[dropcap]H[/dropcap]e is known among his congregation for his powerful anointing for miracles and for saying, “Let somebody shout Hallelujah!” each time he mounts a podium. General Overseer Enoch A. Adeboye is the renowned General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God worldwide based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Adeboye is known for the millions of people that show up at his monthly Holy Ghost Service at the Redemption Campground in Lagos, Nigeria and for over four million attendees at their Annual Congress which convenes each December. The all night Holy Ghost Services of prayer, praise and preaching are also known for their manifestation of miracles – the lame are walking, blind eyes are opened, deaf ears are hearing, cancer, AIDS, and other illnesses are being healed.
Adeboye and his wife, Mrs. Foluke Adeboye, affectionately known as Mummy & Daddy G.O., are most humble and beloved leaders of the worldwide mega ministry. She is soft spoken, gracious and yielding, yet strong and matriarchal. “We live for the people”, Mummy G.O. said as she refused to shop in high priced boutiques, choosing instead to shop at a popular local clothing store and department stores as she shopped in Dallas during a previous trip. While buying a few pieces for herself, she also shopped for workers in her Lagos church. Once they chided their U.S. protocol and host pastors for providing a Maybach and Limousine for their transportation during a previous convention, instead insisting on a regular car upon their next arrival. With no pomp or circumstance, no glitz or gold, and no signs of wealth, Adeboye declares that he is the richest man in the world because he is loved and welcomed by so many. He dare not even mention wanting a pair of shoes or else he will suddenly get hundreds of new shoes.
While a meek and quiet spirit, with a voice that seems to thunder from heaven, he captivates an audience with his righteous wisdom and ability to impart conviction, love and an indomitable spirit simultaneously. Without whooping, yelling, or moving away from the podium except to pray for the people, Adeboye etches the Word of God from the pages of the Bible into hearts and minds wherever he ministers. With a mixture of scriptures, testimony, skillful delivery, and sheer genius he draws hundreds, thousands and millions to the Master’s table.
Born on March 2, 1942, at Ifewara in Osun state, Nigeria, young Enoch grew up lacking the good things of life. His parents were so poor that today he looks back and says the day his father bought an umbrella; they jubilated as though an expensive car was purchased. For the first 17 years of his life, he never wore shoes. He walked around with his bare feet because his family could not afford to buy him any thing. Although his mother did not have much to give her son, she prayed prophetic prayers on him on a daily basis declaring that the Lord will multiply everything he touches. It is obvious her prayers were not in vain because today, Adeboye can afford anything money can buy and the Lord has multiplied everything around him beyond his wildest imagination. There is no kind of gift people have not sown into his life. From Rolls Royces to houses and money, Adeboye is known to turn around and sow the gifts in the lives of other people.
By the grace of God, the assistance of his mother and a sympathetic school principal who let him attend school without his school fees, Adeboye managed to be educated. Although the circumstance surrounding his education was extremely difficult, he remained an “A” student from elementary school to university level. The material wealth his parents lacked was replaced by an outstanding academic performance that paved the way for a life that was no longer plagued by lack.
Armed with a Masters degree in Hydrodynamics and a PhD in applied Mathematics, Adeboye launched his career as a Teacher and later a Lecturer of Mathematics. His ambition was to become the youngest Vice-Chancellor in Africa. But the Lord had a better plan for him.
A problem arose in his life that needed divine intervention. His uncle invited him for the first time to a Pentecostal denomination called The Redeemed Christian Church of God. The church was founded in 1952 by Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, an uneducated man with an uncommon anointing.
Adeboye felt the presence of God in the congregation and gave his life to Christ on July 29, 1973. He became a worker in the church and was ordained a pastor on September 14, 1975. He later became the official English translator for Rev. Akindayomi, whose messages were preached in only the Yoruba language (one of the dialects in Nigeria).
In the early 1970’s God had told Rev. Akindayomi that his successor, who was not yet a member of the church, would be a young educated man. Thus, when a young university lecturer called Enoch Adeboye joined the church in 1973, he recognized him in the Spirit as the one whom the Lord had spoken of.
One day the Lord revealed to Rev. Akindayomi that it was time for him to die. He sent for G.O. Adeboye and spent several hours with him, sharing the details of the covenant and the plans of the Lord for the church. Interestingly, the Lord had revealed to Pastor Adeboye one year before that he would be Rev. Akindayomi’s successor. He pushed the revelation away because of the tremendous responsibility involved.
On November 2, 1980, Rev. Akindayomi went to be with the Lord and Adeboye who was thirty eight years old at the time, was appointed as the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. He turned in his resignation and dropped his chalk as a university lecturer to pick up a microphone and become a full time mouthpiece of the Lord.
In 1981, there was an explosion of growth in the number of parishes of The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria. Today, the 40 parishes Adeboye resumed office with in 1980 have become 2000 parishes in Nigeria and more than three thousand in London, Rome, Russia, Poland, Holland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Brazil, India, Dubai, Kuwait, Egypt, Haiti, Jamaica, Australia, and in many others countries and cities around the world, including 300 churches currently in North America.
Holiness, righteousness, and worship of God in spirit and in truth through Christ Jesus have remained the simple tenants of the church since its birth in 1952. As well as their powerful prayers, festive praise, and positive declarations, The Redeemed Christian Church of God is taking Christ to the world and taking revival to those nations that first brought Christ to their land.
In 2005, The Redeemed Christian Church of God acquired 580 acres of land in Floyd, TX to build a North American version of the Lagos Redemption Camp. The land permanently houses their North America Headquarters with a 10,000 seat worship center and plans to build homes, schools, businesses and entertainment venues. The camp parish is called The Throne of Grace and led by Pastor James Fadele, the Chairman for The Redeemed Christian Church of God in North America.
The Floyd Camp, as in Lagos, is available to the community and provides economic growth to Greenville and surrounding areas. The Greenville area is ironically historically known as the cotton slave capital of early America. Today, God has given the same land to an African based church “restoration at its finest.”
Every June, The Redeemed Christian Church of God hosts an annual convention in the Redemption Camp in Greenville, TX. Visit www.rccgna.org for more information.
Adeboye has changed the face of Christianity in the world with his messages of holiness and purity. His trademark of humility is known and respected by many and in January 2009, Newsweek magazine named him as one of the fifty most influential people in the world. He has brought a lot of changes to the church he inherited in 1981 by the help of the Spirit of God, devising several ways of reaching the perishing world with the Gospel and constant employment of his strong leadership skills.
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