She has been called the Kathryn Kuhlman of this generation. Meet Pastor Adenike Lamai of Hadassah Healing Foundation and discover how she evolved from a woman fleeing church and the presence of God, to a woman who cannot get enough of the presence of God. Learn how His presence and her upbringing have equipped her to serve the women of her generation. For her, “life is not worth living, if not lived for others”.
Her ministry, Hadassah Healing Foundation, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with a strong commitment to the healing and restoration of women. Twice, I have been in her meetings and I have felt the soothing, healing, presence of God. I have felt Jesus walk in and pull me in His arms whispering, “It’s going to be okay”. And so, for me, it was an honour to sit with this exceptional Daughter of Zion and interview her for DOZ That Inspire You. Be inspired as you read.
Tell me a little about yourself. Where you were born, where did you grew up, if your parents were Christians and when and how you became a Christian.
Adenike Olubunmi Lamai was born to Samuel and Gladys Fagbemi’s family, back in Ibadan, Oyo State. But my childhood days were spent in Lagos, because no sooner than I was given birth to, my parents relocated to Lagos. And so, I had my nursery, primary and secondary school education here in Lagos. My university education was in Ogun State and then I came back to Lagos. My parents were not born again but they were Christians. My father was a Methodist and my mother a Catholic, a staunch one at that. In the mornings, we had to say our prayers and at night even if you were dozing, you had to pray. That’s how I grew up. So yes, I grew up to know God but something was still missing for me, that relationship. What we had was more of a religious rite. We went to church; the church was close to the house and you did not dare say you were not going. We attended the 6.30am mass and at 7.30am we were back and preparing breakfast. So, it was a religious thing; the catechism classes, the first baptismal classes and all of that. I kept going but I didn’t have a relationship with God until after my university education when I went to serve in Calabar. This was in 1992. I was posted to Calabar. I didn’t like it, I didn’t want it, but calabar turned out to be a foundational base for my religious life and for my career, my 24 years’ career. I got to calabar, calabar of all places, and that was where I met with Jesus. I was invited by my then boss to a programme organized by Four Square Gospel Church in February 1993. Before then, he had always invited me for programmes but I never attended. But this time around I wanted to fulfil all righteousness. When the altar call was made, he didn’t say anything, I got up on my own, I knew it wasn’t a religious thing, and oh, I cried my heart out but he still didn’t say anything to me. I shared the same office with him, got to the office on Monday, he didn’t say anything to me but from there I just knew that something had changed. Then I was living in my brother’s house in Calabar and I was living there with my friends, about four ladies. They all became born again because of my own relationship with Christ. Then again, after I gave my life I was still in and out, I didn’t know the magnitude of this call. At one point my boss started talking to me but I felt, please don’t stress me. Then service year ended in 1993 and I got retained, I didn’t even know that I would be retained and my boss said that there was an opening in Lagos so that is how I came back to Lagos. I got to Lagos and I forgot about my relationship with Christ. I thought I wouldn’t have to go to church again, because at the time my mum had relocated to the US and I felt there was no body to stress me about going to church. I didn’t know that God had planted someone, Victoria, I will never forget her. She goes, “How are you? How was Calabar? I would love to invite you to my church”. And I thought, Oh, not again. Her church was in Surulere, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Freedom Hall. Well, I began to avoid her, and she would say, “Nike”, and I would say, “Sorry, I’ll come next week”. For like one month I kept avoiding her and church then there was a day I just said, let me just go, and this again was to fulfil all righteousness. But I didn’t know it was a set up. That day, I got into her car and we drove all the way from Victoria Island to Surulere. And I said to her, “You mean you go to church from Victoria Island to Surulere every week?” Finally, we got there, it was my second time in a Pentecostal setting. All my life, it had been the Catholic church, Methodist or Baptist. The first time was when I went to Four Square, and Four Square is a bit more orthodox. I enjoyed the worship, I said, wow. After that the pastor came up, he was young and then I saw order. Let me tell you, that was what thrilled me and then they were singing in the Spirit and I said, “Wow, I want this”. Guess what? If you ask me, that was the day I gave my life to Christ, because since that day, I have not turned back. For me it was like, you mean there is a better life? You mean I can serve God in this kind of wonderful environment? The people are all cheerful and loving, the music, wow. The following service day, which was Sunday, I didn’t wait for this lady, I found my way to church. And I lived in Surulere so it was more convenient. After my initial visit, she had asked me, “How was it? Did you enjoy it?” I said, “Victoria don’t ask me. And don’t bother about me, I now know the place, I will help myself.” You won’t believe this, I became a worker and the lady, till she left, wasn’t a worker. On Sunday, I was there, Wednesday I was there. I remember I went for like one month, and after one month, I started asking, “Is there anything I can do?” So, I went for New Believers Class and Baptismal Class to be baptized. I wanted to be a worker. Then one of my friends who was living with me, I dragged her, she also gave her life to Christ, it was a beautiful experience. And I couldn’t stop. I was the one now giving Victoria information about happenings in the church. And before I knew it, I am not kidding now, I was in church every day. Monday, after work I was there, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I was crazy, I was mad, I couldn’t help myself, I just kept going, I just kept going and before I knew it, another branch of Freedom Hall was going to open in Ikeja, that is Rose of Sharon. And I was amongst the workers who moved there. Oh, God, that was it. At that point, I just couldn’t help myself. I served with the Holy Police and from there moved to Care, it used to be called Care but now House Fellowship. From House Fellowship, I joined the Ushering Department, from Ushering Department, I joined the Choir at Rose of Sharon. And before then, I never knew I could sing. I would sit down, sometimes on my way to work, and God would give me songs and I would write them down. I just loved God. And Victoria would look at me and say, “I can’t believe it”, and I would say, “Victoria you are missing, you are missing”. But she never became a worker in the church, she got married and relocated. But you know what? I Just knew that God planted her there for me because I would never have. And oh, she was persistent, she did not give up on me. Then at some point I was ordained a minister before I left Redeemed.
That is an amazing, very amazing salvation story. Thank you for sharing. So, apart from your salvation, what is your biggest testimony of God’s faithfulness in your life?
My calling, because for me even up until now I still tell my people that I have done nothing, absolutely nothing, to have qualified for what God is doing in my life. The testimonies are amazing, sometimes I sit back and think and I am unable to hold back the tears. We just finished a conference and testimonies, amazing testimonies, are already rolling in and I am like, who am I? And God said to me Himself, He said, you are the Kathryn Kuhlman of your days. And guess what? There is nothing I don’t have about Kathryn Kuhlman. And I said, to step into these shoes…and He said to me, by the time the ministry is ten years, then you will start your ministry. So, I am just starting the ministry. But I am like, “Kathryn Kuhlman? God there must be a mix up somewhere”. And guess what? And the Holy Spirit is here, I am not adding anything, I fear God so I am not adding anything to anything I am telling you. I have been to several places, within and outside this nation, people that did not know anything about me, but of course they are people of the Spirit, the first meeting they are like, “Do you know anything about Kathryn Kuhlman? I see the anointing all over you”. Even before seeing me minister or anything, within Lagos Nigeria and outside this nation. And I go back to my hotel room or wherever and I weep. So, for me, apart from my salvation, that is it. That God could look at me, leave out the Kathryn Kuhlman aspect, but the fact that God could pick me, handpick me, when there are people that have known God for a longer time. I just told you now that I was everywhere running from Him but He was patient and waited for me so for me that is a good one and something that I don’t joke about. And that is also what has been firing me and propelling me because I do not deserve to be where I am and looking at where I am now and what He has shown me, it is just grace. And I want to say, like I tell people, God is partial, because I have met people that are better qualified. How much of the Scripture do I know? How much of prayer? How much of worship? So, I say to people that God is a partial God to have chosen me.
When and how did you meet your spouse? I know that your husband is also into ministry and I remember that I saw him at the first Hadassah Conference I attended in Benin.
That is another amazing testimony. Well, before I met my husband I was in a relationship and one thing I told God, and I got that from my pastor, you know how you would hear a word and you know that it is for you. He said that the Holy Spirit is very gentle and that He doesn’t force His way. But he said that there are some people who have made up their mind that they want to be compelled into His will. When I heard that, I said, oh you mean you can actually ask that of God? So, I said, “Lord going forward, I don’t want you to be gentle with me. I want you to be hard, force me, compel me into your will.” Then I was waiting on God for marriage and I started praying. This is another aspect of my life that I am going to write a book on. And of course, the suitors would come and I said, Lord, no matter how good looking, no matter how rich, no matter what the person might have, if you know this is not part of your will, I am ready to go through the pain. Oh, it’s not as easy as I have said it, they would come and I would say, “This is my choice” but you know I have told God to compel me into His will. I met a guy in the US and I am talking about the days of IT boom and he had everything set and I made a trip to the US, but you know because I had told God, compel me, I just knew there was something missing and I said, “God you are at it again.” I went through emotional trauma. And my mum would ask me, “What is it again?” My mum, like I said earlier, had relocated to the US. She was in the US for like 14 / 15 years, so she wasn’t there but she would always call me and ask, “What is it?” My home was like a dormitory while my mum was around, most of my friends grew up in my house, and they would call her and she would say to me, “Ronke is getting married, when is it going to be your turn?” And they would always tell her to talk to me but they didn’t know that I had a covenant with God to wait for the one that was right. I didn’t know that I asked for something bigger than I could handle. Oh, I cried my eyes out, and I would say, “Oh Lord just help me settle. I am serving you. I am in church Monday to Sunday and Sundays I don’t get home until 4pm, sometimes 5pm”. And there was a time that Redeemed started this evening services, I would go home around 1 or 2pm, rest, and come back to church. So, one of these days, I met my husband. How did I meet my husband? He had been in ministry, he finished from UI (University of Ibadan) there are two fellowships still running in UI, he started them when he there. So, he’s always been in ministry. Early on in his life, his parents wanted him to be a Reverend Father, so he went to the seminary. It was right in the seminary that he had an encounter. Jesus showed up in his dream, so he left and God asked him to go and do stuff. When he finished from UI, he had another fellowship that he was running called, Canopy of Power. It was a healing and power meeting. A friend of his was in my parish then, Rose of Sharon and he invited him to worship with us. So, he came to Rose of Sharon and that day of all days, I led worship and he sat up at the gallery. Now, I tell people that I do not have a fantastic voice but I knew, and that’s when I started suspecting God, that anytime I led worship, the presence of God was always very strong. So, he said that was what drew him. He just came to have a good time and to satisfy his friend who had been inviting him to worship at the parish but he didn’t know that destiny was calling him. He said, whilst up there, when I started ministering, he was like, Wow, and then he heard God’s voice say, “That is your wife”. My husband is a quiet one, he can lock himself up for two days and not come out, that is how serious it is. So, he said to God, “My wife? I don’t even know this lady; I just know that your presence is here”. And he struggled with that and he left. Then, I have a pastor friend who is also his friend. My pastor friend came visiting, this was a week after my husband had been in church and seen me and he asked my husband to accompany him. Immediately after service, I would always go home, then I was the head of the choir in Rose of Sharon and I would always go home with one or two people and we would eat and just relax. Then my friend showed up in my house with this gentleman. I had not met him before, so I didn’t know who he was but as they entered, he saw me and just stood still and was looking at me. I paid no attention as I was greeting my friend. Like I said I didn’t know him, had not seen him before, he was the one who had seen me in church leading worship. And besides, anybody can come visiting with anybody. So, he sat down and was quiet, and like I said, he is a very quiet person naturally. My friend introduced us and I said hello and continued my conversation. Now, for me once I know you are serious with God, I don’t have to date you but I want to cultivate a friendship. At that time, we had worker’s meetings in Rose of Sharon and I knew he was a man who knew the Scriptures, a Bible scholar, according to my friend, so I made him my friend because I wanted him to help me with my assignments from church. My friend was now out of the picture and I would call him whenever I was asked to take worker’s meeting and he would help me put together Scriptures and ask me to read certain portions of the Bible in preparation. That is how it started. I quickly became used to him but I never ever thought of marriage. Then after about two months, he invited me out to eat at an eatery in Surulere. That was where he proposed. I was surprised and was like, are we going out for you to now be proposing marriage? And he said he wasn’t ready to go out because he knew what God had told him and I said, “Well, God didn’t tell me anything”. And I walked out on him that day. I thought he was taking advantage of the friendship. At this point I had one or two other people that had proposed to me that I was praying about it. Each time I knelt to pray, his picture would come up and I would say, “No, no, no”. You have seen my husband, he is not ugly, he speaks well, he is a graduate but, I wasn’t interested. He would come to my house…oh no, I wasn’t fair. He would wait, and I would work till late at night when I got home, he would say, “I have been waiting” and I would say, “Yes, I went to work and I am tired, get up and go”. He waited for two and a half years before I said, yes. At some point, I became afraid because the more I prayed the more I just sensed that he was the one and I didn’t want him. But I had told God to compel me into His will so all the other relationships started to fall apart and at some point, I was left with only him. Then guess what? By the time I was ready, there was a sister that was going to kill herself over my husband. About one and a half years after he proposed, when it was becoming clear that he was the one, I was like, okay let’s just date, time will tell. But I would not attend his meetings, I was busy at work and in church. But this sister was there helping him with his ministry. Even when I went, I just went as a guest minister, who would not do anything, but this lady, pretty girl, loved the Lord as well, would be busy helping. So, my husband came to see me one evening. He said we needed to talk and I said, fine. He said he just wanted to tell me that there is a lady and although they are not dating but he felt he needed to close this door so he could open another door. He said, “The truth is, God told me you are the one but I can’t force you. This is almost two years that I have been waiting. And apart from that, we don’t have a relationship, all we have is a platonic relationship, I help you out with your assignments and that is it. I will have meetings you won’t show up. It seems I am forcing myself on you. Even though God has spoken, but if you don’t hear God for yourself and accept His will, this marriage will not work. So, I am just here today so that you can release me. That is all I came for”. So, I asked him, “Do you have any feelings for her? And he said, “The truth is that I am beginning to develop feelings for her”. At that point, I told him, “You see, this is double dealing, pastor”. And he said, “Say whatever you want, I am not accountable to you I am accountable to God. He sees my heart and He knows everything. I have spoken to you what else do you want me to do? I can’t wait forever. God has told me that I am going into ministry and I want to go into ministry a married man. You can say what you want, just release me”. And he left. At that point, I knew he was the one. Then I called him and he didn’t pick my call. So, I went to God and I said, “Lord, you know, it is not easy to marry someone going into ministry and besides, he is still living with his sister. I am not saying I want a billionaire but Lord I want a bit of comfort”. I began to give God all kinds of excuses. God didn’t say a word to me. As for my husband, he said he wasn’t interested anymore. Then I said, “God you see, now I am ready, he won’t pick my calls”. Then God asked me to give him some time as it wasn’t easy for him. Yes, he had not asked the lady out but he gave me enough room to step in and I didn’t and the lady was everywhere, people thought that they were dating. We were in this for another three weeks. Then eventually he said he was going to tell the lady. Oh, he didn’t have it easy. The lady reported him. Then he was with Redeemed. She reported him and there was a big, big mess. The pastors called him. That morning when he was going, he told me about it and I felt so bad because I knew I caused it. Two questions they asked which the lady wasn’t expecting, so she wasn’t prepared for that. One, they asked, when and how did he propose to you? She couldn’t say anything because there had been no proposal. Then secondly, they asked, “Did he sleep with you at any point in time or touch you inappropriately?” She said, no. And then he said he told her that he was dating someone. They asked if this was true and she said it was but that she never met me and she felt he was just trying to push her away. So, they settled the matter and that was how my head came down, I apologized and we started planning for our wedding. And we were married on the 1st of May 2004.
Awesome testimony. Hopefully the single ladies reading this are learning a thing or two. So, when and how did you get called into ministry?
That is one question I don’t know how to answer. I love God and I am just panting after Him. At some point, I started a fellowship in my house. This was in the nineties. As soon as I got myself together, started working in Freedom Hall, the fire was there and so any opportunity for me to work for God, I seized it. I started a fellowship in my house that held every Saturday, early in the morning for one hour. People in the neighborhood would just come in and I would pray with them before we started the day. My friends back in Freedom Hall, we were in the same department together, they would come to my house in the evenings and we would fellowship together. As soon as I gave my life to Christ and I was serious with God, I didn’t have friends that were casual believers so every opportunity we had to be together was for fellowship. And it helped that my house was close to church too. We would assemble there after service. And we had what we called the Fellowship of Tshekhere (Tsekhere is a local musical instrument). We would sit down on the floor in my house and just worship in the Spirit. When we finished, we would eat, because I would have cooked something. And we are all still in the ministry today doing great things for God. Then I got ordained a deaconess and would always be called to be a part of one committee or the other. And I was also part of the Christian fellowship in my office then. So, if you ask me, I can’t really put a time to when I was called into ministry.
How has this call into ministry impacted on your life?
I would say a deeper love for God and the things of the Spirit because you can’t be in ministry and excel without loving your caller. And you can’t love your call above the caller.
So, what is the most rewarding thing you have done thus far, and why was it rewarding?
I would say that it is seeing lives changed and knowing that I am part of someone’s success story, that God is using me as a vessel to reach out to people. We started the empowerment aspect of Hadassah and it is now fully established. So apart from the healing, we have women who are being established, they are now employers of labor. So, for me, seeing lives changed, that is what is most rewarding.
What challenge or challenges have you overcome and how?
I would say that as long as we are in the world, there will always be challenges. And there might be a challenge that you overcome at one stage and then it will rear up its head again at another stage. But for me now, at this point in my life and ministry, I will say two challenges. And I won’t say that they are gone for life because it might come up in another form but I want to say that God has helped me to be able to look at it and face it head long. First is the challenge of people. When I say people, I mean that you invest in people and you think that they are with you and that they are going to go all the way with you, and you find out that they just get up someday and they leave and you have to start all over again. Before now, it used to be heartbreaking for me but you know what God said to me? Now I know how God speaks to me. I got into the room and my husband was listening to a message from some pastor in the US and it was at the point where I was passing and what I heard and it registered in my spirit was this; “Don’t be afraid when people leave you”. I didn’t even hear the rest. And I knew that God was just trying to reemphasize the fact that He is the one in charge of my life, my destiny and my ministry. Before now I used to be so heartbroken and my husband had to sit me down and tell me that there are some people that leave not because they want to leave but because they are done with their assignment and God will have them leave even if they don’t want to leave. So, he said to me that there are times that God will force them out if you cannot see and they also cannot see or sense rather, that their time is up. He said also that there are others, it’s not that it is their time, but if they leave, let them leave because you can’t force them to stay. He added that by the time they leave, that God will not bring a replacement like them, He will bring a better replacement. I had someone that left me about three years ago but after that major incident, now I am so toughened I can deal with people leaving. Whether God is the one removing them or their leaving is manmade, I am good. And now, some of my partners are saying that I don’t care, I just move on, and I am like, “What do you want me to do?” Of course I will ask, “Is there anything I have done?” And one thing I have tried to ensure is that I always ask, “Is there anything I have done?” The reason is so that I can ask them to forgive me because the ultimate thing is for us to make heaven. Some will tell me that there is nothing wrong. Whether there is something and they don’t want to tell me at least I have asked. So, that is one major challenge and God has helped me and I am good. Then the other one is the money, the finance. God has called me into a ministry that is capital intensive. For now, we are dealing with women that are below average. It is not everybody you preach to and tell, “God bless you” that will accept it. For some what they need is money and they will turn to your God. We need to be wise as Christians. The world is changing; we also need to change. So, money is a challenge. Will I say that I have overcome? But I will say that it is not as tough as it was before now. But at the same time, it is still a major challenge that we face. And we are growing so what used to be a challenge for us last year is no longer a challenge but then, we have a new challenge because we are growing and expanding. For this year alone, we spent over two million naira just hiring BRT buses to bring in these women from all over.
What challenge has been the most difficult for you?
The funding, because there is a lot to be done. At the moment, we are not able to do as much as we would have because of funding.
How has this challenge impacted your life and ministry?
Well, it has driven me more and more to God. Just to know that He is the one that can sustain me and that He is the one that can provide, because a number of times people have made promises but for whatever reason they just disappear into thin air. And so, it is just to trust God as my source and not people because He can decide to change the source at any point in time, which I have seen Him do over the years.
When and how did you begin Hadassah Healing Foundation?
I was raised by a mother who is a giver. As I mentioned earlier, my house was like a dormitory in those days as I had my friends living with me. My mother was always giving to others. It was her lifestyle. During festive periods, she would cook and distribute food to the neighbors, and even after she relocated to America, she would send money and gift items home to be shared amongst neighbors, family and friends and so giving became a lifestyle for me too. Then my husband thought I should take my giving a step further and that led to the registration of Hadassah Healing Foundation as a non-governmental organization.
How and why did you choose the name?
We were looking through the Bible and I decided on the name because it depicted what I had in mind. Hadassah can be likened to a woman that has been crushed by the issues of life. But I wanted to call it Hadassah Foundation. God on the other hand wanted it to be called Hadassah Healing Foundation. When I went to register it, Hadassah Foundation did not go and I was asked to add another word to the name. I added every other word I could think of and it did not go but when I added the word, Healing, it sailed through and that is how Hadassah Healing Foundation was registered. God had His way in the long run.
What can followers and partners of your ministry expect from you in the months and years to come?
Well, I will say that they can expect whatever the leading of the Holy Spirit is. (She laughs)
Where can people get more information about you and Hadassah Healing Foundation?
From our website, http://hadassahhealingfoundation.org/ and social media. Hadassah Healing Foundation is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And Pastor Adenike Lamai is on Facebook.
Interview by Eturuvie Erebor AKA Gabriella.
