Nigerian Pentecostal pastor Jerry Uchechukwu Eze, founder of Streams of Joy International and convener of the popular online prayer platform New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations (NSPPD), has publicly shared details of the turbulent early years of his marriage to Pastor Eno Jerry, describing the period as one of intense conflict that nearly ended the union.
Eze, born August 22, 1982, in Umuahia, Abia State, met Eno (sometimes referred to as Eno Ebele) while both were students at Abia State University.
He said he first encountered her when she was 17. According to accounts from both, the relationship began with a sense of divine leading: Eze has recounted sensing that she was to be his wife after seeing her at a fellowship event. They married on March 17, 2007, and have two children, a daughter named Samara and a son named Jerry.
In recent public teachings and interviews, Eze has been candid about the difficulties that marked the first years of their marriage. “When I got married newly, marriage was hell. Very hell. If there’s something called hellier than hell, that was exactly how my marriage was,” he has stated in multiple appearances, including at church events.
He described an incident in the first week of marriage: after asking what he called a simple question while his wife was arranging cups and plates in the kitchen, she became upset, swept the items off the surface with one hand so that they shattered on the floor, and stared at him. Coming from a background where such displays of anger were unfamiliar, Eze said he packed his belongings and left the house, fearing physical confrontation.
Another episode occurred during a trip to London. After a disagreement in a shop, Eno left him there and returned home. Unfamiliar with the area and unable to reach her, Eze eventually contacted a friend for help to find his way back. He has characterized these and similar moments as part of a broader pattern in which his wife’s temper made ordinary communication difficult and left him feeling that she sometimes assumed a dominant role in the home.
Pastor Eno has herself addressed the early years openly. In statements and related to her book I Almost Ruined My Marriage, she has acknowledged that in the first seven years she was “an angry person, a bitter person… stubborn… highly opinionated… and also very disrespectful.” She has said these traits brought the marriage close to collapse and credited her husband’s peaceful nature with helping to de-escalate tensions. She has linked some of her responses to patterns observed in her childhood home.
Eze has said he reached a breaking point and prayed that the marriage should end so both could go their separate ways, noting that each was already successful in their own right. He recounted receiving a response he interpreted as divine: the marriage was “not a destination” but “an assignment,” and the degree to which he solved that assignment would determine his “promotion in destiny.” This shift in perspective, he said, changed how he approached the relationship—from seeking to receive love and control outcomes to giving love, speaking carefully, and refusing to respond to anger with anger.
Both now describe a transformed relationship. Eze has repeatedly called his wife one of the sweetest people one could meet and has publicly celebrated their milestones, including their 18th and 19th wedding anniversaries in recent years, praising her growth, support for the ministry, and character. Eno has expressed reciprocal affection and gratitude, and the couple continues to minister together through Streams of Joy International and NSPPD, which grew significantly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The couple’s openness about their early difficulties has been framed by them as a testimony intended to encourage others facing marital challenges, emphasizing perseverance, personal change, and viewing marriage through a spiritual lens of purpose rather than solely personal fulfillment. Their story remains one of public interest among followers of Nigerian charismatic Christianity, where personal testimonies of transformation are frequently shared.
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