Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has narrated how he drew strength from a popular Nigerian evangelist, Uma Ukpai, when he (Adeboye) lost his son.
Pastor Adeboye’s son, Dare, died in his sleep in May 2021 in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, where he was serving as a pastor in one of the RCCG branches. He was 42.
The cleric described his son’s passing as the “darkest moment” of his life.
“In the darkest moment of my life since becoming a Christian, when I lost my son without notice; when my son phoned me on the Sunday evening, ‘Daddy, oh, the weekend programme has been extremely successful, ah glory be to God. Thank you for your prayer support.’
“Then the next thing I heard on Tuesday night was that my son was gone,” Mr Adeboye said on 9 January during a special service in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to mark Mr Ukpai’s 80th birthday anniversary.
Pastor Adeboye was the guest speaker at the event held at the International Worship Centre, Uyo.
Pastor Ukpai is the founder and president of the Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association, headquartered in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. He turned 80 on Tuesday, 7 January.
He is revered as one of the Pentecostal leaders in Nigeria.
Continuing, Mr Adeboye said, “And I had to preach on Friday. One reference point that gave me strength was Uma Ukpai.
“I know he lost more than one child in a day, and he did not waiver; he kept on serving God. He gave me strength at a time when I needed it most.”
The audience, including Uma and Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, clapped for the cleric’s remark.
From the podium, Pastor Adeboye gazed at Mr Ukpai and said, “Congratulations, Sir!”
“It is only when you get to heaven that you’ll realise how powerful your influence had been on earth,” he added.
In a 2009 interview with Vanguard newspaper, Mr Ukpai narrated how two of his children were drowned in 1985.
“On our way to a crusade in my village, my driver carrying my children and a cousin, drove into a river.
“I attempted to bring the children out, not knowing that my wife also jumped into the river behind me and (the) water carried her, threw her up six times. It was the seventh time that somebody called my attention to her. I used one hand to swim and the other to hold her and brought her to shore. I rescued the children later. They had died,” he had said in the interview.
Pastor Ukpai said he still preached at the crusade, despite the tragic incident.
At the Uyo event, Mr Adeboye said he had learnt from his tragic experience that “if you really really want to serve God, then you must be ready to serve him whether things are pleasant or not pleasant.”
Pastor Adeboye said Mr Ukpai is “extremely special” to him and the Christian community within and outside Nigeria.
He said he met the evangelist over 40 years ago at a “wonderful” crusade in Lagos and has followed his activities since then.
“If you see me kneeling down to worship God before I stand up here, I know that if I follow the footsteps of a great man like that… I think when I grow a little older, I will want to be like Uma Ukpai,” the cleric said, causing the audience to laugh out loud.
The clergy man thanked God for Ukpai’s life of service and dedication and prayed that the evangelist would never experience sorrow again for the rest of his life.
“This is a very great occasion and I feel thoroughly humbled that someone as great as Uma Ukpai could ask me to come and say a word on this special occasion,” he said.
At the special service, Governor Eno described Pastor Ukpai as “God’s gift to Akwa Ibom State”.
“I am here to join the body of Christ to celebrate a great man of God on this joyous occasion. The theme of this celebratory event – the public lecture – is ‘The man from Ohafia’ which is quite fitting, given our father’s love for his place of birth and the pride the people of Ohafia feel about him.
“But if I may add a corollary to the theme, I would say ‘The Man from Ohafia and God’s gift to Akwa Ibom.
“For the most part, if not the entirety of our dear father’s life as an evangelist and a Christian warrior, Akwa Ibom has been a fabric of his life. He has projected our dear state to all corners of the world through his evangelistic pursuits,” the governor said.
Governor Eno prayed for God to bless Pastor Ukpai with a long life.
Notable clerics who attended the event were Ayo Oritsejafor and Mike Okonkwo.
The dignitaries at the event included Udom Emmanuel, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State; Akon Eyakenyi, the deputy governor; Udeme Otong, the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly; and Enobong Uwah, the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government.
