Emmanuel Udofia, the former Primate of The African Church, has described the late Uma Ukpai as a man fully given to the gospel and the things of God.
Udofia made this known in response to the announcement made by the family about the transition to glory of the prominent evangelist.
Until his death, Uma Ukpai was the founder and president of the Uma Ukpai Evangelistic Association (UUEA), a non-denominational gospel ministry headquartered in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
Read also: Renowned evangelist Uma Ukpai dies at 80
“The Reverend Dr. Uma Ukpai was a gift of God to our generation, not only to the church but also to our generation. Because there are so many people, even outside the church, that have benefited from his light,” Udofia told BusinessDay.
According to him, Ukpai’s death is a loss to Nigerians and the Church at large. “So when it comes to the church, he was a man that by the grace of God was dedicated to the work of God,” Udofia said.
Joseph Ojo, the presiding Archbishop of Calvary Kingdom Church (CKC), told BusinessDay that Ukpai was never obsessed with ambition. “Since the call of God came upon his life, he never turned back.
“He began as a member, a minister in the Assemblies of God; he never left to start a church,” Ojo said.
Read also: To say that there is fight against corruption amounts to fooling ourselves – Uma Ukpai
According to Ojo, Ukpai knew what God called him for and pursued it with vigour, grace, and great fulfilment. “He started with the evangelical ministry all these years. So, he was a man who knew what God called him for. And his impact is not only within this country, or continents, but across the globe,” Ojo said.
The UUEA ministry was focus on faith, healing, and spiritual leadership, and was also known for large city-wide crusades, prophetic teaching. The late evangelist was also a founding member of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), with his Greater Lagos for Christ Crusade of 1985 helping to pave the way for its formation.
