. So, why was the pain worsening? The devil is a liar, I said under my breath repeatedly. I would go to Camp no matter what. It was the Holy Ghost Night of the annual convention and the very first time I’d be going to this Camp I’d heard so much about. I was as determined as the pain wracking my body.

“It was a huge struggle but I made it to the Redemption Camp on Kilometre 46 on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. I was fighting back tears as I dragged myself into the first auditorium. Yes, the one that was right by the gate. Of course, by the time Baba (Adeboye) mounted the pulpit, I could no longer stand upright or even sit comfortably. I was groaning. I could not drink the water that I had bought or eat the free food that was available in the camp kitchen.

“And then came the call for all those who were ill to go to the altar. I closed one eye, left the other open to monitor the movement of Baba’s hands. I shuffled towards them….and he laid those hands on my forehead, and then lifted them, moving to the next person. And the pain disappeared, like he pulled them right out of my body. I was shocked, stunned. I held my breath, waiting for the pain to return. I mean, its disappearance was so unbelievably sudden. Is this finally what they call divine healing?

“Long story short, I returned to my seat healed, happy, changed forever, my faith in God strengthened. I did not honour the surgery appointment. The pain never returned. That was in August, 1990.

That was my first contact with Pastor Enoch AdejareAdeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

“There are many like me out there, many who see Pastor Adeboye as light, salt of the earth, a man after God’s heart. Many Christians see the old man not just as a father but as a true man of God. He has touched the lives of millions. He has made a difference in the lives of so many and their walk with God.

Culled from Funke Egbemode’s testimony in her column in the Sun Newspaper. Funke is now the Editor-in-Chief/Managing Director of The New Telegraph; and President, Nigerian Guild of Editors.

Miracle on the Bridge

Years ago, I was saved miraculously on a narrow bridge that could not take more than one vehicle at a time.  I was travelling from Ogbomosho (Oyo State, Nigeria) to Ilorin (Kwara State). We drove unto the bridge first, believing we were safe because other users would respect our right of way. An articulated lorry was coming towards us from the opposite directionand we thought that, since the driver had seen us on the bridge, he would stop for us to pass. But for one reason or the other – either his brakes failed or he just didn’t see us or whatever – he did not stop.

He was approaching us at great speed and we were on the verge of colliding because the bridge couldn’t take two vehicles side by side.

It looked as if it was time for me to goand sing with the angels in Heaven. There was no time to even think at that point. Somehow we met on the bridge, somehow we passed, and somehow we got to the other side. My driver parked by the side of the road for about five minutes. He couldn’t say anything; he was shaking like a leaf.

Thank God he didn’t look back because I was shaking too. But by the time he turned I had calmed down a little bit.

He asked, “Daddy, what happened?”

There was only one answer I could give: “God expanded the bridge.”

That is what is called a wonder. He will expand the bridge for you this year in Jesus name. Amen!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Many years ago, when we started a Bible study meeting at the University of Ibadan (South-West Nigeria), we were only five people in number. It started in the house of one of our elders- Professor Aboaba – who was a lecturer at the university. With time, many lecturers joined and when the living room could no longer accommodate us, we moved to the back yard.

One day, as we were taking our seats to begin the Bible study, it began to rain. The professor and others wanted to go inside the house, but I lifted my hand and said, “Rain, you cannot fall now.’’

On that day, it rained everywhere else in the university except for Professor Aboaba’s residence.

If there is one thing you need in life, it is to be blessed by God. When God blesses you, every element of heaven will favour you.

Prof. Fola Aboaba, is now an Elder of RCCG.

How God Revealed Redemption Camp

We used to hold our Convention in a small building, and when it was full we were contented about the attendance. Later, we had to enlarge the place but by 1982 it was so full some people had to go home because there was nowhere for them to stay.

Attendance then was something in the neighbourhood of about 3000 people, and that was full.

We needed a place, so we looked around the whole of Lagos, but didn’t find a suitable location. Then I called the group of pastors together; we sat down together, and prayed for 7 days with fasting, drinking only water in the evenings.During one of the sessions, God spoke and said,“I have prepared a camp ground for you and now that you have asked for it I will show you where it is.”  And within a couple of months, work began at the Redemption Camp.  God promised him a City year back when he was praying frantically in his one-bedroom apartment in Mushin as General Overseer.

“Son, don’t ask for a house because I have decided to build you a city,’’ God had said.

Family Siege Lifted

A young man came with a prevalent problem in his father’s family, where no little boy ever had the opportunity of knowing their father because whenever their wives were pregnant with a male child, before the baby boy was born, the father would have died. It was a siege on that family.

This young man attended one of our programmes where the word of God came that the tragedy in his father line has come to an end. He grabbed it.

When he came forward to give his testimony, he told us: “My wife became pregnant, gave birth to a boy. I am still alive.

She bore a second child, a boy, and I am still alive. The third child is also a boy and I am, still alive”.

The Pulpit Miracle

After a Holy Ghost Night in Dublin, a woman who had been barren for years joined in the rush of women to sit on the chair I had sat on so that they could be pregnant as they had heard in many testimonies. But one man took the chair away.

The woman was sad but she quickly remembered that I had used the pulpit. She then rushed to the pulpit and robbed her stomach against it. That same month she became pregnant. And when she was testifying, she showed three children – two boys and a girl – as evidence. 

Closed Womb

A couple needed a child desperately but doctors told the husband that his wife could not bear children because her womb was closed. During one of our programmes years ago, the Almighty God said, “There is somebody here who has been told you can never have a child, but you are going to have a set of twins.”

The woman jumped up and said,“Glory be to God! That must be me.”

That month, she became pregnant even though the doctor had said it was not possible. A few months after, the doctor examined her again and said, “Well I don’t understand but there is a baby in your womb, I can see it clearly.”

The woman said to the doctor, “No, no, God didn’t say one, God said twins.”

“Hmm, the one we think we are seeing, we are not even sure yet. Well come back later,” the doctor said.

She went back a month or two later. The doctor declared, “Well, there are two here.”

As the day of delivery drew near, because they were quite well to do and they didn’t want to take any risks, they went abroad for the birth.The hospital did a Caesarian operation on her. When the woman recovered, she noticed everybody looking at her as if she was from Mars.

She asked, “What is the problem, where are my babies?”

They said,“There is nothing wrong with your children, they are fine.”

“So why are you all looking at me like that?” she asked.

“Wait for the doctor,” they answered.

The doctor came and said, “I have performed about 3,000 surgeries, but this is the first time that I have delivered set of twins from a woman without a womb. No womb!”

God produced a set of twins from where there was no womb. When we are talking about God, please let’s put science aside. When we are talking about God, stop thinking of how your brain can explain things. You can never explain God. 

Transferred Healing

One of my sons was diagnosed of cancer, and his PSA, (the prostate specific antigen test that is used to help detect prostate cancer), was so high that his case was classified as terminal cancer.

In that hospital, people with such bad cases were kept in a special ward. That was where my son was also kept. As God would have it, I was visiting that country at that time. I got to the airport only to discover that my son was not among those to welcome me.

When I asked for him, they said he was at the hospital so I went there to pray for him. It was in one of those European countries where you can’t pray for anyone unless it is requested for. So I prayed for only my son and left. It was a Saturday. To cut a long story short, by Wednesday of the following week, they discharged him, completely healed.

The bigger miracle was that everybody in the ward was discharged the same day. When the Almighty God went there to heal him, the atmosphere was so charged that He healed everybody else. 

Anointed Handkerchief: Replaces Kidneys and Liver

I happened to be at home on the day a particular pastor came to my house. My son came to my room to tell me there was a pastor weeping outside. I felt it must be serious, so I went down to meet him, but by the time I arrived he had left. He, however, left behind a handkerchief and his phone number. So I asked my son to phone him to come back.

He came back and it was obvious he was very worried. I prayed over the handkerchief and I told him that his wife whom the doctors said had no hope to live, would walk back home on her own. God gave her brand new kidney and a brand-new liver.

Anointed Handkerchief: In Coma for Four Months in Dublin

On a Saturday of a Holy Ghost service in Dublin, a lady came forward to testify of how she had been in coma for four months! They couldn’t bury her because she was still breathing.

Then her pastor came from Nigeria with a handkerchief that we had anointed by waving of hands. He tied the handkerchief round her hand and stepped out. By the time he returned 30 minutes later, the lady was out of the coma.