Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye (GO)
The Scholar
Formerly a mathematics professor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, he started working with the founder of RCCG by translating his sermons from Yoruba to the English language. The leadership mantle fell on Pastor Enoch Adeboye in 1981, and since then, RCCG has experienced phenomenal growth and success, converting multitudes to Christ.
Global Impact
In recognition of his contribution as a global icon and preacher of God’s Word, he was selected in 2008 as one of the world’s 50 most influential people by Newsweek magazine, USA.
Humble Beginning!
Born on March 2, 1942 into a humble family in the village of Ifewara, Osun State, located in the South-Western part of Nigeria. His poor family background seemed at first glance capable of confining him to a life of lack.
Brilliant, calm and reticent, his early teachers had little doubt that the lad had a scholarly aura and was cut for academia. The bruising truth was that Enoch’s tall ambition to pursue a career in academia was irreconcilable with the abject poverty of his family. Not to be deterred, his parents sold a few cherished possessions and borrowed from kind neighbors just to ensure that their son’s dream was not held back.
In 1956, he was admitted into one of Nigeria’s foremost Secondary Schools, Ilesha Grammar School, Osun State. As a youth he discovered a passion for books, and an aptitude for science, and in particular, mathematics. This led him to pursue higher education in the same field.He obtained a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of Ife, Nigeria in 1967, a Masters degree in Hydrodynamics from the University of Lagos, Nigeria in 1969, and a Doctorate Degree in Applied Mathematics from the same university in 1975. He had planned to become the youngest University President in Africa.
It did seem that this ambition would be realized as his academic career flourished. However, little did he know that a greater career awaited him in the service of the LORD. In 1967, he got married to his beloved wife, Foluke Adenike Adeboye (nee Adeyokunnu).
In an experience that could be described as his wake up call, his daughter became ill in 1973, and proved unresponsive to several bouts of orthodox medicine. A cousin had invited him and his wife to a parish of RCCG to seek divine healing for their daughter. What the mathematics professor and his adorable wife could not have imagined, as they stepped out of their house that day was that they had begun to walk into God’s ultimate plan for their lives.
On July 29, 1973, Enoch Adeboye made a personal commitment to Christ through the ministry of Reverend Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, the founder and first general overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. Reverend Akindayomi was uneducated but was supernaturally endowed with the ability to read the Holy Bible in his native language.
Ordained a Pastor in RCCG in 1977, Pastor Adeboye received a solid foundation in the scriptures, and unbeknownst to him, being groomed for the future assignment under the tutelage of Reverend Akindayomi. He manifested an incredible passion for the work of the Lord by pioneering Bible study meetings, crusades, revivals, outreaches and the evangelistic programs known as the Congress. These were very successfully conducted in various cities all over South-West Nigeria.
In 1981, when the founder passed to glory, the baton of leadership was handed over to him by divine orchestration. His appointment as General Overseer immediately terminated his academic career, and as a result, he set his heart on taking RCCG to the next level of ministry, where all strata of society could be involved in the ministry without compromising the true worship of God.
This led to the establishment of the “Model Parishes” through which countless millions in the upper echelons of the society have come to know the Lord. The poor, needy and downtrodden have not been ignored, as Enoch Adeboye has a deep compassion for souls.
