Dramatic birth of my son led me to God

Pastor Esther Obasi Ike, 44, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God on Mbagathi Way is respectable woman. Working together with her husband Prince, she has helped transform the lives of many families through her sermons and monthly sessions with women. She spoke to NJOKI CHEGE on what led her to this spiritual path

I met my husband Prince Obasi Ike in 1984 during a Christian union fellowship in college. He proposed to me in 1985 and I accepted the proposal in 1989 as my parents did not immediately consent to the relationship. But after waiting for four years for their consent, they asked Prince to come home for traditional rites.

In total, Prince waited eight years for me to be his wife. We wedded on February 6, 1993 at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Nigeria. We had joined it in 1990.

We had always felt that God had called us to serve His people but the issue of full-time ministry became certain after a battle over our first-born son’s life. Following a difficult pregnancy, my husband insisted he be allowed into the labour ward with me. I went into labour on the Christmas morning of 1993 but could not deliver until the next day as the baby could not come out normally. The doctors tried all they could, including using forceps.

When the baby failed to push through, the doctors recommended a Caesarean Section, which was a nightmare. According to my husband who witnessed the process, there were many hitches with the power supply during the surgery. Yet, in spite of the hurdles, my son and I pulled through. We later realised that our son sustained a head injury during the operation, so we took him to Lagos University Teaching Hospital. The doctors there told us they had never seen a case like our son’s and they feared that if he survived, he would not be normal. The doctors suspected the injury was deep and may have affected the brain.

As we struggled over our son’s condition, my husband decided to seek God in our church. In a dream, he saw a vision where the Lord healed our son using sawdust to fill the hole in the boy’s head. He then instructed my husband to go to all the nations in the world and do same thing to those who are hurting.

At the same time, while I was in the hospital, I had a dream in the afternoon. The Lord showed me that He had healed our son and we were discharged. I woke up suddenly and was disappointed to realise it was just a dream. Just then, a nurse came into my room and excitedly told me the hole in my son’s head was completely filled. I rushed to the ICU to confirm the news and saw only a fresh wound. He was indeed healed. What the Lord had separately revealed to us in dreams had come true.

Divine arrangement

After this incident, my husband decided to join full-time ministry at our church. In 1995, our parish, popularly known as Ikeja Family, launched into foreign mission in USA, Europe, South Africa and Kenya. By divine arrangement, the mantle for Kenya fell on my husband and he arrived here on October 21 of the same year and set up the church — RCCG Solution Centre on Mbagathi Way. My son and I followed in January 1996.

The following month, while praying, I had a remarkable vision where God showed me three different groups of women. The first was made up of skinny, poor and needy women, their hands on their jaws and looking distraught. The second was a group of women with a lot of issues in their lives. The third were widows.

All these women had their hands up asking God to vindicate them from their adversaries. Then the Lord revealed to me that He was sending me out to bring these women hope and strength to forge on. That is when my ministry to women took another dimension as I realised that women needed both spiritual and economic empowerment.

Divine arrangement

Consequently, the Queen Esther’s Generation was born. Like the biblical Queen Esther, many Kenyan women have a problem with identity and have no control over their circumstances.

At the beginning, we used to meet in my house every month. Today, because of the numbers, we meet every first Saturday of the month at Nyayo Stadium from 1pm. Our goal is to transform, equip, empower and engage the woman for Christian service. We have also introduced certain courses, a maendeleo Sacco, which is open to men and women, and a welfare group that assists in paying school fees for needy children.

I’m also passionate about women in prison and I thank God for His grace that has enabled me minister to them.

Since our arrival here, we have planted about 54 churches in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi and Seychelles. Initially, my husband was the coordinator of RCCG’s Eastern Africa region, but now he is the pastor in charge of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC.