In a day marked by deep reflection and spiritual triumph, a Pastor Charles Kolawole Asiwaju celebrated his 60th birthday and official retirement from the civil service today, March 29, 2026. The milestone event, held at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) City of Refuge Zonal Headquarters in Millionaire’s Quarters, Kubwa, served as the backdrop for the highly anticipated public presentation of his new book, Walking Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
The book, subtitled A Living Testimony of Deliverance and Life-Renewal from Physical Death, provides a harrowing and inspirational account of the author’s survival following a brutal attack by armed robbers in February 2014. Left for dead with life-threatening injuries, Asiwaju recounts his journey through complex surgeries, spiritual encounters, and the profound lessons of forgiveness that defined his recovery. The publication serves as a formal witness to the “divine intervention” and “faithfulness of God” that the author claims preserved his life against all medical odds.
During the thanksgiving service, which commenced at 1:00 PM, guests and congregants were treated to a narrative that connects the author’s personal trauma to the timeless comfort of Psalm 23. “Even in the darkest valleys, we are not alone,” Asiwaju writes in the text, a sentiment that resonated throughout the double celebration of his birth and his transition into retirement.
During his recovery from injuries sustained in the robbery attack, Kolawole experienced several vivid spiritual encounters that transcended his physical surroundings, beginning with a symbolic courtroom vision where he was defended against accusations by a figure who testified to his Christian character. While in a deep sleep, he also found himself at the original site of the robbery, where he was supernaturally presented with clean clothing and challenged by a guide to choose between seeking revenge or granting forgiveness to his attackers.
Other “mysterious” moments included a heightened perception of the hospital ward, such as knowing a distant door was open or sensing a fellow patient’s specific medical diagnosis without being told. Perhaps most poignant were his visions of the boundary of life, including a “vehicle for heaven” from which he was turned back because his earthly work and family responsibilities were not yet complete, and a glimpse of a magnificent, golden “Hall of Nations” that reinforced the temporary nature of earthly life.
But the strange encounters were not limited to the author alone. His wife Mrs Jumoke Asiwaju’s experience was also captured in the book. Fondly referred to as Jummy, Mrs Asiwaju’s experience was defined by a “double shock” beginning on February 13, 2014, when she was shielded from the news that her eldest sister had passed away in London. While attending a ministers’ conference at the Redemption Camp, she received a horrific phone call the following morning where a stranger answering her husband’s phone claimed they had killed him and “thrown him away”. This trauma caused her to faint, and upon reaching the hospital, she faced the second blow: learning of her sister’s death while simultaneously finding her husband battered beyond recognition, with his head swollen to five times its normal size and his face nearly severed in two.
Despite her own grief and the exhaustion of managing urgent medical needs, including a frantic, high-stakes search for rare blood across Lagos during a traffic-heavy morning, Mrs Jumoke Asiwaju found the spiritual strength to forgive the family and church members who had kept the initial tragic news from her.
The book proves to be a philosophical take on a tragic event, which made the celebration bring together family, friends, and church leadership from different Areas and Zones of the RCCG to honour a man whose life has become as much of a message as his ministry.
Walking Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death is now available to the public, offering hope to those facing their own “valleys” of sickness, loss, or uncertainty.
