•Rev. Mrs ANTHONIA ELOMOBOR Speaks About His Last Moments
The transition to glory of Bishop Godwin Imuetinyan Elomobor of the New Generation Bible Church International early this year was a great shock and an irredeemable loss to the family, friends, associates and the entire congregation of the church. This was an occurrence they never expected to happen so soon, as they were still enjoying his anointing in their lives. Papa as many people fondly call him died on the 8th of January, 2022 at the age of 67.
The late Bishop is survived by his beautiful and elegant looking wife, Rev. Dr Mrs Anthonia Oyebola Elomobor with 3 lovely children; Ruth, Emmanuel and Deborah, his grandchildren and the entire members of his family. Among his many qualities, Papa was a man endowed with a proven apostolic and prophetic ministry. These alone have been sources of blessings to many people as he has impacted and sown the seed of greatness in their lives. This is evident as many of them came from far and near to attend the ceremony organized in Kano and Lagos in honour of the great man of God whose legacy would forever be with them.
Prophet Elomobor’s widow, Rev. Anthonia had an exclusive chat with City People Publisher; Seye Kehinde, Reporters; Jamiu Abubakar and Damilola Akande and Senior Photo Journalist, Femi Adeleke. She narrated how the great man of God spent his last days on earth. Below are the excerpts from the highly inspiring chat:
“It was very painful, but God Himself comforted me. It’s been a journey for some time because he’s been strong; not feeling too good in his body since November 2020. So up until July 2021 when we were able to travel and all through this time, I was with him; ministering to him. We’ve been together, going through the pain and everything together. While he was here, he was so encumbered with the ministering work. He never missed any Sunday till we entered the plane. Even in his frail state, he still said he wanted to visit his children in Kano and Abuja. He managed himself to go; spent one week each in those places. It was until when he passed I knew he went to say goodbye to them.
“He is an American citizen and so is the whole family. We have been telling him to come and travel abroad. And you have your beck and call. But Papa was somebody that was so passionate about the things of God but I’m not saying it’s the best but at the detriment of his health such that I saw him through the whole thing.
“Before he could travel abroad to honour us, he had been promising; from January, it would become February, March, April until July. So eventually, when we were able to leave in the middle of July, it was a time of reunion with the whole family. It’s been like almost 5 to 6 years since he saw the children. So, that time, I was able to take the shock because, for about 6 months, he was in the midst of his family, just his close family; no ministry. “He was away from the ministry. We took him to a state with one of his last daughters, his last born, where he had time to rest, and spent time with his children and his wife. He enjoyed so much love and pampering which gave us joy that we were able to minister to him. All his life, he has ministered to his family; immediate and extended family, as well as his spiritual family. During that time it was like a closure. We saw him all through; when he was up, looking strong and when his health started declining. We were able to see him. So that period was preparing us for the ultimate event that happened. But, more especially in the very last 9 hours of his death, that is something that really comforted us and consoled us.
“The children came around to meet my husband and me where we were and we had a wonderful fellowship. The fellowship was for about a good 3 hours; worshipping God, praying in the spirit, reading the bible and we ministered the Holy Communion to him and all of us took the Holy Communion. This took place from about 12 midnight to 3 am. They waited; they saw him before he slept. And my husband and I woke up around 7.30 am, his nurse came and took his vitals, his nurses came and gave him a bath. While they were dressing him up, he just smiled and just slept off. There was no sound, no noise and I was around him. The children too were all around. So that gave us so much comfort.
“Another thing that gave us comfort was when we were worshipping and praying in the spirit, the Bishop lifted up his hands and he kept waving his hands. We knew he was seeing something that we were not seeing. It was later when he passed out that we knew that 6 hours ago when he was waving his hands as we were worshipping God that can’t you see? Probably, he was seeing heavenly bodies and angels. At about a few minutes to 10 am, less than 3hours he woke up and less than 9 hours after worshipping and being in the presence of the lord, he passed on. So that alone gave us so much comfort because we know that “it is appointed unto man once you live and thereafter to die”. We know that every one of us except if the rapture takes place and meets us here, we are all going to pass, die someday. But to know that he died in the Lord, he died happy in the comfort and the midst of his family which he has not been able to be with for about 6 years gave us so much joy and comfort. “We were able to ask him along the line, many times because we knew we were in America. Papa, if the time comes, what do you want us to do? Help us; should we take your body to Nigeria? Should we bury you in Lagos? Should we bury you in Ekpoma? And Papa said; bury me here in America. We know he loves people like Kenneth Hagin, those are his mentors. So we said don’t worry, we will bury you where Kenneth Hagin was buried and that was what we did. It is one of the most expensive in the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. That was where he was buried. So that alone gave us joy.
“And when I realized how God has used him, in the family, we all pray that our parents would train us and see us through where we would fear no intimidation. By the grace of God, God has used his servant to raise so many sons and daughters in the ministry. Many of them even have ministries of their own and they are doing well. Many of them are generals and that also gave us comfort that he has left a print on the sands of time. That also gave us joy. When we also keep hearing so many testimonies, his death is the first time that I will experience something as close as that. People have called from all over the world. People I don’t remember, people I don’t know; testifying how his life has affected them. How his prophecies have blessed them. That godly legacy that he left, that legacy of a good name is one of the things comforting us and giving us a challenge because we have awesome work to do to keep up the legacy. We are trusting God that He will help us through. His shoes are so big, nobody can fill them. But we know God’s grace will carry us through.
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