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MAGNUS Ngei Abe, senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, has mourned the demise of Gabriel Abarile Gimah, an ambassador and evangelist, who died on May 4, 2017, after a brief illness.
Speaking at the funeral service in honour of the late Gimah, at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, Bera, Bera Deanery Headquarters, Diocese of Ogoni, Gokana, Rivers State, Abe said although he deeply mourned Gimah’s death that he was touched by his contributions in building churches for the Anglican Communion in Ogoni and beyond as well as helping in the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He said he could reminisce with nostalgia when he (Abe) was a kid, how the late Gimah was competing with others in helping the house of God at any event in the church. Abe said the late Gimah was so committed in giving in the diocese that he was made the treasurer in recognition of his generosity to the church.
“He was part of everything that was important in this community. When I came into this church as a child, every harvest will be a competition between Chief Gimah and others. They will compete, sometimes in this church; people will contribute as much as N1 million in those days when money was money because of the spirit of the work of God that was in the man that is lying down here. Everybody in the diocese of Ogoni is here today because everybody knew that this man was one of the pillars of the Diocese of Ogoni. He was not just a treasurer of the body that founded the Diocese; he was one of the pillars of the Diocese. He worked tirelessly, selflessly to contribute to the growth of the Anglican Church in Ogoni land,” he said.
Abe, therefore, urged all and sundry to emulate the late Gimah in giving to the house of God their time and money when needed.
He consoled the family and assured them that the good their late father did in the promotion of the gospel and in building churches will stand out to help them in the eyes of God in their endeavours.
“As we mourn him, I want to say to the family that do not be dismayed. The work that your father did will continue to speak into your lives. Nothing is wasted. Every block that he paid for; every investment he made into the church will spring in your own lives and you will reap the reward. So, whatever you think your father didn’t give because he was spending all his money on the church, just watch out and see what God will do in you.”
Abe said that one of the secrets of success of his family is because that his late father gave all he had in building churches and spreading the gospel.
“My elder brother told me that one of the reasons that God will never desert us in our family is because my father believed in building churches and he contributed to building churches,” Abe said.
Earlier in his sermon, S.S. Gberegbara, the diocesan bishop, urged the mourners to emulate the late Gimah in contributing to the development of the works of God, assuring them that God will never forget such people and their family.
Dignitaries who attended the occasion include Worgu Boms, a former attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Rivers State; Noble Abe, a former managing director, Onne Free Zone; Peter Medee, president of KAGOTE; Godwin Imo, Emeka Achor, both professors, amongst others.
— May 29, 2017 @ 11:35 GMT
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