By Sam-Loco Smith
The history of Pentecostalism cannot be complete in Nigeria without reference to Dr. Reverend Uma Ukpai, founder and president of the Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association, Uyo Nigeria.
His impact will also resonate anytime philanthropism is mentioned within the religious circle. This borders on the outstanding roles his ministry has played and is still playing in the development and growth of the body of Christ.
One of Ukpai’s cardinal principles in the gospel goes along with the specific instructions God gave to Moses in the book of Deuteronomy 15: 11, which says, “For there will never cease to be the poor in the land. Therefore I command you, You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.”
For Uma Ukpai, he rather chose to reach out to the needy than placing premium on gigantic mansions and purchasing fleets of cars and aircraft to showcase divine blessings of God on his ministry as it iscommonly witnessed among Pentecostal clerics today.
Though reverend Ukpai had done everything possible to remain humble and to give all the glories of his achievements to Christ, through whom his ministry flourishes, his persistence in positively affecting humanity keeps on reverberating both in the media and on social media.
Just like Jesus warned a man who was healed of leprosy (Mark 1:41-42), not to tell anyone about his healing, the man instead went about proclaiming the miracle that took place in his life to multitudes, similarly majority of those who have been blessed through the ministry of Dr. Ukpai, would rather prefer to propagate their testimonies, a development that has continued to bring more souls into the body of Christ.
Though the cleric has no denomination (Church) of his own nor does he have a standby media team, his works in the body of Christ have continued to reverberate in Nigeria and beyond the shores of the nation.
Ukpai happened to be the pioneer founder of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), an umbrella body of all Pentecostal churches, but yet he has refused to take up the leadership of the organization even since it birthed.
He voluntarily conceded the privilege to other clerics and yet he has ever been cooperative with whatever decision the PFN takes to elevate the body of Christ. This is one area of humility that is uncommon among the leadership of the Church today. His story to stardom wasn’t palatable. Ukpai himself paid the price by going through a series of tribulations just like Christ encouraged his disciples in the book of John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Ukpai’s story could not be different. The preacher suffered not only rejection at the beginning of his life, he was also subjected to hunger and various spiritual attacks from his people and members of his community, more importantly when his zeal for God spurred him to destroy a local shrine in his community at the beginning of his ministry.
Should he recount how he lost two children, how evil spirits attacked him but he prevailed and when he also experienced wants before God lifted him out of poverty, a challenge he is now fighting through philanthropy in the body of Christ.
Reverent Uma Ukpai could not recount the number of times and under various circumstances that he bore the mark of Christ on his body, both physically and spiritually. Millions of believers, who had been blessed under his ministration would recall the glorious days of Bishop Benson Idahosa, whose ministry not only shook the kingdom of darkness but governments of that period acknowledged the presence of God.
Ukpai has not only ministers in a similar realm, consecutive Southern governments have had cause to seek spiritual guidance from the founder of Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association at one point or the other.
Another unique aspect of his ministry is in the area of spiritual discipline and message of salvation, sanctification and consciousness of heaven as the ultimate hope of Christianity. Although he preaches prosperity and steadily believes in the need for children of God to be prosperous, this however did not becloud his aspiration of holiness as commanded in the Bible that without holiness, no man shall see God.
On several occasions, Dr. Uma Ukpai during ministration, has had cause to call to order waywardness in some Christians. His blunt disposition towards spiritual discipline has often led his host pastors and clerics to warn their members ahead of the need to maintain discipline before Ukpai usually arrives for a revival and or ministry.
For Ukpai, hardly any scandal both in the physical and spiritual has been heard about him since he started his ministry over 30 years ago.
Being a man of prodigious purpose, Dr. Ukpai, saw himself as a great preacher from his teenage years.
At a time when the governor of the then Eastern Nigeria visited his school, Uma was one of the three boys the governor asked what they hoped to become in future. While the other boys stated they would be medical doctors and a lawyer respectively, Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai self-confidently and pointedly said he would be a preacher. A great preacher he is, today!
Uma Ukpai is one of the most anointed and highly outstanding ministers of our generation. He speaks across the world extensively on issues of salvation, faith, healing, breaking of curses and covenants, and spiritual leadership. In town after town, across the length and breadth of Nigeria and beyond, he has mobilized God’s people into action.
He is also credited to have always spoken the truth to state authority if and as when necessary. His crusades attract crowds that number in hundreds of thousands, and spectacular moves of the Holy Spirit in these meetings have resulted in amazing miracles of healing and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Though a Nigerian, Uma Ukpai is among the few respected black clerics in Europe, America, Africa or Asia, where the result of his discipline, discipleship and others remain the same. A well respected and gentleman of God, the story of his first revival which was held in his community remains fresh in memory.
Eyewitnesses who were still alive tell the story of how the lame walked and the blind saw, along other exciting miracles. People tumbling over under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, sick bodies healed, barren women becoming mothers, marriages healed. He is therefore understandably much in demand in crusades, conferences, and seminars around the world.
Born in January 1945 at Asaga, Ohafia, in Abia State, Nigeria, Uma Ukpai lost his father at a very tender age, a development that almost brought to an end his educational pursuit. Though he had uncles who could sponsor his educational pursuit, his Christian background pitted him against them. Consequently, he learnt to work and save money in order to finance his way through post-primary school. He is a graduate of the School of Journalism and Television, Frisham, Hermitage, United Kingdom; South Florida Christian College, Miami, Florida, USA; Carolina Christian University and Burke Bible College, Kentucky, USA. He holds a Certificate in Electrical Engineering Practice, a Diploma in Journalism, a Bachelor and Doctorate Degrees in Divinity.
Recounting his first manifestation of the power of God after he met Christ, young Uma stated
“a mad man came to our school and pursued everybody. He was a healthy looking man and he made me wonder if the life of a mad man wasn’t better than that of a normal person. He came into the school and he was stark naked. His name was Deco. As people were running away from him in school, God said to me that I could also make him run away. It was a strange voice that I heard. I commanded the mad man to roll out of the school. He fell and he rolled out of the school”. This God’s General has also experienced great losses. Although he revealed that God spoke to him two months before those incidents. He said: “God had told me on that day, I won’t answer your prayers. I want to test you and know how you love Me.”
As early as 5.00 a.m that morning, armed robbers broke into his beautiful office and made away with his office equipment; God instructed him to forgive the robbers and never collect back the stolen items. He also lost his children, cousin and almost lost his darling wife when his trusted driver ran into the river, on his way to a crusade in his village. Just then, he got another shock when he was informed his 50-seater bus carrying his band had caught fire and many people died. He was composed because God had warned him of this great test. But God showed up in 1982 while he was preparing Greater Ibadan for Christ Crusade. God said to him, for handling that case well, you will be seen everywhere. God told him clearly that He has detailed 100 angels to be with him wherever he goes in this world. God has since blessed and restored to him and his wife, six children, a beautiful home and a wonderful ministry.
Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai got converted to Christ in 1958. He is the author of over 14 books and has conducted television ministry for many years. He is the president of the Nigerian Council of Gospel Ministers (COGMON) and also the National Chairman of the Think-Tank Committee of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). His Ministry gave birth to PFN in 1985 after the Greater Lagos For Christ Crusade with 5000 choristers and 7,110 as counsellors. Now he is the National Vice President of PFN.
He is the Chairman, King of Kings Medical Outreach Int’l Inc. with a full-fledged hundred-bed Specialist Hospital in Abia State. He is the initiator of the One Million Man Crusade, commissioned with the vision of breaking the curses under which the black man labours. There have been outstanding results. He is presently building the Kings All Nations University in Asaga, Ohafia that will train people to assemble, fly, and maintain aircraft. He is the founder of Greater Ohafia For Christ Crusade.
Dr Uma Ukpai is an international evangelist who has conducted crusades in many parts of the world. He is a co-author with Billy Graham and other great men of God on “The Work of An Evangelist”. A speaker in Amsterdam ‘93, Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai is the first African main speaker at the World Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI) World Convention ‘96, Miami, USA.
Perhaps one of the most anointed men of God in this generation, the servant of God is highly sought after to minister across the globe where he minister extensively on salvation, faith, healing, and spiritual leadership.
Despite his very busy schedule in any part of the world, he never neglects his covenant with God to be at Victory Cathedral, his home base fellowship every Wednesday to minister to his many followers. He is married to Philomena and they are blessed with six children.