By Nigerians laud him for simplicity, humility and service
By Vicky Bricks
Tributes have continued to pour in for the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Worldwide, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.
In his statement, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode noted that ‘Pastor Adeboye’s simple life of transparency, truth and grace makes him an outstanding personality worthy of reference’
As for social activist and leading bring Back Our Girls, BBOG convener, Oby Ezekwesili, she exhaled a ‘Glorious&Happy Birthday to OUR Dad, Coach&Teacher. Your past years shall pale in comparison to what God has ahead???’
To mark the event, a marathon praise and worship session has also been held and it was attended by Pastor Adeboye himself. Dubbed #75HoursPraise, it was an occassion to celebrate the goodness of God upon the life of the cleric.
The 75-hour marathon praise session was in honour of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye who clocks 75 years on March 2.
It started at 12pm on Monday, February 27 and ends on Thursday, March 2.
The programme was specially packaged to express gratitude to God for His mercies upon the life of Pastor Adeboye.
Marathon Messiah’s Praise is a programme of the National Young Adults and Youth Affairs of RCCG.
It was birthed in 2012 and started as 70 Hours Marathon Messiah’s Praise. In the years that followed, it grew to 71 hours, 72 hours, 73 hours and last year 74 hours.
This is the sixth edition of the yearly festival.
Born on 2 March 1942 in Ifewara, Osun State, Nigeria, the Pastor and former Professor of Mathematics is married to his hearththrob of many years, Pastor Foluke Adenike Adeboye
He was ordained General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1981, taking over from Papa Akindayomi, who had died the previous year.
Pastor Adeboye had a strong desire to attend school in spite of his poor background. He was admitted to Ilesha Grammar School, Osun State, Nigeria in 1956. Young Adeboye had an aptitude for science, particularly mathematics, which he chose to pursue at the university level. He was admitted to The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to study mathematics. He was there a while but had to move to the University of Ibadan, Nigeria to continue his education, due to the ongoing Nigerian civil war at the time.
He eventually obtained his B.Sc. in Mathematics from the university of Ibadan between 1964-1967 and subsequently got his PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Lagos, and worked as a lecturer in mathematics at the universities of Lagos and Ilorin; After joining the RCCG in 1973, he began working to translate the sermons of its founder and then Pastor, Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into English.
In 1981, Pastor Adeboye was appointed General Overseer of the church, taking over from Papa Akindayomi, who had died the previous year. For three years he filled the role part-time, still lecturing at Ilorin, until giving up his university position to preach full-time.
The church, which was not well known prior to Adeboye becoming the General Overseer, currently has several branches globally in about 192 nations (as at August 2016) including more than 14,000 in Nigeria. Adeboye has stated that his aim is to put a church within five minutes of every person on Earth.[4]
He is the national president of RCF (an interdenominational fellowship in all the campuses in Nigeria) which is under the umbrella of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministry (CRM) where he is a founder and president.
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