Gods ‘general’, Enoch Adeboye clocks 80

By Tunde Abatan
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christain Church of God,RCCG,Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye clocks 80 years today having been born on March 2,1942.
Until,he became the General Overseer of the RCCG,he was a senior Pastor in the Church and was appointed through Holy Spirit to step into the shoes of late founder of the Church,Pa Josiah Akindayomi who passed on in 1980.
Pastor Adeboye who joined the RCCG in 1973 after he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour was a senior lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Lagos.
According to him, his life ambition was to become the youngest university vice chancellor in Africa but that was not to be as he has to resign his teaching appointment with the University of Ilorin when he was appointed to succeed the late Pa Akindayomi.
The decision of a scholar who had PHD in Applied Mathematics was seen as strange by many unbelievers but today he has become a spiritual father to many all over the world.
Since he assumed the leadership of the RCCG,the church has witnessed tremendous growth,expansion from the 42 parishes it had when the founder passed away in 1980 to 12000 parishes in over 120 countries of the World.
He introduced many innovations into the ministry and designed programmes to attract the elites in the society especially professionals to experience ministry in a manner to which they were accustomed without compromising the worship of God in spirit and in truth.
This led to the establishment of the “Model Parishes” through which multitude in the upper echelon of the of the society have come to know the Lord.
He also introduced the monthly Holy Ghost services(that was a special birthday gift to the Lord) in March 1986 and always held at the RCCG camp along kilometre 46 Lagos Ibadan expressway . This featured a night of Praise,Worship,Prayer,Soul winning,Deliverance,
Testimonies and the Word.
Apart from the church witnessing tremendous growth all over the world ,he has been conferred with several honorary degrees and national merit awards in appreciation of his contributions to humanity.
In 2009,Newsweek elite edition(January 5,2009),he was listed as one of the Fifty Most Influential People in the World(No 49 to be exact).
Among others,he has received honorary citizenship and key of Cambridge, Massachusetts,USA, honorary citizenship and key of Dallas,Texas,USA,
Baltimore,Maryland,USA and a National honor-Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Nigeria President.He also led the pre-summit prayers at the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations, Headquarters,New York.
Pastor Adeboye has also received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Lagos,Lagos Nigeria,University of Nigeria Nsukka and awarded a national sports Honor(Spiritual Pillar of Nigeria Sports).
He has also authored several books
In spite of the above phenomenal achievements, Pastor Adeboye always gives glory to God .
He has authored over forty books published all over the world.
The most popular among which is the globally distributed daily devotional manual-Open Heavens.
He is the host and convener and Preacher at the annual December three-day Holy Ghost Congress,an open air meeting in Nigeria with an average attendance of over six million people.
He also presided over Ordination of Pastors/Deacons during the Annual RCCG conventions in Nigeria,UK and the US with an average attendance of over two million (Nigeria),twenty thousand (UK) and seven thousand(US).
He is also Concerned of quarterly /annual RCCG leadership and Discipleship Conferences and Retreats all over the world .
An annual birthday public lecture was also instituted in 2015 to mark his birthday and this has featured many important personalities like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,Dr Christopher Kolade and this year featured two personalities- Rev Father Matthew Hassan Kukah,Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and Professor Akinwunmi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank .All spoke on contemporary issues in the country.
He is married to Pastor Mrs Folu Adeboye and blessed with children and grandchildren.