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If Pastor Bimbo Odukoya was alive, she
would have been 47 today. It is so difficult to believe that she is not here to
celebrate her birthday in her own special way. In fact, this is the second time
this is happening since her death in 2005 in the ill-fated Sosoliso plane crash.
No day passes without a reason to remember or
talk about this woman who affected and is still affecting millions of lives in
a positive way. Calls still come into the office once in a while from people
who want Pastor Bimbo to counsel with them.
For those who did not know her before her
death, it is difficult to explain that she is no more. After all, they still
watch her on television. In fact, that part of her ministry is still as vibrant
as it was when she was alive. The Pastor Bimbo Odukoya (PBO) Foundation which
was inaugurated during her burial ceremonies has continued to sustain her
programmes on different television stations, and have added more stations to
the list.
Someone called the office not so long ago. He
sounded every bit like an Hausa man and was calling from one of the northern
states.
“Please I just want to confirm: is it true
that Pastor Bimbo is dead?” he asked.
I paused for a moment.
“She has gone to be with the Lord,” I
replied with a lump in my throat.
“But I am watching her on television now,”
he insisted. “She does not look like she is dead at all. In fact, I was just
telling somebody she is not dead.”
I had to explain to him that the programme
he was watching was one of those she recorded before her death.
Unknown to many, the framework for PBO
Foundation was put in place by Pastor Bimbo herself. She had done all the preliminary
work before embarking on that last trip and the inauguration was to have taken
place on her return. It is impossible to say now if she had any premonition
that she would never return. But I believe that what she had in mind was a
Foundation that would enlarge the scope of the work she was already doing.
And one thing that was said about her at
her death was that she died empty. This is true in every sense: she gave out
everything God had invested in her for humanity. Towards the end of her life on
earth, she hardly had time for the church of which she was the associate senior
pastor because she wanted to reach out to as many people as possible with the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As she often said, “Time is short, death is certain
and heaven is real.” Any wonder she practically poured out her life to
accomplish the purpose for which God sent her to this side of eternity. She
preached chastity in relationship before marriage and fidelity in marriage
until her death.
More than that, however, Pastor Bimbo died
empty financially and materially. It is on record that as popular and rich some
knew her to be when she was alive, she lived in a rented house with her family
until her death. The little money she was saving up with her husband to
acquire a property was given to God by Pastor Bimbo at the last Discovery for Women
rally she hosted. According to her, she felt an urgent need to give God something
special and this time, she knew it had to be in dollars. She pledged the only
$10,000 in their special account! Of course, her husband was used to that: whenever
it came to obeying God, Pastor Bimbo did so promptly.
On her last birthday on earth, she asked members
of the church not to give her anything. She knew that the building the church
was about to erect needed all the money that was available and therefore asked
everyone to convert whatever they wanted to give her to cash and put in the
building fund. And before she embarked on her last trip, she had cleared her
wardrobe and packaged almost everything to be taken to the poor. Of course,
that was something she did once or more times a year.
A few months before her death, I told her I
wanted to sell off my car and buy another one. The money I had was not quite
enough to pay for a new car. She agreed I could pick up the car but said the
balance could only be paid when she returned from her trip abroad. Normally,
Pastor Bimbo would have issued a cheque without bathing an eyelid, but this
time, the story was different. And when she returned from her trip, she
mentioned that she was under a great deal of pressure and that her most
pressing need at that time was to pay the school fees of one of the drivers who
was doing a part-time programme in the university. Of course, she had many of
such people she was paying their school fees both at home and abroad.
Eventually, she prevailed on her husband to pay the balance on my car and he
did.
In spite of her vibrant public ministry and
fame, Pastor Bimbo was a family person in every sense. As difficult to believe
as this may be, she made out time to personally cook for and serve her husband
whenever she was at home. One night, after cooking, she hovered around the
house while I was busy with her husband, trying to get some scripts ready. All
she wanted him to do was take a break and eat, but the man insisted she should
go to bed and that he would serve himself when he was ready to eat. Of course,
she would have none of that. She refused to go to bed until she had served his
food and he had eaten. And I almost had a fit every time I met her personally
ironing her husband’s clothes so that he would look his best.
Recently, I stood as a lady tried to carry
some stuff out of the office. I knew she could not carry them all alone but ignored
her. As I watched her struggle to open the door, I remembered Pastor Bimbo! She
would have told me right there how not to treat a lady. I quickly rushed to the
door! And instead of just opening it for her, I took some of the stuff from her
and told her Pastor Bimbo would be disappointed if she saw what I just did – allowing
a lady carry so much stuff without lending a helping hand. The truth is, there
was just no way you could be around Pastor Bimbo without learning how to do
things right.
As the PBO Foundation marks her Day today,
here is earnestly hoping that many more people will live the life she lived and
preached, and emulate her selfless service to humanity.
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Posted by Robot| 12.09.2007 03:51