In the evening of the second day of that crusade at Woji, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, organized by Assemblies of God (AG) Woji Section, I watched as he casually announced how many people would be healed that night and the nature of their sicknesses. And before he could finish the announcement, the people began to fall one after the other as they received their instant healing. In fact, as usual, he was helping the ushers to count those that received their healing until he got the initial numbers he announced. And he would always tell you that God will touch you whether you believe or not, that his faith and grace will override your unbelief.
In the last fifty years, millions were healed, raised, delivered, and saved by God through the uncommon apostolic and evangelistic ministry of Rev Dr. Uma Ukpai. In fact, it will take a whole library to properly document the life, activities, and ministrations of this greatest Apostle from Africa and one of the most powerful that the world has known. And the strangest thing about this man of God was that all those years, the grace, the power, the miracles, signs, and wonders, prophetic, integrity upon him did not fade for once, and also, there were no scandals trailing him. What was his secret?
Yes, the Christendom just lost one of its top generals, in fact, a field marshal who has taken the gospel with extraordinary power and grace to most nations of the world. There is no continent that did not benefit from this spectacular ministry. Even when China was too tight, he was risking his life to smuggle the gospel and Bibles into the country. He told a story of a particular day he was about going into the country and the immigration officers asked to scan his luggage. He had some copies of Bible there. He was led to start speaking in tongues and immediately, their scanning machines developed faults. They looked at him and asked him if he was a witchdoctor and quickly allowed him to go. Such strange divine presence characterized his global evangelistic operations. Those Bibles, if discovered, would have given him at least twenty years jail term in China then.
Uma Ukpai crying during a sermonSince his passing, religious and political leaders in Nigeria and beyond have been pouring tributes to the fearless, fiery preacher. Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God paid glowing tributes to Uma as he counted what he gained from the man of God. He said that from Uma Ukpai he learnt to praise God before every ministration in order to draw down the power and the presence of God. He also said that he drew strength from Uma’s experience when he (Adeboye) lost his son recently. Remember, Rev Uma Ukpai after losing his children who drowned in a river, still proceeded to preach in an already fixed evangelistic program. Dr. Daniel Olukoya of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles, on his part, asked his congregation to sing with him three of the Uma signature songs. Yes, he was a man of songs, a grateful heart. He always remembered where God picked him from.
This is the kind of relationships, integrity, respect, and influence Dr. Uma Ukpai had with other church leaders and ministries. He never discriminated. There is no denomination that he did not touch. Tell me one. He was indeed the General of the generals. That is exactly why I called him the Field Marshal!
Despite his greatness, connections, and global reach, he was still very loyal to his primary church – Assemblies of God Nigeria. True. He always prioritized AG General Council assignments. I remember once we had a national program and he was posted to preach in our Ikeja church. He excused himself from his already running program in Abuja, just to obey the AG church leadership. I took him straight from the airport that Sunday morning to the church. And when he was done, he asked us to immediately take him to the airport to catch his flight back to Abuja to continue his crusade. That was how obedient, dedicated, and loyal he was to Assemblies of God till death.
Papa Uma Ukpai was humble, original, genuine, extra intelligent, and very generous. He was an encyclopaedia of the Word of God and wisdom – ever ready to pour out scriptures, create and play with words to qualify his preaching without opening the Bible. He was a mobile Bible himself. He will also tell you that if you are not praying for at least three hours and reading chapters of the Bible daily, then you have not started as a Christian. No wonder God so anointed him above others. Yes, the Bible said that Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and that made God anoint him more than all his fellows.
Yes, strange, uncommon demonstrations of power, signs, and wonders followed Rev. Uma Ukpai’s ministry for more than five decades. Like I said earlier, it will take a library to keep the records of his ministry. He touched hundreds of millions all over the world. He went from nation to nation, city to city, denomination to denomination to preach Christ. Should we talk about the incurable sicknesses that were cured, the barren that had their babies, the possessed and cursed that were delivered, the lost that were saved, the chains of poverty that were broken, the countless ministries and ministers that he blessed, the rare demonstration of incredible divine powers, etc.? Or the scholarships, the university, the charity, and aids to the needy? The list is endless.
He was not struggling or sweating to perform miracles. Sometimes, he would still be speaking and the Spirit of God had already taken over. Like Pastor Adeboye pointed out, Rev. Uma Ukpai’s mastery of gratitude, praise, worship, and instruments helped to endear him to God. Also, remember David’s experience with these. Uma’s was a generational anointing — a generational Apostle. They were not two. He was in the order of Elijah. And that is why most people are curious about who takes over his very unusual mantle.
May the soul of our father, Rev Dr. Uma Ukpai, continue to rest in peace.
Good night, God’s Field Marshal!
Rev. Gabriel Agbo is the author of the books / audiobooks: The Power of Midnight Prayer: Unlocking spiritual forces for divine intervention, Receive Your Healing, Breaking Generational Curses: Claiming Your Freedom, Never Again!, I Shall Not Die, Move Forward, Power of Sacrifice and many others. Tel: +234-8037113283 Facebook: Gab Agbo E-mail: gabrielagbo@yahoo.com
