Letter to God on Pastor Bimbo Odukoya

Hello dear Father,

Sometimes I wonder at Your works
The unquestionability of Your acts
The impossibility to send You a mail and get an instant reply
But why must I send You a mail of questions
When You have answered all our questions in the good Book.
 
But in Your Book I find promises
In Your Book I find assurances and blessings
I find comfort and hope and radiance
And I become fearless even in the valleys of shadows of death.  

I find Your promises in the lives of the patriarchs
I find assurances on some pulpits across the land
Didn't You say by their fruits we shall know them?
I saw her fruits and I believe You called her
I'm ready to go to war blindly for this woman.

But when gold rust what will iron do?
If Pastor Bim dies in plane crash what are You telling me?
Pastor Bim died in plane crash?
Impossible I said. Impossible we all said
If one person remained alive, its Pastor Bim.
But Lord what has happened?

LORD SPEAK TO ME NOW
What has happened to Psalm 91v 7?
Have you revoked Psalm 91 v 16?
Is Isaiah 43 v 2 now obsolete?
God speak to me now…

And I hear You speak quietly into my ears
“ … Bola, you are a mere mortal
you can't question Me
you cant comprehend My ways.
Can you understand why bad things happen to good people?
Only Me know.
Only Me
I called her”

- Elifeonline.com

I do not know all the reasons that cause good people to die early
Dear Sir,
I do not know the circumstances about which you wrote your poem. I can only presume that Pastor Bimbo died in a plane crash. I do not personally know her, but from your account, she must have been a beautiful child of God.

Permit me to comment although I do not know all the reasons that cause good people to die early. Psalm 91, Isaiah 43 and indeed the Scriptures are not obsolete. Those passages were in place when the Son of God died aged 33. And His apostles and the disciples in the early church were viciously crucified, burnt, stoned, thrown to wild beasts, etc. They were all "good people."

But we know that when we have finished our earthly work, God can, and usually, calls us home. Paul said that it was better to be absent in the body and be with the Lord. In other words, it was better to leave this world of sin, of corruption, of heartaches, bereavement, separation, temptation and evil.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the reason. But ONLY God knows.
Folorunso Ajayi.

I have been dumbfounded

Dear Bola,
At times like this, I am always reminded of the title of a book I read Where is God when it hurts?  I was waiting to fly out of Abuja when I got the news of the crash. You can imagine my dilemma. I still had to trust God knowing that our lives are in his hands.

I have been dumbfounded myself but God surely knows best. Thanks for the good work you are doing online. The Lord will surely reward you abundantly.
Lekan Otunfodurin

The Church has a role as a pressure group to speak out
Dear Bola,
Your perplexed attitude on why it is the good people that die prematurely is one that is shared by many good Christians and true believers. But perhaps the message here for us is that 'Heaven helps those who help themselves'. God gave us the choice to control our environment in a positive way, and that is why he gave us a brain, and if we fail to use this brain then we cannot turn round and blame him.

And the truth is, we all knew of the corruption that existed in this country and how they were giving planes unfit to fly air worthy certificates. It is up to us even now to change this. And what I am saying is that the Church has a role as a pressure group to speak out on such matters even before accidents happen.

The answer is not just in prayer, but also in learning to speak out constructively on vital social issues. May Pastor Bimbo's soul rest in perfect peace. She was a good and Godly woman, but our society has let her down.

May she be abundantly rewarded in Heaven.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Tolu Ajayi.

It is very dangerous to think that because we are believers of Christ, we are immune from such deaths.
Hello Bola,
Thank you for your poem.
I took time to read through and found you asking God a lot of questions which however you ended up saying you had no right to ask the Almighty God.
But truly, I see those questions hanging on in you because [if I may quote you] you said that if anybody was alive in that plane crash it ought to be Bimbo Odukoya. You also asked God a lot of questions about the efficacy of His promises and wondered what God would expect you to do if Bimbo died in a plane crash.
May I remind you that: Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. John the Baptist was beheaded. John the beloved was banished to the Island of Patmos after he survived the pot of hot oil.
Most Apostles of God died as Martyrs. Therefore, it is very dangerous to think that because we are believers of Christ, we are immune from such deaths. Although it is not our portion but if it does come our way, we should accept it and praise God who allowed it.
The important thing is for you and me and in fact every true believer in Christ to live a holy and blameless life, as if the Lord will appear the next second.
Do we not preach that the Lord is coming soon? We do. And He can come in any manner. DO YOU BELIEVE IT?????
Stay rapturable because He is surely coming and it could take any shape that the Lord approves.
MARANATHA 
Bishop Dr. Israel Ikpeka
President, Family Life Ministries P.O.Box 1840 Ipaja Lagos Nigeria

Better do the work of Him that sent me while it is still day.
Dear editor,
Pastor Bimbo's death is a challenge and reminder to me that I am only a sojourner on this earth. That I better do the work of Him that sent me while it is still day. For night comes when no one can not work again!
We should not remain perturbed but rather stop mourning and carry on with the good works of preaching the gospel. She died (by human estimation) like a good soldier of the Lord. May God strengthens you Pastor Taiwo. God bless the family.
 Femi Oluwabori  

On Sosoliso crash: An elegy to the dead
I speak of Rev Mrs. Bimbo Odukoya, a titan of her time, a missionary extraordinaire, a mobilizer per excellence, a leader that is true, a source of light, a source of life - indeed a FOUNTAIN OF LIFE!
How could she have died so soon and so suddenly?

How could she have died at a time when our nation needs her, at a season when our people are looking for Hope?

This is a period when many are asking "where is the way" and a brilliant light that shone - like John the Baptist, crying to the nation to prepare a way for the Lord was snatched from our land. I weep hot tears!

I identify with the Psalmist and reject any super spirituality. I identify with the pain and say in the words that the Spirit wrote that for the Nigerian Nation, Our tears should be our food day and night, for many in the nation will say to us "Where is your God?" We pour out our soul in remembrance as we remember the great multitude that flowed to Ilupeju and the great leadership that Pastor Bim gave the procession... (Psalm 42:2-4 Adapted) Pastor Bimbo prospered in her calling and built a generation of worshipers.

What about the 70 Children of Loyola College who were snuffed out before their candle was lit? Oh what Pain, Oh what sorrow; Oh what loss!!
How are the mighty fallen - David said! How are they fallen who should have been the giant Killer for the Nigerian Nation,

How are they fallen who should have been the dreamer of great possibilities for the land; How are they fallen to pain to a violent death who should have brought meaning and life and discoveries to our land!

Nigeria should mourn our nation needs to cry; the people need to shout:
Have mercy Oh Lord, stay the hand of your violent judgment on our nation! Even though the Children died, it is the Nation that has suffered irreparable loss.
How long shall this culture be sustained of carelessness for human life?
How long shall the culture of non maintenance of structures be maintained?
Obasanjo needs to be told that there is yet a battle to fight.
A battle for true diligence and attention to details at our work, a battle against those who will waste the life of our nation because of their personal corrupt interest.

It is time for our Nation to Shout - The Sword of the Lord - against those that will not allow things to be done right.

For if things have been done right, the 110 should not have died.
Adieu Pastor Bimbo, Adieu great woman of Faith, You lived well, you died bravely; you were the Best!

Adieu my young friends, we have lost you, how can we ever recover your gifting!
May the Lord have mercy on the Nigerian Nation.

In Pain.
BY PASTOR SAYO AJIBOYE, ST LOUIS , MO.

We will all die one day. How? we do not know
Dear editor,
Why did Jesus Christ die?. If we are baptised in HIM, we are baptized in His death to rise up with Him on the last day. Jesus is our resurrection and life.
Good people will surely die to leave this evil world as it is not the Kingdom of God. When? We do not know? We will all die one day. How? we do not know. Only God knows, just be prepared and live today like your last.
Remember also that Our Blessed Mother Mary watched her son being crucified on the cross. That was really cruel and dramatic!  It was hard for her. Very very. Now you understand? Life on earth is evil and dangerous but God is good. Let's keep praying for the repose of the souls of the dead.
I do not know you but I feel that we must share as we all have been brought together by this tragedy and we need to be strong.
God bless you.
Adesuwa Osemwegie

Response to the poem
My Son,
 It is not true that it is impossible to send me a mail and get instant reply. That is why I'm replying you now. Your questions have been taken care of in my word as you rightly said in your mail. Take time to read the book of Isaiah 57:1-2. I'm always close by whenever you need me, because I live within my children.
I look forward to hearing from you again and consistently desire you to live in my presence.
Your Heavenly Father,
God.
Adekoya Tunde

TO SOULS THAT DIE IN SOSOLISO CRASH

That love is too heavy a package
to give kindred leg
is termite in wood

and to dogs the fatten bone
were easily thrown at to eat
and gets fatter from human inhumanity
or rather his negligence
is of true love
the whole world is fatten with hands
capable of both love and murder

but then,
the stars are not fallen
they're only going
above this sphere

FELIX O SYLVANUS

What a way to die knowing God.
Dear editor,
If you are conversant with Church history under the rain of Emperor Nero, I think one will not ask questions about the mode of her death at all. As close as Peter was to Jesus, he was crucified. Matthias, James, Stephen and the rest disciples were either stoned to death, banished, pierced or crucified. What a way to die knowing God.

Bimbo is a disciple of Jesus. And one thing we should all know is that apostleship and mortality are two different things and the fact that you are an apostle of God does not mean you stop being a mortal he created. All mortals die and the way we all die is not important to God. The gain of apostleship can only come after death, regardless the way this death comes.

A peaceful death while asleep and death in a plain crash are the same before God. In everything we give Him thanks not only because He is everything but because he permits everything to happen. If God was not created by anything and he created us, then why question him? He knows why Bimbo's ministry should end abruptly. God permitted it because he is God.
Akoji Atanu.

The body of Christ would have failed if...
Dear Editor,
The real danger for this generation is when we look up to the Lord for everything He has given us. A scarier scenario is when we ascribe to God what He has no hands in or wait on Him for answer when we should take action.

Pastor Bimbo Odukoya I only saw on TV. I never knew her in person. The only time I ever saw her was when a friend of mine got married in her church. But I love her for her popular programme "Single and Married". I am sure my friend who got married there or perhaps Pastor Bim's sister-in-law, who was my classmate in secondary school would be surprised at an Agnostic's professed love for a pastor's work.

To the main issue. The body of Christ would have failed if all we do is pray and fold our arms and wait for the day miracles would happen and our country function properly. If all the body of Christ in this country would do is pretend that God will perform some miracle and our lives will be transformed with the buccaneers who ride roughshod on us still in charge, then it would have failed in its mission of bringing hope to all.

My take on the situation is this: God has blessed us more than any other nation on earth. He blessed us with space - blue and green. He gave us natural resources no other has in such abundance. Then we have some of the best brains in the world. Now we have all surrendered it to some cabal of looters and murderers, refusing to snatch back that which God has given us.

My wife almost convinced me to start going to church once. I went twice but the odour at the church was too strong for me to stay. Even in a Pentecostal Church which proclaims itself to be spiritually upright compared to the orthodox churches, I find this looters. And they are also celebrated as the Lord's chosen. To make matters worse, the body of Christ is also there looking on as some of the gifts of God to this nation - young brilliant men and women - are being chased to the devil's arm. They are into advanced fee fraud a.k.a. 419, they go into armed robbery and they are all over the streets of Europe, the Americas and South Africa selling what should be God's temple for feeding money.

In what way has the body of Christ responded to these issues? They are political issue. The response to the economic crises, the mismanagement of our resources that has resulted in so many crises like this plane crash and inability to respond and save those valuable lives can only be political. It is the greatest sin to ask God to intervene when He has given all that we need. More than He has given other people.

I wonder what Pastor Tunde Bakare will say to this. He is the only pastor amongst Nigerian Pentecostal pastors that perhaps I feel like reaching in my spirit (the spirit here refers to both ecclesiastical and secular).

That we may not continue to suffer this type of loss, let all true Christians get involved in the effort at chasing these buccaneers out of our ship and steer it in the right direction. It is then that those that mourn the death of Pastor Bimbo Odukoya or celebrate her live would have done it meaningfully.

Tunde Aremu,
MIS Manager/Senior Programme Officer,
International Press Centre, Ogba Ikeja, Lagos State , Nigeria .

She was a fulfilled woman who did not frustrate the grace of God
Dear editor,
Commenting on the physical exit of that icon of family and marital bliss, Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, she was a fulfilled woman who did not frustrate the grace of God, an effective gospel preacher who, via wisdom, brought radical changes to the lives of many. Personally will miss her good messages.
..............................

Pastor Bimbo Odukoya.
A TRIBUTE

She was sun
Greening leave on field told it
She was a sea of sleek feet running
Trees – greening on river bank told it

She was all, the morning sun
Now that she's rising forever
From small world
To a large one above the sun

HER TRIUMPHANT
Though, you're not there when he came
The man that forbade you to complete
One more sphere of single day. Nay
He thought not so, how straight

You might look forward to go
In cheerful look of not loose fortune
Nor does he know
Sun, when she goes, goes not unnoticed
That he hurried you to take off
On journey beyond

But it won't be so if you're not being told
That a lifetime is a single day complete
To start another day in another life
I know you truly know –

LO, I SING OF YOU
Lo, I sing of you, a song
Of morning – of life movement –
Of bird fleeing this tree but shall never seize
To patch to continue for day
Yet to come out…

I sing of you, a song
Of days of sensual ear
Put on ground to soothing savage breasts
As I remember those lives on yellow leave
Turned greening…

I sing of you, a song
Of music, first made in heaven
Angel still longing to hear
Of days whole and free
Of evening, or of terrace of night

And as I could only sing of you, a song
That you can only hear
Dance rhythmically in alfresco from nearer-distance
Your sleek feet adore and allure in that dance
Shall compel days to return in innumerably
Which now the angels shall dance

FELIX ORISEWIKE SYLVANUS

THE LATE PASTOR (MRS.) BIMBO ODUKOYA:
GOD'S SPECIAL GIFT TO US IN NIGERIA .
I sincerely appreciate God for the quality of her short life. She was indeed a blessing to her generation. I congratulate Pastor Taiwo Odukoya for being blessed by a wife of her caliber, character and beliefs. Her children should forever return all the glory to the ALMIGHTY GOD who gave them a truly virtuous mother with outstanding values.

For us Christians, Muslims...I guess we can never stop counting the numerous ways we've been blessed by her. No one can ever take her place, because geniuses are rarely replaced. I pray that God will provide support for our singles, because they are the ones that would miss her most; her guidance, advices and counselling.

May the Word of the Lord continue to be a lamp to their feet and light to their paths. Pastor Bimbo has done her "mighty" bit and has fulfilled her destiny. What about us? Have we discovered our divine destiny? Have we started fulfilling it? If not, her demise is a REMINDER that we will all depart this world someday, as ordained by God. It is not every one of us that will live up to 3 scores and 10 years. Arise, O sleeping giants and fulfill your destinies!!!

Olufadeke Omo-omorodion.