Why it took me time to know God – Iya Rainbow

The fact that veteran actress, Esther Idowu Philips, popularly known as Iya Rainbow, is now a Christian cleric still surprises many. In her days, she could be best described as a society lady. But she now has a church in the Ojodu–Berger area of Lagos.

In a recent chat with Sunday Scoop, Iya Rainbow said when she was younger, she didn’t have a personal relationship with God despite being the daughter of a respected cleric. Then, she used to attend parties with friends and sometimes drank herself into a stupor.

According to her, however, it got to a stage that God ‘arrested’ her and told her to build a church for Him. But just as she started to know God, her husband died and left her with five children.

She said,“I became preoccupied with making my children comfortable; ensuring that they didn’t lack. I didn’t even think of buying clothes for myself. When all my colleagues were buying cars, I couldn’t buy one for myself. The opportunity to buy a car only came when I fell from a commercial bus in front of the late Gbenga Adeboye’s office. I think his boys told him about the accident and he later promised to launch a movie for me. It was the money I got from the launch I used to buy a Mazda 626.”

Continuing, she said, “Though I wasn’t a strong Christian when I was younger, I never visited a witch doctor. I only called on God whenever I was in trouble. But when I got to know God better, I realised that He had been watching over me. Maybe He felt that He still needed me to work for Him.”