BIOGRAPHY OF PASTOR ENOCH ADEBOYE

 Pastor Enoch Adeboye is the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. He also served as the second national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.

He was born on 2, March, 1942 in Osun State in the South-Western extraction of Nigeria to a poor family. He often tells the story of wearing his first shoes at the age of 18. 

Enoch Adeboye started his education at Ilesha Grammar School, Ilesha, Osun State in 1956. After high school, he proceeded to the University of Nigeria (UNN) in Nsukka but because of the Nigerian-Biafran war, he completed his first degree in the University of Ife now called Obafemi Awolowo University, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics in 1967.

In 1969, he obtained a Master's degree in Hydrodynamics from University of Lagos. In 1975, he obtained a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Lagos. On December 17, 1967. He married Foluke Adeboye. He is a father to four children, three sons and a daughter and several grandchildren from the marriage. He lost one of his sons, Dare Adeboye on 4 May, 2021 who died in his sleep at the age of 42.

Enoch Adeboye joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God in 1973 when his daughter became ill and proved unresponsive to orthodox medicine. A cousin invited him and his wife to a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to seek divine healing for their daughter. On July 29, 1973, he 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 Yoruba language. In 1977, Adeboye was ordained a pastor in the church and he began to conduct Bible Study meetings, crusades, revivals, outreaches and evangelistic programs known as the Congress.

In 1981, when the founder of the church, Reverend Akindayomi passed away, the baton of leadership was handed over to Enoch Adeboye and on January 15, 2021, he celebrated 40 years as General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Adeboye began a meeting known as the Holy Ghost Services (HGS) in the mid 1980s. The Holy Ghost Services featured a night of praise, worship, prayer, soul-winning, deliverance, testimonies and the preaching of God's word once a month. Initially, the meeting was held on the premises of the ministry's headquarters in Lagos, but space constraints required a change in location. 

This led to the purchase of a massive piece of uninhabited forest land located in the suburbs of Ogun State, South West Nigeria. This piece of land is now known as the Redemption Camp. The Holy Ghost Service has been consistently held for over twenty years and today, the crowd in attendance run in the millions every month.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye was lauched into international prominence on December 18, 1998 when he hosted the very first Holy Ghost Congress, an open air meeting in Lekki, Lagos with an attendance of over 7 million people as reported by CNN and BBC. It constituted the largest mobilization of people in one spot on the surface of the earth, a feat never before recorded.

The following year, attendance at the Holy Ghost Congress grew to 12 million worshippers. This program has since been replaced with annual 3-Day Holy Ghost Congress held every December at the Redeemed Camp.

Pastor Adeboye is known around the globe having preached in remote African villages and in the heart of the major cities in the United States and Europe. Enoch Adeboye's council is sought by presidents and his appeal in secular and religious arenas is evidenced by the wide range of groups that have honoured him, including numerous honorary doctorates from many institutions in Nigeria and abroad in appreciation of his contributions to humanity.

In 1999, he received honorary citizenship and key of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. In 2000, he dedicated the first chapel in the Nigerian Presidential Villa, Abuja. In 2002, he received the key to the city of Detroit, Michigan. In 2005, he received honorary citizenship and key of Dallas, Texas, USA.  In the same 2005, he received honorary citizenship and key of Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

In 2008, he was awarded a National Honour (Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) and in 2009, he led the pre-summit prayers at the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. 

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