At exactly 3pm on Friday, 29th January 2010 I received a text message from Ese Ibude. I quickly opened it to read expecting to receive the news that she had a found a child-minder for my baby. Instead I received the rudest shock in my life, I physically jumped from my seat. The message? “PASTOR EKY DIED LAST NIGHT. SO SAD”. To say I was shocked is an understatement. I thought I had gone past the stage where the news of death shocks me. But believe me, this one did.
Pastor Mrs Eky Otum used to be my former parish pastor at The Communion Church, Covenant Parish (former Upper Room Parish), she was my parish for more than 5 years and those years really made me mature as a christian. As young teenage christians, she made us so accountable to her that she was almost like God to us. In those days, you would never dare to disobey your parents or do something that would make anybody report you to her. She not only used to preach to us but made sure we were trained to do as she had said. I remember her telling us to serve God while we were young and had no cares because we would grow older and regret not having seved God in our youth; today I look back and thank God I followed her advice.
Pastor Otum had so much passion for women cannot be quantified; In her lifetime, she showed so much love to widows, single and married women, even teenage girls had a place in her heart. She even founded a ministry with the mission of making women Vessels of Honour. I remember the last time I was under her ministration; that was a few months before my wedding. She had some ministers come to talk to us about preparing ourselves to be the kind of wives God expects us to be.
There so many thing I would want to say about her but I find I’m not really do that now. Even if I’m not going to add any other thing to this piece, I have not forgotten her cooking- those days in the prayer band when we fast for days and break with a banquet.
Pastor Mrs Eky Otum is now with God! And I ask myself, if it had been me, would that have been my testimony? She was like Dorcas in the acts of the apostle, fulfilling ministry. My answer? I still have ministry to fulfil.
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