Film producer, Mike Bamiloye of Mount Zion Film Productions and his wife, Gloria, talk about their 25-year-old marriage
How did you meet?
Mike: We met in 1983 after I graduated from the College of Education in Ilesha. I saw her during one of my visits to the campus Christian fellowship drama group.
What was the attraction?
Mike: The Lord is the attraction. I knew it was the will of God. We didn’t just start talking because of marriage. We were already working together in the Christian fellowship. I was the drama director and she was a member of the fellowship.
Gloria: He was very humble and simple. Nothing really attracted me more than the fact that he loved and had the fear of God in him.
Did you have a difficult time wooing her?
Mike: It is a normal thing for any Christian that has the spirit of God in her to pray first in a situation like that. She said she had to seek God’s face and I agreed because that was the normal thing. After some time she knew it was God’s will and told me. We were working together in the ministry till we got married in 1988. We started the ministry in 1985 with a few brethren. We had been working before then in the Christian fellowship.
Were you dating someone else?
Mike: It wasn’t common in our time. As a child of God and a leader in the ministry, I was not dating anyone. Although I prayed about some other people at that time, but there was nothing like dating. I never even knew the meaning of that word at that time.
Gloria: I was young and people were coming but I wasn’t ready for such a thing. I wasn’t led to give myself to something like that. I had prayed over someone like that who wanted to marry me, but I felt convinced not to go for him. He was a child of God also, he still is, but I was certain that he wasn’t the will of God for me.
Were there oppositions from both families?
Mike: Yes there were. The oppositions were based on the fact that I was involved only in the drama ministry, although I taught in a school briefly. My parents were opposed to the fact that I wanted to marry even though I was not working. Her parents saw that we didn’t have tangible jobs. But we believed that we were working. We were doing the work of God. But the opposition didn’t last for long. They all reasoned with us, when we were about to get married.
How did you propose to her?
Mike: I just told her that the Lord led me to speak to her. I prayed about it first. She said she would pray about it. There was no kneeling down or giving of flowers.
Gloria: He asked me to marry him, I told him I didn’t know whether to say yes or no. I said I had to pray about it. He agreed.
Were you interested in him before then?
Gloria: I didn’t have that in mind then. I was young and had a lot on my mind. I wasn’t ready for a thing like that. Later on I prayed and became convinced that he was the will of God for my life.
How did you adjust to married life?
Gloria: It was a spiritual thing. We acknowledged God as the centre of the marriage and we had deeper love for each other. We had grace from God to understand each other and live together.
Mike: It is very natural with everyone once you get married. We knew we came from different backgrounds so we had to adjust. In our case it was easy. It was the Lord that brought us together. Every marriage usually has a rough beginning. So it was God’s grace that helped us to adjust. We were so much pre-occupied with the work of the ministry. We got married one Saturday, and the next Saturday we were on a drama ministration in Ilesha.
That means there was no honey moon…
Mike: No there was no honey moon. We did not even have money to go for any honey moon.
What challenges have you encountered in your marriage?
Mike: Every marriage has challenges. But the difference is the presence of God. We had challenges when we were raising children, even in our personal lives too. We were involved full time in the drama ministry then. It was so rough, there was no full time employment, and we had members. But God helped us. And today, it’s more than 25 years.
How did you run the home since both of you were doing the same job?
Mike: Initially, we went from church to church for ministrations. At a time, she had to stay at home with the children while I travelled with the brethren as far as Zaria, Jos, and Kaduna. As time went on, her grandmother came and helped take care of the children.
Gloria: We were doing the job before we got married; it’s part of my life. When I was having children at the initial stage, I stayed at home, especially when I was pregnant. But now, I am able to balance my time properly. Our work is entertaining and evangelistic as well.
How would you describe each other?
Mike: She is a woman of faith and prayer, with great understanding. She is hardworking and relates with people better than I do. She is sociable.
Gloria: He is a man of God. He likes to do the right things, and he loves God. He is always ready to say sorry. He doesn’t like to hurt people’s feelings. He has his ego as a man, but he is very humble.
How would you describe your marriage so far?
Mike: Our marriage has produced great ministers. Our children also are in the ministry, my first son is a drama producer and director of Christian movies also, my second son is into music and our third child is studying English in the university. She is a scriptwriter. The marriage has been fantastic. It has been very good. It has been highly productive and successful, and has given birth to many fruits.
Gloria: It has been very wonderful and beautiful, because we got it right from the initial stage. I thank God because I have been enjoying the benefits. That is why I advice singles to seek God’s face and pray for the right person.
How do you settle differences?
Mike: Once in a while there has been disagreement in principles, but we always come together to agree. When there is a disagreement, one party approaches the other, depending on whoever see reasons first. There is always an agreement when there is a disagreement. We work together and sometimes we disagree during film productions but at the end of the day, we still have to reach an agreement.
Gloria: We are children of God, and we cannot sleep without forgiving each other. I do not want to miss rapture. We are able to cope because we fear God. The fear of God has sustained our marriage.
Do you pay your wife to appear in your movies?
Mike: I do not pay people. In drama ministry, we don’t pay. We give honorarium to the cast as the Lord provides. We only pay the crew and hired hands. We work together, so I don’t pay her.
Do you operate a joint account?
Mike: We use the same back account and we are both signatories to it. It is the major family account. But we still have separate bank accounts.
How do you spend time together as a couple?
Mike: The ministry takes us around, so we travel together, spend time together and we go out together. We also spend time together with the children
Gloria: We travel together, and we always have time for each other.
What common hobbies do you share?
Mike: We both like to sing and pray.
What pet names do you call each other?
Mike: She calls me Brother Mike. She calls me that because that was what she used to call me when we were in the fellowship before we got married. Even the children call me Brother Mike sometimes. Other ministers get surprised when she calls me Brother Mike. I call her Mummy Daniel.
Gloria: I have tried sometimes to stop calling him Brother Mike, but I couldn’t.
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