Pastor Mrs. Folu Adeboye, wife of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has narrated how a pastor in the church diverted $8,000 meant for missions, abandoned his wife in South Africa, and traveled to the United States to marry another woman.
She shared the revelation while ministering at a recent programme organised for men in the church.
A video of her message, which has been circulating online, was monitored by Church Times.
According to Pastor Folu, the incident occurred during one of her missionary visits to Cape Town, South Africa, where she was invited to preach at a local RCCG parish.
She explained that midway into her ministration, a woman entered and began removing chairs, indicating that the church’s time at the venue had ended.
Surprised to discover that the church held its services in a rented eatery, she recalled approaching the parish pastor to ask what it would take to secure a permanent worship space.
The pastor, whom she described as being from Ekiti, explained that with just $8,000, the church could begin raising funds for a permanent site.
He proposed using the money to purchase a fairly used vehicle and giving it to a tourism agency, which would pay returns to the church to fund the building project.
Encouraged by the idea, Pastor Folu said she quickly released the $8,000 to him. But instead of carrying out the plan, the pastor absconded with the money.
“Unknown to me, the man had a different plan,” she said. “As soon as he collected the money, he travelled to the U.S. and left his wife in South Africa.”
She revealed that the pastor went on to marry another woman in the U.S., leaving his former wife in distress.
“The woman he abandoned in South Africa is presently in a terrible state now, almost running mad,” she lamented.
Addressing the congregation, she questioned the integrity of such actions, saying: “RCCG men, what are we going to do? Are we going to continue with such a lying spirit, a deceitful spirit to the God of the kingdom?”
The audience responded with a resounding, “No!”
Mrs. Adeboye stressed the need for a return to spiritual discipline and obedience, adding, “That is why we have this landmark meeting. We must go back to the old path where we look up to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Reflecting on the early years of the Redemption Camp, she reminded the men of the sacrifices the church made in pursuit of God’s will.
“We must get to the point where we say, ‘Wherever He leads, we follow,’” she said. “We were in this bush. For three years, there was no light.
“We went back to the days of lanterns and we were grinding with stone, whereas where we were coming from, we had grinding machines, we had washing machines.”
She concluded with a word of encouragement, “We may not know where God will take us, but we have a bright future, if we remain faithful.”
