Betty Lasher: The untold story of the woman who led Bishop Oyedepo to Christ

Facts have emerged that the woman God used to lead Bishop David Oyedepo and several other young people to Christ lived sacrificially and never married.

One of her students, Dr Femi Emmanuel has revealed.

Dr Emmanuel is a lecturer at West Africa Theological Seminary, Ipaja, Lagos.

He was under the tutelage of Betty Lasher at the Government Secondary School, Omu Aran, Kwara State where Bishop Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Church worldwide also attended.

Ms Lasher who clocked 90 on June 18 was a missionary teacher in the school.

Emmanuel said, “She was a teacher of Christian Religion Knowledge in Government Secondary School, Omu Aran. She served in the school for more than 30 years. She left Omu Aran in 1990 back to Oregon, Portland in the US where she came from.”

Emmanuel said Lasher never married and was instrumental to the conversion of many young people in the school. “While a teacher in that school she had a large office to herself where she ran a discipleship class.

“So apart from teaching CRK, she had sessions with students regularly, mentoring them and leading them to Christ. What made her unique was that she had a rich library of books which was possibly richer than the school library. So students would go to read in her library and she took time to mentor many students that came her way.”

Described as a disciplinarian, Mama Lasher was not the one that would spare the rod. Emmanuel recalled that he was once a victim of her disciplinary measures in class adding however that her love for students was outstanding.

Lasher’s father was a pastor according to what she told her students. She came to Nigeria out of a passion to lead young people to Christ. So, leaving the comfort of the US to take up the job of a CRK teacher in a relatively unknown town was a huge sacrifice.

Dr Femi Emmanuel

She lived far from the school compound. But had a tradition of bringing students to school in her Datsun car on Sunday evening for fellowship and would take them back.

Dr Emmanuel who served as the General Secretary of the Fellowship of Christian Students while in school said, Mama Lasher was instrumental to the growth of the fellowship in the school.

“When I look back, I wonder at the life of sacrifice that she lived. She came to Nigeria as a young lady and stayed all through the years in that village. It was an all-boys school. She helped students to know the Lord. I learnt how to draw the map of Palestine, how to lead people to Christ and several other things from her.”

“She taught us things that were beyond the syllabus. She taught us how to draw the tabernacle of the Old Testament. She taught us several Bible lessons. Now that I am an Old Testament scholar I am beginning to appreciate what she taught us then in school.” He said.

On what could have possibly motivated her to come to Africa, Emmanuel said, “I think largely people like her were motivated by love for the unsaved. Because I cannot imagine that a woman would leave the comfort of her country to a country where there are no basic amenities. She came with the desire to reach many for Jesus and she did make an impact.

“She used to speak smattering Yoruba and was dedicated to her work. People like her were brought up with the tradition to come to Africa and spend their lives for sake of the gospel. The value they attach to saving souls is far more than raising their own families. They were well trained to lay their all for the sake of the cross. That is exactly what happened in the case of Mama Lasher.” Emmanuel said.