We thank God that it was a triumphal farewell, a glorious exit. The weather was clement and everything went on smoothly as planned, without any interruption, without hitches.
I was very touched by the encomiums upon encomiums poured on this great man of God called Dimgba Igwe. From everything that was said, it was obvious that he was indeed a good man, a just man, a kind man, a faithful man, a righteous man. That was why God took him away, because he was needed. God took him away so early, perhaps to avoid being corrupted eventually by this sinful world. That is what I believe. And my belief in this scriptural.
The Dimgba Igwe I know, was a straight man, a man of integrity, a committed man, a truthful man, a man who spoke and wrote the truth without mincing words. He called a spade a spade. I was very moved watching his “twin brother” and soul mate Mike Awoyinfa break down as he made his funeral oration, as he faced the white coffin of Dimgba Igwe placed in the centre of the field. The two of them, Mike and Dimgba, have raised the bar and the power of friendship in Nigeria to another level. They have become the reference point, the model as to how Nigerians should live together as one, irrespective of our ethnic diversities and differences. Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe have proved that birds of different feathers can equally flock together in peace, love and unity. Oh, how I pity Mike now. Now that he is without his doubles partner, may God give him the grace to carry on and to play solo and win like a great tennis champion, like a Roger Federer. May he win for his late friend Dimgba Igwe. I am sure wherever he is, Dimgba would be cheering and rooting for Mike to win in this game of life. Ah, Dimgba! Great man!
Now, let me reminisce on the Dimgba Igwe that I know, a brother from this Igbere, my hometown. It was not really too long that I got to know him. I am someone who is very choosy about friendship and relationship. Because I take friendship as something I must be deeply committed to. Whoever God directs to be my friend, I am fully committed. Once I decided Dimgba was going to be my friend, we became intimate.
In making him my friend, I found in him, somebody who has a strong passion for the kingdom of God. That is the primary meeting point, the point that got me closer to him. He also had a lot of commitment to this community, Igbere. He also projected Christ even in this community. Beyond his journalistic exploits, I saw in him, a man that possesses strong developmental strides for this community intellectually. When we talk about development, it doesn’t have to be physical development. Because we have a community that is coming up. And we need a lot of people like him to take us to the next level in this community. So that is one of the things we are going to miss in this community. On the day he lost his life, he was to give a lecture about how to develop Igbere. That is one big, sad, tragic irony.
To the family and to everyone grieving over the exit of this great icon, I say what has happened has happened. I say God knows best. God knows why He had to take him away. If it was a problem that money could solve, I would have stood very firm behind the family.
The word of comfort I want to give Mrs. Dimgba Igwe is that I am going to stand by you. And I mean this from the depth of my heart.
As a man of faith and as a child of God, I know there are certain things you cannot question about God. A typical example is the encounter of Job. There were some friends of Job that tried to justify that Job committed a lot of atrocities that made God to strike him with so much problems. God was silent but towards the end, God questioned Job whether he was there when He was creating the universe. When He was measuring the water in the deep sea, where was Job? I remember that God asked Job to pray for his friends. After the prayers, those friends of Job were restored, Job was also restored and he had multiplication of blessings. And today, he is a reference point.
Pastor Dimgba Igwe lived his full life. And I am very sure that he has completed every assignment that God gave to him. It is better that he is resting in the bosom of the Lord than to die an old man who may end up perishing in hell.
And for the living, what is the message in the death of Dimgba Igwe? The message is for us to embrace the fact that we are going to give account of our stewardship at the end of our earthly journey. There might be injuries as a result of his departure, but God knows what to do to take care of those injuries. To the Igwe family, to his elder brother Hanson, to his twin brother Mike Awoyinfa, to the nation, to the Sun family, a vacuum has been created. But God knows the reason. Like I told Mrs. Igwe, “You have to double-up in your spiritual life. Because after the ceremony, we go back to meet our different problems in our different homes. But I want to tell you, that God will never leave you alone. Take heart. God will be with you.”
The message in Dimgba’s death is that death is a reality. Death is the ultimate end of man. It is like the end of a long, long movie. Everybody will die one day. No one knows when the end would come. Only God, the Almighty, all-knowing God who knows the appointed time for everyone to die. So, we must all draw closer and closer to God. We must seek the face of God. We must do the will of God. We must be good to ourselves. As the Bible commands us, love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Dimgba fulfilled all that to the best of his ability. He served God and he served mankind through the power of his sharp pen. My friend and brother is in heaven. The reason I feel he has gone to be with the Lord is just simple. First and foremost, what happened did not take God unawares. As a Christian, I know that God is aware of everything. Before anyone goes back to Him, He must approve of it. Bearing in mind his strong affinity to the issues of faith, he has contributed immensely towards the building up of the body of Christ. I believe that he has fulfilled his mandate. Even though at the human level, we feel a hollow in our heart as a result of his departure, but I know deep down that he has fulfilled his destiny. I believe that if his destiny had not been fulfilled, if his mandate here on earth had not been fulfilled, God would not have taken him home. As I said earlier, it is better that God has withdrawn him now so that he would have a place in eternity. You will never know. Anything could have made him to derail. And perhaps, that would have made him to lose eternity. So, that is my strong consolation. That he has gone to be with the Lord.
The message in Dimgba’s death is that heaven is real and hell is real. In the world we are living, we are all just tenants. Our sojourn here is temporal. All our rat race here, all our struggles end up in the grave. Everything in this world is vanity upon vanity. When we die, we go with nothing. As the Bible says, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose your soul?
Once again, I am very happy that my brother and friend Pastor Dimgba Igwe is a candidate for heaven. It is very obvious that he was a good man who served God with his all in all. He was a leader and a role model to many.
My final message on the death of Dimgba Igwe is that eternity is real. Yes it is. One day, all of us will face the day of reckoning. Where you will end after your life’s journey is what matters. Will it be heaven or hell? I became born again in 1992. And that experience changed my life totally. It made a remarkable difference in my life. The people who knew my past life noticed a difference when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. And ever since, my life has been so beautiful. I will like to preach salvation to everyone reading me this morning because the time is coming when God will call us home. As for the family of Dimgba Igwe, heaven will send help. God who allowed this to happen will meet the family he left behind at their point of need.
No comments:
Post a Comment