BARELY one week after the death of Pastor Christiana Abiara, wife of renowned evangelist, Prophet Samuel Kayode Abiara, the Nigerian Christian community was thrown into panic early in the week over the health of the bereaved prophet. There were reports early in the week that he had to be rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, where doctors battled to save his life.
Seventy-year-old Mrs Abiara had passed on after about 50 eventful years of preaching the gospel with her heartthrob and leading the women wing of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Agbala Itura worldwide. Not a few people had surmised that the man of God would find the death of his wife extremely painful and almost unbearable. The speculation proved prophetic when Prophet Abiara was rushed to the hospital; a situation that was quickly linked to the death of his heartthrob.
As would be expected, the news of the popular prophet’s break down jolted the leadership of the Christian community with notable spiritual figures making spirited efforts to reach his family or visit him on the sick bed to douse their worries. And as he lay on his sick bed at a private ward of the UCH, Ibadan, Christian leaders took turns to reach the pastors in the ministry as well as family members and close associates for information on the evangelist’s condition.
The Nation gathered that Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church a.k.a. Winners Chapel, was among the Christian leaders that personally visited Abiara at the hospital. Many other prominent church leaders were said to have made telephone calls to Abiara’s family members and friends to confirm that all was well.
It was learnt that the calls only stopped coming in on Thursday when he was discharged from the hospital.
A visit to the Christ Apostolic Church Agbala Itura, Agege, a suburb of Lagos, on Wednesday, showed some women gathered in front of the church observing the usual Wednesday prayer. They showed no sign that they had just lost Mrs. Abiara, who was not only dear to them, but also to the prophet.
Speaking on the two unfortunate ‘incidents’, the Media Officer (Print), CAC, Agbala Itura, Lagos, Mrs Eniola Adepeju, told The Nation that there was nothing to worry about because the cleric had prepared the minds of members against such incidents.
Adepeju said: “Papa had prepared the minds of the people, not for Mama’s death but generally on deaths. He spoke a lot about it in recent times.
“In fact, there is a book Papa (Prophet Abiara) wrote, which is about to be published. It is title ‘Why death?’ And when the incident happened, it was like Papa had been preaching about heaven, preaching about the kingdom of God, preaching about death.
“Apart from the fact that we are human beings and we don’t want anybody to die, the members felt it. They had wished that God would prolong Mama’s life. It was received in good faith.”
It was gathered that before the September 3 incident, Abiara was on the verge of travelling abroad for his annual vacation, as it was the only time available for him to rest.
While Adepeju would not say when Abiara would leave hospital, she said Abiara might leave the hospital when they are sure he had rested enough, adding that “Papa would not be comfortable staying in the hospital.”
But his first son, Pastor Isaac Abiara, played down the tension generated by reports of his father’s ‘Ill-health’.
According to him, his father was taken to the hospital when it became clear that the stress created by the deluge of condolence visits to the septuagenarian was weighing him down.
The younger Abiara, in an interview with The Nation, said: “The reason why he went to the hospital was the stress someone goes through when they lose a loved one. And he, being an international man, visitors were coming and it was physically overwhelming.
“We made a decision as a family to have him go there and rest, backed by doctor’s advice. There is nothing wrong with him. He is not sick. He just needed to take a bed rest. He lost his wife of over 50 years.”
He said his father was prepared for his wife’s, having been revealed to him earlier.
Besides, the younger Abiara said his mother lived a life of purpose, supporting her husband in ministry activities and showing care to others. For that purpose, he said, her burial will be considered as ‘going home’ because the family is happy that her Lord has called her to Himself.
His words: “The news of my mother’s death was bitter-sweet. It was of shock and sadness on one hand but was received with joy on the other because we know she lived a good life. She was an epitome of grace, love, kindness and care. She was very caring, God-loving and a woman of wisdom.
“So, while we feel sad because we are still trying to deal with it, the solace we have is that she lived a good life. We know that for sure, she is in heaven. That is our joy as Christians.”
Explaining why it did not come as a shock to his father, he said: “Dad said God already told her to prepare for her passage. We prayed and prayed while she took ill but her death was the will of God. We can’t question God.
“We don’t consider her passage as a negative thing because we believe she has gone to be with the Lord. Her passage just teaches others that are alive to do good, show care and be godly so they can keep the hope of going to be with the Lord at the end. That is why we call the ceremony a celebration of her life.”
Highlighting how caring her mother was to her husband, the younger Abiara said one important thing their father always tells them is how much their mother cared for him.
“One of the common important things Daddy tells us about his wife is how much she loved him. For instance, he told us that while he was preaching in Lagos about three weeks ago, she called and asked if he had eaten.
“Daddy said he wondered so much why she should think about such, knowing full well that there was no way she could have sent food to him in Ikorodu.
“He always tells us how my mum cared so much for him, how she supported him in his ministry. The second thing he always tells me and my siblings is ‘love your wife. Take care of your wife.’
“That is the message I want to send to everybody. If you are married, take that time to love and appreciate your wife. I’ve never seen my father raise a hand against my mum.
“My father travels to several countries of the world preaching. He has no other woman or children anywhere. The bond and love between them was so strong. It was godly love.
“One of the lessons I learnt from them is that my father and mother loved each other to the last breath, till death did them part.”
With such a strong bond, many would think that Baba Abiara would struggle to survive. But his son said he had no fear for his father’s survival, having been in ministry work for 50 years without a scandal.
He said: “No fear for my dad after my mum’s departure. The reason is that in the Bible, God promises to be with us when we pass through challenges.
“My father is a man of the word and he believes in whatever the Bible says. God, who called him and has been with him for 50 years in ministry, will continue to be with him. So, there is no fear. Absolutely no fear. He is going to be fine. He is going to be preaching. Normal church programmes continues right after the home-going programme.”
The ‘home-going’ ceremony has been slated for the last week of November and early December.
