PASTOR Enoch Adejare Adeboye is by no means a loud person. His visage, voice and composure all point to one word: Humility. And there are times one is forced to ask: Does this man of God ever get angry? That is perhaps a question that would be best answered by those who are close to him.

But one thing stands out in his life: His simplicity. You will hardly see him in any other style apart from his French suit. Occasionally he wears an agbada. And even at that, the humility strikes.

Born on March 2, 1942 in a humble environment, this man who has been tremendously used of God to bring life to thousands of people around the globe, is 66 this year. That is not the news. The news is that for about 35 years he has been on the Lord's side, serving as a role model to believers, a teacher of the word as well as an instrument of war to dislodge the camp of the devil. These were what prompted Church Times to make an attempt to seek an interview with him.

The journey to the Holy Ghost Camp, located at kilometer 46 Lagos-Ibadan Expressroad was laced with excitement. We had wondered and prayed. We knew we would be quite privileged if Daddy GO as he is fondly called agrees to sit with us for an interview.

So, armed with faith, we marched all the way to the international office of the church where we met Pastor Mrs. Bankole, an amiable woman of God. She received us very well, though we had not met her before. She was strolling down the aisle of the complex when we met her and she inquired our mission which we relayed without much hesitation. She asked us to drop the letter we brought that she would personally deliver it to "Daddy. At first we were a bit reluctant as we felt she was just making the promise to dismiss us considering the fact that we had not gone through the kind of protocol attached to some other men of God. So we dropped the letter with a copy of CTN and left the vicinity. Several "what ifs" reeled through our minds. At worst they won't get back to us, we concluded.

But we were wrong. The fallowing day, our phone rang. It was Pastor Bankole on the other line. She said, "Daddy GO has seen your letter but said he would be busy within the time we asked for interview, but that we could write out our questions and bring them to the camp."

We did not hesitate. We quickly put together about 18 questions bordering on a number of issues. We submitted the questions and started to hope again. Then came another phone call, also from Mrs. Bankole, "Daddy GO has answered some of your questions, you can come and pick the answers," she said. Without wasting time we embarked on another journey to canip and collected the reply. At first, it appeared the answers were not really striking, but with a second look; we found out that the man of God had simply bared his mind.

Mrs. Bankole confessed, "Daddy GO has been very busy. He had to squeeze in time to answer the questions." And since we were working with time, the ones that had been answered had to be released". She said it took fier sometime to get the GO. to answer the questions because of his busy schedules.

For us, it was indeed a mission accomplished. Church Times is relatively a new publication and it will only take God for a man that is very busy, whose attention is needed around the globe to sit down and give attention to the paper.

So, the questions were answered. For Adeboye, a former university lecturer who heeded the call of God on July 29 1973, ministry work is not a tea party. For him, the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ demands all the attention it could get. and that was made obvious in the reply to the questions we posed to him.

For the Ifewara born servant of God, the greatest gift he had ever ~eived is not material· things as one would have expected. Rather, it is the commencement of the Holy Ghost service.
He confessed, "There is no greater birthday gift than the commencement of Holy Ghost service. I was waiting on the Lord and He had inquired from me what gift I would love to have to celebrate my birthday. That was about 22 years ago and I told God that I would love a situation where all those who were in the Redeemed Christian Church of God got answers to all their prayers and that all sicknesses be healed. To me, that would have been a great breakthrough. And the Lord spoke to me, Son, gather all the people together then I would bless them. That was what marked the beginning of the Holy Ghost service. I obeyed the Lord and since then we have been having the Holy Ghost service. And the Lord has been faithful."

That was it Today, the Holy Ghost service has become a melting pot for Christians from· allover the world. It is amazing that some people literarily come from outside the country to attend the service. That perhaps prompted the GO to inaugurate the programme in other parts of the world. Apart from that, mind boggling miracles are known to take place in the service which now attracts thousands of people. "

Adeboye, a PhD holder in Applied Mathematics and a one time Senior Lecturer at the University of Ilorin was ordained to take over as the General Overseer of the Church on January 21,1981. The Reverend Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi who God used to establish the ~ died on November 2, 1980.

Since he took over, he has had to face several challenges. Some people within the church felt he was a new comer and thus did not deserve to oversee the church. The trouble became so much for Adeboye who confessed in one of his messages that he had to take to intensive praying and fasting to ward off such distractions. He had developed a passionate praying and fasting life that some people believe food perhaps has no place in his stomach. He however told Church Times, "I do eat; I enjoy eating pounded yam if I'm not fasting," in response to one of the questions.

He believes the life of a believer should be a life of devotion and commitment. An acclaimed Holiness preacher, the Lord has enabled him to take the church to about 140 countries of the world including tough places like Israel and some parts of the United States and Europe.

For him, celebrating birthdays is important only if one uses it for meditation. "The most important birthday in my life was the one a year after I got born again. That to me is important because it is the one I first spent in the Lord."

He advised that "birthdays should be spent in meditation rather than celeoration. The bible says that we should number our days so that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. So, if there will be' any celebration at all, it should be one of thanksgiving to God for sparring our lives to see a new beginning."

While declaring that the church had no problem with the Ogun State Government, he said, "We have had a cordial relationship with the government of Ogun State and we don't have problem with the land we have acquired so far. The Lord told me that Redemption Camp would become a city. That is what God promised me."

He agreed that there are a lot of characters in the body of Christ, some good, and some bad. ut that, according to him will not stop the church from moving on. He said, "The challenge has always been there. It has always been the same through the ages. And this is the problem of mixed multitudes; people like Ananias and Saphira, like Simon the sorcerer mixing with believers. The Lord in His power will take care of the bad eggs. The almighty God himself said that all plants he didn't plant will be rooted up. He would cleanse His church himself "

For him however, any church that would stand the test of time must be built on the solid foundation of the word of God. "There is the story of two houses. One was built on the rock, the other on the sand. For that which is on the sand, it is easy to build the foundation. It is very fast and for that which is built on the rock it is hard to get the foundation done. But the two houses, that which is on the rock and that which is on the sand, will go through test when the flood comes. That is why it is the wise thing to do to build on the rock."

He decried a situation where some pastors now divorce their wives at the slightest excuse noting that the trend is disturbing. "I must say this is a sign of the endtimes and it is a signal for those who are standing in the Lord to stand firm and expect the coming of the Lord any time."

Does he face temptation? If our Lord and master Jesus Christ was tempted after a long period of fasting and praying, then Pastor Adeboye is not immuned to being tempted. And that is why we asked the question.on the greatest temptation that he has faced so far. He confessed in the response, "It is how to deal with those you have helped and turn round to bite you, those you have loved that turn around to betray you. You overcome by: you too remember you have offended God despite all his love for us. But he still forgave us all the same."

Culled from ChurchTimes