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Author: opotu amo
Posted to the web: 2/4/2010 11:09:09 AM

You have read of Evelyn Joshua, the delectable wife and pillar ofsupport behind Prophet T.B Joshua, the Founder and General Overseer of SynagogueChurch Of All Nations, lkotun, Lagos. We have also told you earlier this year,how the personable woman met the man in the synagogue, how both of them werestruck by cupidâ's arrow, and how whirlwind romance began and eventually  culminated in marriage in 1990. And how theyhave been living happily together thereafter.

 

But take a look at the pint – sized woman on this page. Take a closerlook at her photograph and Joshuaâ's published here. You ask: is this anotherwoman in the life of the world acclaimed prophet? We answer “in a way, yes, sheis.

 

Interestingly, her name is also Evelyn. Coincidence? Perhaps so! Butthis Evelyn is Evelyn Otekpen, a 400-level student of computer science at theAmbrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo- state. And the relationship between herand the prophet is not as you think. It is not anything. It is pure. It is a filialkind of relationship between a father and a child. But it runs deeper becauseever since Evelyn encountered Joshua on TV, preaching, and felt theirresistible urge to meet him, her life has never been the same.

 

To Evelyn, the prophetâ's pretty wife from oshimili north, delta state,and mother of his three beautiful daughters, Prophet T.B Joshua may be ahusband and jewel to of inestimable value. But to this sweet hearted, strong-willed dwarfish lady from Uromi , Edo state , Joshua is God sent, a saviour, abenefactor, mentor and spiritual father.

 

Second to the last of her fatherâ's seven children (three boys, fourgirls, all normal), Evelyn primary aim of tracing the man of God to Lagos wasto see if she could come close enough to him to solicit his help for her schoolfees  which were becoming quite a burden. Before her friend, Ehizua Christiana, brought her to Lagos to try her luck,she never gave herself much chance of seeing him.

 

But to her surprise, the prophet fished her out of the tumultuous crowdof worshippers that Sunday, last October. And she experienced immediate transformation.T.B Joshua, who runs a ministry for midgets, gave her N500,000 to meet herpressing needs, and a brand new Nissan sunny car to the bargain.

 

Now, the midget computer science undergraduate, who hopes to make Bill Gatesgargantuan achievements in computer technology pale to significance, tells anybody who cares to listen, that Joshua hastouched her life in a way no mortal can, and merely stop short of calling him amini god.

 

“He surprised me with those wonderful gifts – the Nissan car and theN500, 000 and the six bags of rice,” Evelyn recounts, with smiles, in anexclusive interview with The Spectator. “He related it to me as a biological father,though he is my spiritual father, the way he took my case, l can’t reallyexplain it, but it has really affected my life positively .l mean, he could sitdown with me, take me into his hands and talk and play with me. They take careof me, play with me and make me feel loved.lt is wonderful. It is the handiworkof the man of God.”

 

She is not done yet. She reiterated how that unforgettable encounterwith Prophet T.B Joshua has changed her life, adding: “Suddenly, people thatdid not recognize me before have started making friends with me. And peoplethat did not want to relate with me in any way, that hitherto avoided me as a plague,people that have not called on me for many years, have started calling on me.Now, anywhere l go, people give me respect. l’m like a star. They say if such aman of God can humble himself and receive me the way he did, who are they not toreceive me?  Now, anytime people see me,they want to shake handd with me. As a result of that singular encounter with ProphetT.B Joshua, my dream, my life, and everything have changed.”

 

Very well. As a natural follow- up ,you ask: lf that is so, what is nowher dream? Though she is dwarfish, the dream of the 31-year-old pint –size isas tall as Burj Dubai,the reigning 168-storey, tallest building in the world, which was open with pomp onTuesday in Dubai, United  Arab Emirates.Believe it or not, Evelyn want to be another Bill Gates, and if is possible,surpass him .She wants to be beat Bill Gates on his own turf, to his own game.Did you say a tall and idle dream? Evelyn does not think so, “l’d  like to be a technologist or to be somebodywho will be create something that the whole world  will see,” she says with some glint in hereyes, “but l am still working towards that. lt has been a challenge.  What inspired me is this man, Bill Gates.Anytime l heard of that man, and what he has done with computer, l say tomyself lf only l can work harder then l will be able to make even biggerachievement because both of us (Bill Gates and she) are created in the sameimage of God.

 

“I think of Bill Gates and the Microsoft software. At times I do sitdown and think about how he was able to develop software that the whole worldis using today to run their computers. Think about it. Without that theMicrosoft software, the computer is useless. There is no place you will talk ofcomputer that you will not mention that package, l always sit down to think: lfsomebody can create this, how about me? Why not me? l still believe l havesomething to do in this life that will be beneficial to mankind, to the wholeworld.

 

“What l need now is to think and come up with a computer invention thewhole world will see and appreciate .lf l work harder l could even beatimagination but l am still thinking about it. Immediately l graduate, l will sitdown and think, what l will do to make the whole world know that with God allthings are possible.”

 

Asked what she knows about Bill Gates, apart from the Microsoft stuff,she quips: “They told me the man is not well- educated. But inspite of all that,he still came up with an idea that is today ruling the whole world of computerscience.  Anytime l remember that, l feelthat myself who went through the four walls of the university can do somethingbetter than that man, something that will even beat his record, that generationto come will have something to refer back to. Thatâ's what inspires me .”

 

Talking about computer science, she says computer runs on many Programmers“you can use java, web design, java script, etc,” she informs. “In somebranches of computer knowledge, everybody has a package where he or shespecializes.  Some people are good inhardware package, while others are good in software. It all depends on yourlevel of intelligence and how far you can go about it, and your inspiration andGodâ's grace.

 

“Right now, l am very good in website design. But the moment l graduate,l will sit down to really make sure l work on other packages so that at the end,l will be really perfect in computer science.”

 

There is a general complaint among expert that are our universities arepoorly equipped to achieve the lofty height she is aiming at. What does shehave to say?

 

“My advice is, if you really want to be good, you should not rely onlyon what your school or university can afford,” she counsels. “You should lookfor private computer establishment that have what your university don’t haveand get yourself attached to them. That way, you can learn more and be ahead ofother students who depend only on what the school can provide. Whenever l am onholiday, thereâ's a place l usually go for private training.

 

“Somehow, l have learnt how to design website but l need to learn more.l have learnt how to create passwords and all that. Talking about computer,there is the programming aspect and there people who are very good in it. I amvery good when it comes to programming and on the campus fellow students docome to me to teach them and to borrow my notebooks. After my graduation l willgo for youth service. After that, l will go for my masters. I am still tryingto work on things that will make me an employer of labour after my masters.”

 

With encouragement from people like Prophet T.B Joshua, and friends likeEhizua Christiana (who sat with us throughout the interview and chipped in oneor two words when the occasion demanded it), Evelyn believes the sky is noteven her limit.

 

“She is too shy,” Christiana says as tries to explain why she had toaccompany her to the interview. “lf she is not used to you, she would not talkunless l am there. If l am there with her, she will not be shy. If l am nothere now, she won’t talk. Even though her mother or any other person is here, shewon’t talk to her. If she just looks at my face, she will talk. If she is usedto you, she can play with you.”

 

Recalling how they met, Evelyn reveals that they met while in campus, ata Christian fellowship of Nigerian Evangelical Students (NIFES). “They invitedme just the way people invited you for interactions to ask me some things aboutmyself, “After everything, l decide to go. On getting there, they were askingme some questions. And there was a question they asked that was not really favorableto me that made me reflect back on somethingâ's, and before you know it, Istarted shedding tears. I really remember but l knows there was a question thatwas not really favorable to me.

 

 â€œAfter everything and after weimmediately closed from the fellowship, my friend (Christiana), saw me crying and asked me what is the matter. At thatinitial stage, l don’t tell her anything but it was whenwe got to the hostel that l told her everything . Since then, we’ve beentogether .  Even that day, she came to check on me, to checkwhether l had eaten. Ever since that day she has been a friend to me. That ishow we started our relationship.”

 

 â€œThere are times l asks God question that l amnot supposed to ask Him. There are times l think and weep secretly,” Evelyn confesses.“There are times l think about my life and l would cry and clean my face.”

 

The reporter getsconfused at this juncture and he asks: “What is it that you think aboutyourself that makes you cry?” “When l see my mates the way they are, and the wayl am, l do think about it sometimes and l cry,” she replies instantly.

‘is it in terms ofyour physical condition?’ “yes!” ‘And you feel, ‘why am l like this? “Yes lfeel sad when people are insulting words on me, When people who are supposed tocall me “Aunty,” who are not suppose to call me my name do because of mystature.”

 

“When l saw hercrying that day l felt for her,” Christiana, ex-student of political science, AmbroseAlli University, recalls. “l was in final year . She was in 100 Level. I do seeher in school walking around because we stay in the same hostel. When l saw her,she was shedding tears that day, and l was touched. I have to rush down andmeet her, and l asked, ‘what is your problem?’ she said nothing. I have to pether, take her to the hostel, go to her room, and talked to her before sheexplained things to me. When she explained things, l said, ‘don’t worry, l willhelp you, since then we have been together.

 

“Let me say she ismy sister. Most of family members know her. People call her our last-bornchild. Whenever they see her, they would call my mother and say, ‘yourlast-born is around.’ I can say that my mother is even more use to her than sheis to me.

 

“We are close toeach other and know each other so well that if somebody comes to me today tosay ‘look at what Evelyn did to me,’ l can say no because l know what she cando, and she knows what l can do too. If somebody goes to her to say look atwhat Christy did, she can deny it for me because we are too close.”

 

A littlediscussion with her and you discover that it is closeness based on mutualrespect and love. “I love her because of her intelligence, “Christiana says. “Sheis very brilliant and intelligent. On campus, lf you go to her department orfaculty, just ask about her they will confirm what l have just told you. Herlectures are impressed. I do go with her to her department. One day, when herlecture was talking about her, of how brilliant she is, I was even shocked.Even as l am talking to you, her GPA is greater than the on e that l graduatedwith. Evelyn can sit down and read for 24 hours. Throughout the day she canread but me l can’t read throughout the day. That is one thing for which l likeand admires her. She is just good.”

 

Talking about hersocial life, Christiana notes, “she doesn’t quarrel with people. Everybodylikes her. If she is not in her room, everybody will be looking for her. She isfond of me as much as l fond of her.”

 

 â€œShe makes me feel relaxed and respected,”Evelyn says, on why she is fond of Christiana. “She loves carrying the burdenof other people. I am not saying this because she is here with me. And she verycaring; she has been dear to me. And secondly, she makes me believe in myself,in what l can do. She is always challenging me and making me to know that l amnot inferior to others because of my stature.”

 

As the interviewdraw to a close line, discussion swings to the kind of man she will like tohave as a life partner. To start with, she says doesn’t have a boyfriend as atnow. But for a life partner, she will like to have somebody who is tall,handsome, educated and God fearing.

 

“Somebody that hasgood background, who is from God fearing family, somebody is very caring andwho will accept me for who l am. I want somebody who will not be ashamed of me,” she adds with a blush.