Celebrating Daddy G.O at 79

In 2008, I was a fresh graduate who 
found himself living in Lagos after 
having spent all my life growing up 
in Ibadan.
My first weekend in Lagos was terrible
There was a church directly opposite 
my older sister's flat
(She had relocated to the USA with 
her husband in 2004) and 
had kept on paying the rent
That was where I got the effrontery 
to travel from Bowen University to 
Lagos after my final examinations
I had some money on me with which
 I could buy foodstuff and I felt I 
would get a petty job to do before 
I got called up for NYSC
This church had this crazy idea that 
if you dont come to their church or 
attend any church service on a Sunday, 
you have no right to rest in your own 
house
Their megaphone was directed at 
my window and they turned on the 
noise mercilessly
I was a believer but I do not support 
their irritating tactics
Their prayer was demon guided and 
fear ruled
It wasn't church birthed in knowledge
It was just an excuse for the ignorant
 folks living around that environment 
to gather and give a voice to their 
superstitious beliefs
I knew all about churches like that from
 my days in Ibadan
Churches, where fighting battles was 
the game and the good news, was the 
exception
I tried to increase the volume of the 
television set to no effect
The megaphone was dangerously loud
After several minutes, I got out of the 
house and sat at the steps of the shop 
underneath my flat
I was deliberating within myself 
whether to walk up to the pastor of that 
church and give him a piece of my mind 
after their service or to dress up and 
look for a church that suits my level 
of exposure the following Sunday when 
I heard my name
I looked up and saw a lady 
She was a graduate of Bowen University 
too
She greeted me and asked me what I 
was doing on her street
I told her I lived there now
She laughed and said she was going to 
church
I asked which church
She told me
I smiled
I had been to her church the previous 
Tuesday in the company of my younger 
brother
He had graduated a year before me and 
settled down a bit in Lagos
He was already attending the church 
and teaching their teens church
It was a pentecostal church
I wanted to stay in the Baptist church
The church opposite my flat was a 
pentecostal church
Many of such churches are no help to 
the educated
Most of their pastors and founders are 
illiterate
The illiterate end up corrupting the 
level of enlightenment of the educated 
ones
It is in one of those churches that I 
heard that if you are anointed and you 
sit on a seat previously used 
by a lady who was on her period
The potency of your anointing shall 
reduce drastically
It was rubbish that came from the 
days of idolatry and fetish belief 
system when men kept charms away 
from ladies because ladies can render 
charms impotent
As a fellowship leader on campus I 
met many believers with all sorts of odd 
doctrines
I preferred to stay elitist and enlightened
So I had deliberately decided against 
going to that church
My brother had left home as early as 
6:30am that day in order to make 
worker's meeting
That was another issue I had with the 
pentecostal churches
They always tow the extreme path and 
it felt they would rather cut off members 
from their family members in the name 
of church activities
All my excuses flew out of the window 
because of the persistent noise from 
that church's megaphone
I went into the flat 
and dressed up
I went to the church with the lady
Her father was the pastor and he was 
a very well educated man but the man 
leading the prayer when I walked in 
was a semi-illiterate
The first thing I heard him say was 
"Father, turn my scarcity to surplusity"
It was embarrassing 
I noticed that someone went to correct 
him but he shook his head and continued 
saying "Surplusity"
I got turned off
It was as I feared
I didn't even wait till the service was over
I walked out of the church and took a 
long stroll
The following week I met a lady in Anthony
Bidemi, I told her about the church issue 
and she invited me to her church 
somewhere in Oshodi
I went to the church the following Sunday 
and my Baptist mind couldn't cope with 
the type of skirts and trousers I saw the 
ladies wearing
I was convinced I wouldn't do anything 
but stare at arrows and backsides all day 
if i joined that church
So I returned home and I felt terrible 
about wasting two Sundays
Staying at home was not an option 
because of the megaphone manic 
opposite my house
The closest Baptist church to me was 
located at Mile 12
The area was too rough for me
I didnt know what to do
I slept off on the couch in the sitting 
room weighing my options
As I slept my eyes opened and I saw 
myself in Brothers Hall
It was the primary hall where Mass 
Communications students had their 
lectures while was in the University
As a rule I always sat on the front row
I was the only male student doing this 
and I was the oldest male student in 
the class
I always got to class early and I was a 
very well behaved student but on this 
occasion, I was everything but that
I was behaving like a tout, disturbing 
the class and causing all sorts of ruckus
I was standing with my back against the 
marker board and making a general 
fool of myself
I didn't know when the lecturer walked
 in from the side door right at the 
entrance of the class
Suddenly the whole class went silent
The lecturer called my name
I turned 
around and greeted him with my hands 
covering my face in shame
He looked at me and called my name 
three times
"Gbenga, Gbenga, Gbenga If you don't 
sit down and learn, you will carry this
 course over and that will be a shame"
I woke up sweating and perspiring
That lecturer was Pastor E. A. Adeboye
Like Apostle Paul, I did not disobey 
the heavenly vision
The church that the lecturer i saw was 
overseeing was the one where I was 
taken to by my former school mate
The same one attended by my younger 
brother
It was the Redeemed Christian Church 
of God 
I joined the church the following Sunday 
and grew
There are many worthy examples of Christ 
to our generation
Daddy GO is undoubtedly one of them
I celebrate with all of my being the God of 
Daddy Enoch Adejare Adeboye as he
 clocked 79 today
Happy Birthday sir
Thank you, sir
You're a blessing to me

PS: GSW and the Pssbc Ministers
will be coming to Benin this weekend
We invite you to a fellowship of His
Kind in the Spirit
The Gathering
March 6, 2021
Omoreggy's Event Center
Opposite Hifly Filling Station, Iriri
along Estate Gate road, Benin City
Time: 10AM