The ☙ fascinating life story of Pastor Adeboye

There are many pastors in Nigeria, but there is only one Pastor E.A. Adeboye. Join us, as we explore the life story of this fascinating man in our Pastor Adeboye biography. Nothing will be left unsaid about Daddy GO.

Early life

Let’s start our biography of Pastor Adeboye from the very beginning. Enoch Adejare Adeboye was born on March 2, 1942 in a village in Osun State by the name of Ifewara. His parents, Moses and Esther, were very poor and struggling to bring up Enoch and his three siblings.

Moses Adeboye did not think that giving his children education was important. Besides, he was not able to pay the school fees anyway. However, young Enoch felt very strongly about getting formal education. In order to persuade his father, he decided to go on a hunger strike to make his dad change his mind.

It seemed to have worked, as not long after, Enoch began attending the only missionary school in the whole village. In order to afford the school fees, Adeboye Senior had to sell a goat. Despite the fact that Enoch had to start his education rather late, he soon caught up to his classmates. In 1956, he started attending the Ilesha Grammar school, where he discovered a love for mathematics and science.

Enoch was born in a rather complicated time, as by the time he graduated from school and started working on receiving higher education, the Nigerian Civil War broke out. The war, combined with an unfortunate financial position, nipped his ambitions at the bud.

Nevertheless, Adeboye was eventually able to attend the University of Nigeria in Nsukka where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1967. But he did not stop there. In 1969, he received a Master’s degree in Hydrodynamics and, six years later, in 1975, he achieved a PhD in Applied Mathematics. Enoch obtained both degrees from the University of Lagos.

After finally finishing his studies, Adeboye started working on his ambition to become the youngest Vice Chancellor in Nigeria. He began his journey with teaching mathematics at the universities of Ilorin and Lagos.

At some point during his studies, Enoch not only received higher education, but also found himself a wife. He married Foluke Adenike Adeboye in 1968. For the longest time, the two struggled to have children. After some time and effort, they had two kids, but they wanted more. When doctors advised them against it, the Adeboyes decided to turn to God for answers. And boy, did they find them.

Pastor Adeboye and the Redeemed Christian Church of God

Enoch Adeboye first came across the Redeemed Christian Church of God in 1973, when he and his wife were seeking the Lord’s help in having more children. At the time, it was headed by Pastor Josiah Oluwafemi Akindayomi, General Superintendent.

On July 29, 1973, Enoch became a born-again Christian and chose to dedicate the rest of his life to God. In two years’ time, he was already a pastor. Enoch’s rise through the church ranks began with translations of Akindayomi’s sermons. He was tasked to translate them from Yoruba to English. Soon after that, he decided to organise Crusades, Bible Study meetings, Outreaches, Revivals and other events that were very successful among the people.

Seeing Adeboye’s dedication, Akindayomi decided that he was the man that was going to succeed him one day. Thus, when Pastor Josiah died back in 1981, he made Adeboye the new General Overseer of the church as his last dying wish.

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Pastor Adeboye has not betrayed the faith bestowed upon him for one second. Over the years, he has managed to expand the church’s reach further than anyone could ever imagine. Redeemed Christian Church of God went from being a rather small and unknown Nigerian church to being a vast network of 110 churches all over the world. In Nigeria alone, there are over 14,000 branches of RCCG.

As the legislation has passed that restricted the time of church leadership to 20 years, Adeboye stepped down from his post on January 7, 2017 and let Pastor J.O. Obayemi take the reigns. Nevertheless, Pastor Adeboye is still the General Overseer of the church globally. You can visit his personal website eaadeboye.com, where you can find out about his latest endeavours.

He is also the president of the Redeemed Christian Fellowship and the Christ the Redeemer's Ministry. In his lifetime, he has endowed four universities (University of Lagos, University of Nigeria, University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University) and even founded one of his own by the name of Redeemer’s University. To this day, he supports Nigerian education any way he can.

Achievements

Apart from being an outstanding church leader and a very educated scholar, Pastor Adeboye has earned himself quite a few achievements over the years. For instance, in 2008, he received the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from the President himself.

In 2009, Newsweek Magazine (United States) named him one of the fifty most powerful people in the world. In 2010, he received the Spiritual Pillar of Nigerian Sports honour.

For his achievements in education and being a patron of several universities, Pastor Adeboye has received a few honorary doctorate degrees that include degrees from the University of Nsukka and the University of Lagos.

According to Forbes, Pastor Adeboye is currently worth somewhere between $39 to 65 million, which is an achievement in itself, considering the fact that he had nothing in the beginning.

Personal life

When it comes to family, Pastor E.A. Adeboye is a devoted and fiercely protective husband and father. For 50 years, he stayed faithful to his wife Foluke, who has seen him through thick and thin. Despite having very little to their names and struggling to have children at first, the two are still together.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye and his wife have four wonderful children together: Adeolu, Bolu, Dare and Leke. Today, these four grown people are also pastors, like their mother and father, and they each have their own families. The Adeboyes are a great example of how God can unite families and make them stronger.

On this happy note, we would like to conclude our Pastor E. A. Adeboye biography. We hope you have been able to learn something new about his life journey. If you like this article, share it with your friends! Let other people know about the life of Enoch Adeboye.

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Source: Naija.ng