General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, said that for the first 18 years of his life he had no shoes.
Adeboye, who spoke during the church’s February Thanksgivng Service focused on his 40th anniversary as General Overseer of the church, took the worshippers back in time to how he became the General Overseas of the Church in 1980, when the church had only about 2000 members in 39 parishes.
The church now boasts of tens of millions of followers across 196 countries where it has presence.
Adeboye said it was difficult for him to come to terms to his leaving his job as a lecturer at the University of Ilorin to take up the job of winning and shepherding souls for Christ.
He said having gone through school despite his very poor background he was not willing to leave the comfort of being a lecturer then, where he had fairly comfortable life with standard standard accommodation, for a post that offered him just a room at Mushin.
He said he prayed and fasted 14 days not to be ordained as a pastor.
He had special thanks and appreciation to the founder of the church, late Pa Josiah Akindayomi for finding him worthy, who saw in him the future of the church, and his wife Folu Adeboye who had been with him through thick and thin to where God has brought him today.
He said that when the quest for the founder’s successor began, he was the least qualified.
He said, “I want to thank God for my father in the Lord, Pa Josiah Akindayomi. I want to thank God that He heard from God, of all the people who were qualified to be the General Overseer, l was the least qualified.
“I just came and after two years, he ordained me a pastor, when he said he will ordain me, my wife and l prayed and fasted for 14 days so that God will not allow it to happen because in those days, being a pastor is a sentence to poverty.
“I have seen poverty before, when l joined the church, my second hand car was the newest car in the Church and suddenly they want me to be a pastor, we prayed and fasted, thank God He didn’t answer the prayer.
“When my father in the Lord told me l will be succeeding him, l told him no, it will not happen. I told him anyone He (God) chooses for you, l will support him but for me to leave my comfort to come to one room in Mushin, no, not me.
“He insisted but l wrote him a letter, he could not read but could read the Bible. I told him in the letter to choose somebody else. He said l know what God told me, l know what you are saying, l won’t force you and l love you. I couldn’t forsake someone who loved me, Papa loved me.
“He was a prayer warrior, He could hear from God and it is the covenant God gave him that we are operating now. Once the head is good, all is well with the body. We had a good head that had a covenant with God”.Of his wife, he said that without a woman like her he couldn’t been able to make through the challenges that God took him through.
According to him, there were days they struggled to feed.
The reverred man of God said that what has helped so far is his ability to hear from God.
That he said helped him to obey even when the situation was dire.
Adeboye cited example of what happened after he became the General Overseer. He said that because of lack that faced him then he decided to apply for his pension in order to have a measure of resources to fall back to till the church could take care of his family needs.
When he got the money which was substantial at least to a pastor to struggling to meet the needs of his family, he decided to ask God how the money would be sent.
And God instructed him to divide the money into three and give one to RCCG, and the other two portions to other ministries, whichbGod mentioned by names, leaving him with nothing.
He said it was heavy for him to bear but since he was sure it was God he had to obey.
Adeboye said when he fretted on th e way forward after he had dispensed what appeared to be his last chance God assured him that He will take care of him and that He was going to build him a city.
And God , he said, has been faithful to his words. According to him, Redemption Camp which is bigger than many towns in the country was a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
