WOMAN WITH A HEARTFOR THE ELDERLY, SET FOR INVESTITURE AS ARCHBISHOP
Josephine Gideon Eggah is the Presiding Bishop of New Birth Bible Church. On November 22, 2025 she will be installed formerly as the Archbishop in the body of Christ. Her mentor and spiritual father, Archbishop Joseph Alexander, US, will lead a team from the International Charismatic Assembly of Apostles and Bishops, along other eminent spiritual fathers, for the epochal archbishopric installation occasion at New Birth Bible Church, Uyo.
Born 23rd December, 1964 in Offot, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Eggah is married to Bishop Gideon Eggah, a man she has described in glowing terms as both her first pastor, a supportive husband and her major backer in ministry. Although her husband first became a pastor, he has subsumed his manliness to submit to the spiritual authority of the wife. This is humility par excellence! How did it happen?
After Josephine Eggah received her call into pastoral ministry and the mandate to begin the New Birth Bible Church, it was the husband who rather encouraged her, having known of her spiritual depth and the genuineness of the call. He let the wife lead while he oversees the administration of the church, and their strong nuptial bond soon snowball into rapid growth of the ministry.
The archbishop-designate, Josephine Gideon Eggah, retold the story to Quest Inspirational magazine: “It all started when I attended a conference in Deeper Life Bible Church, Lagos, in 1993. As the General Superintendent, Pastor Williams F. Kumuji was teaching, I fell into a trance and saw myself preaching; my husband was standing with me. Immediately, the zeal of the Holy Ghost came on me strongly and as soon as I returned from the conference, involuntarily I started preaching and miracles were happening. People would be visiting and requesting for prayers, and returning with testimonies. So, that is how the calling started, and in 1995 New Birth Bible Church was commissioned in 1995.”
Walking us through the early part of her ministry and the New Birth Bible Church, she recollected: “I was ordained a full-time minister in 1997. By then, my husband was still working with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and later voluntarily retired to join me fully in the ministry, and that was how New Birth Bible Church grew from grace to grace and in 1999, the foundation for the cathedral was laid in the place that was a forest but today a city.”
In 30 years, New Birth Bible Church has made huge impact in the lives of people and communities through the church’s many outreaches. But one unique arms of the church that attracted this writer’s attention more is the ministry of helps for the aged. It is known as the Grannies Fellowship for Christ. This fellowship was birthed 20 years ago to cater for the rejected, abandoned and traumatized old people, especially women in the communities.
As parts of the activities to mark the 30th anniversary of the Church, facilities built for the grannies would be unveiled. Her devotion to giving solace to the elderly attracted the attention of the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the current President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio who supported the acquisition of lands and the building with some funds.
Among the grannies who benefit from Josephine Eggah’s humanitarian service are widows, childless old women who are abandoned by their families. She chose to call them grannies and not widows, as according to her, tagging them as widows lowers their self-esteem. “Why I called them grannies and not widows is because I want them to be confident, hopeful and happy in their old age; calling them widows brings them back into the negative memory of the unfortunate past; making them feel lonely and sad. You remember what happened to Naomi when she changed her name from Naomi to Mara – bitterness. Widows can be very bitter and lonely. As Naomi lived a fulfilled life in her old age, these grannies are transformed from bitterness of life to a life of sweetness, hope and joy. You will notice how bright they are during the Grannies fellowship,” Eggah stated.
Ofcourse, her good intention was misunderstood by people criticized her for shielding witches who should been left to die. But she ignored those criticisms. She recalls the nostalgic experience. “When we started the Grannies for Christ Fellowship, people criticized us. They said, “Ma New Birth Bible Church is protecting witches in her church.” That was because I gathered the aged who were rejected together, housed them, provided clothes and feeding for them and teach them the word of God. In twenty years of the Grannies fellowship, I have seen many given their lives to Christ, and the very old ones among them making heaven at last, because we share the goodnews of salvation with them. I recalled a case of one of them who towards the end of her life said to me: “Ma Bishop, I’ve seen the angels dressed in white apparels who have come to pick me but my Bishop you will cry for my departure.” And it was so! “
For Pastor Umo Eno, governor of Akwa Ibom State, who has built a strong legacy of touching lives of the elderly and the downtrodden through his robust humanitarian gestures across boards, irrespective of tribe and political leanings, Archbishop-designate Josephine Eggah could not conceal her excitement. In her words, she said: “I want to praise the name of the Lord for our Governor. I call him a shepherd- Governor, he shepherds the Church and the State. The senior citizens are those we have in the Grannies Fellowship for Christ – an interdenominational fellowship that gathers for both the spiritual, physical and social welfare of the aged who are themselves grandparents and great-grand parents. We especially care for those who are homeless, and have no supports from families or children. Some of them who have been stigmatized and left frustrated without a home and means of livelihood.”
Assuring the Governor of her continued support and prayers, especially for the success of ARISE Agenda and the mission of the governor, she said: “I want to really appreciate the Governor and to assure him of our prayers; as God told Joshua, “there shall never be any man that shall be able to stand before thee all the days of your life, “that is the God of His Excellency Pastor Umo Bassey Eno. No man will stand against him because of his heart of love for peace and unity of the State. He has brought us together, collapsed every wall of partition in the Christendom and across party lines.”
“Let me use this medium to say that we in the church should be proud of who we have as our governor. Our church leaders should be proud of him and not join the world to talk him down. We have to tell the world about what God is using him to do. We need to go to the media; let me thank God for what this magazine, Quest Inspirational is doing, and we must publish the works of His Excellency. Let’s do what the man Jesus healed did – he went into Decapolis, began to publish what Jesus did to him, even when Jesus asked him not to tell anybody.”
“So, as church leaders, let’s publish the good work the Governor is doing, especially the humanitarian works to the aged, the ones we call at New Birth Bible Church, the Grannies. The Governor has elevated the status of these senior citizens by building them a home where they can live well and are well taken care of. These grannies are those that were rejected, they called them witches or the wicked ones, especially if someone died in the family or children are not making progress in life.”
“So, I am very, very happy about how the Governor is helping give fresh hope to the aged. I gather our grannies in New Birth Bible Church to pray every first Friday of the month, we pray for the Governor and the peace and prosperity of the State.”
