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Late T.B. JOSHUA’s Wife, EVELYN
It’s been a little over two years that the founder of The Synagogue Church of Nations, Pastor Temitope Joshua died (died June 5, 2021), but to his wife and followers, it only seems like yesterday. There was massive pain and sorrow permeating through the entire church at the time of his death. His most loyal members were inconsolable. The sudden and unexpected manner in which he passed away was as painful as his loss. Many did not give the ministry a chance of survival. The conclusion was that, since the founder of the church and the vision was no more, there was no way any other person could carry on with the ministry the way he did. But it has since turned out they were wrong. Many underestimated the strength and the will power of T.B. Joshua’s widow, Evelyn Joshua. Not many knew about the grace of God upon her life.
Evelyn Joshua took the shocking death of her husband very well. Like any other woman in her position, she was devastated, losing a husband and partner of many years. She mourned him in private. She grieved silently. And after all of buzz surrounding his death and burial were over, it time to wipe the tears from her eyes and prepare herself fo r the humongous task ahead. The responsibility to lead the church and continue from where her husband had left off was certainly not going to be an easy task and she knew it. But she was prepared for it. She was determined to succeed. This very beautiful woman who carries herself with the dignity required of the widow of a man with such immense status as her late husband, was determined not to fail her husband and the church.
Shortly after the renowned televangelist passed away, there were already speculations that some senior pastors of the church were already positioning themselves to take over the leadership of the church. Expectedly, this was a development that did not go down well with the widow of the late man of God. But she concealed her displeasure and chose to respect her late husband by not confronting the said pastors until the husband had been laid to rest. She apparently didn’t want controversies trailing the burial of her beloved husband.
But once the burial and funeral rites were over, she got down to business. And one of the first things she did was to get the elders of the church on her side. According to an inside source, Mrs. Evelyn Joshua has always had a cordial relationship with the elders of the church and members of the Board Of Trustees (BOT). Her humility and show of respect towards the elders had always endeared her to them. While her husband was alive, she never carried herself like the wife of the founder and walked around the elders with chips on her shoulder. She humbled herself before them. This is why they all rallied round her when she turned to them for help. And though some of them were obviously torn between standing by her and supporting the anointed disciples of their late founder, the late Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, in the end, they followed their conscience and stood by the widow of their late beloved founder. She needed just the support of about 12 members of the elders and BOT but instead got well over double of that figure and the backing of over 2,000 members of the church. According to our inside source, “even before the courts pronounced their verdict, wife of our founder had gotten the backing of everyone that’s important in the church. The court ruling was just a mere formality which gives authority to her emergence as the leader of the church.”
And from that moment, two years on now, she has been fully in charge of the church. At the early stages, it appeared the church had lost hundreds of its congregation, but after a while, when many saw that Evelyn Joshua had been able to steady the ship and had proven beyond doubts that she had the knowledge and the grace of God upon her life to lead such a massive church, many of the members who left the church began to return in droves. They could see the hand of God upon her head and they knew immediately that she had the anointing and the capacity to shepherd the church.
But it has definitely not been an easy ride. The last two years have been a mixture of challenging times and several moments to thank God for. Expectedly, there were moments of despair. There were times when it appeared the task was impossible to achieve. She has had to rely on support from the elders of the church and the board of trustees to see her through those difficult moments.
“ We are all witnesses to all that happened since the church reopened, on December, 5, 2021, exactly 6 months after TB Joshua passed on to glory. The vision has been carried on, the mission has remained the same and the Lord had been faithful in all ways. It has not been an easy journey for me and the church. We have received a lot of support from people.
“ God has been at the centre of it all, despite what the ministry had been through we are inspired and energised by the strong arms of God and the powerful sustaining spirit of partners and members all over the world. The ship of the ministry is being steered by the God of T.B. Joshua as he has always done.”
City People’s investigation revealed that the pretty, simple and down-to-earth wife of late Prophet T.B. Joshua has been an incredible force behind the enigmatic prophet and the success story of his ministry. It was in 1990 that they met. She joined him long before SCOAN became the monumental and flourishing ministry that it has become today. She is believed to be the second most influential person in the ministry after her husband. She meets and counsels individuals who are unable to meet the prophet. She also preaches very occasionally in the church.
Evelyn started school at St Emecheta Primary School in Ezi Town, Delta State, Nigeria. She was born on 17th December 1968 in Okala Okpumo, Delta State, Nigeria, to Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Akabude. Therefore, as of June 2021, Evelyn Joshua’s age is fifty-two years old. Evelyn had a twin brother, although fate took him before time. In 1977, she relocated to Lagos and joined Orile Primary School and further went to secondary school. Upon graduating, she secured a chance to work at the Nigerian Distilleries in Ota, Ogun State.
Her path and that of her husband met in 1990. According to the late man of God, meeting his wife was arranged by power, and he proposed to her on the same day he saw her. Evelyn was apprehensive about the unforeseen marriage proposal, although she said yes, and they were married for thirty years before the man of God’s passing on 5th June 2021. Their marriage faced a couple of challenges due to cultural differences, although the grace of God sailed them through. She had had three beautiful daughters for her late husband.
-WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
