It is often a usual sight to see vehicles lined in an Indian file in Lagos. From Oshodi to Mile 2, down to Iyana-Ipaja and Alakija, traffic jams are to Lagos what hood is to the monk. Tuesday, April 24, 2018, was not different. Vehicles clogged from Oshodi to Gbagada. This time, it was tighter. Those who could not endure long hours in traffic had to get down and walked. All roads were leading to one of the biggest scenes of that day.
This time, the news was not about Yoido Full Gospel Church, often seen as the church with the largest congregation. It was not about any of the Basilica churches in Vatican City and Brazil.
It was about Deeper Life Bible Church and its imposing edifice at Gbagada. It was the commissioning of world’s fourth largest church, which has the capacity to contain 30,000 worshippers.
The church auditorium was brimming with worshippers, visitors, children, men and woman of God, government officials and sinners in search of salvation.
Looking back at June 2005 when the project was conceived, no one would have imagined that Deeper Life, often seen as a holiness and austere church, would be able to galvanise resources to build an imposing edifice.
Worshippers had been used to the Old Church building at Gbagada, which had all the appurtenances of an old church – wooden seats, manual network and the like.
“We are witnessing a prophecy being fulfilled. A missionary once prophesied in the 1970s when we were using corrugated roofing sheets that churches in Nigeria would build edifices. Today, this prophecy is being fulfilled,” said Mike Okonkwo, presiding bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), who led the prayer session.
It is not out of place to say that Deeper Life Bible Church started in shanties. After all, the church started in 1973 when William F. Kumuyi was a mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos.
Kumuyi started a bible study group with 15 university students who had come to him requesting training in the Scriptures.
Ever since then, the church has had no building that would take all the worshippers. In fact, before the completion of the new auditorium, combined services and bible studies were held at a location at the Deeper Life’s Anchor University, Ayobo. Even at that, some of the worshippers would sometimes stay outside due to lack of space inside.
Tears rolled down the eyes of some of the old-school church members who knew how the church started.
Mobilising about $16 million for the edifice was not easy. Members of the church and friends of the Deeper Life at various districts and groups contributed their widows’ mite to the treasury to make the dream a reality.
Before the commissioning of the church auditorium, Deeper Life had funded a link bridge on Olawaiye Street, Gbagada, a multi-level car park and traffic lights. It was part of the church’s social responsibility, having envisaged the pressure of human and vehicular traffic on infrastructure in the area.
An elated Kumuyi could not hide his joy on the day the church auditorium was commissioned.
Seated alongside his wife Esther, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who himself is a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church, Kumuyi beamed with smiles and fulfilment. Kumuyi, a preacher of holiness, is a man not moved by events, but he betrayed joy intermittently as speaker after speaker commended his resilience and vision.
“When the project began in 2005, we knew we were taking a leap of faith. We trusted the Lord that He would not just provide what we needed but also see to its successful completion,” Kumuyi said.
“He has not only given us what we expected but also exceeded our expectations,” he stated.
While commending the Lagos State Government, he, once again, reminded listeners that the task of developing and modernising the society should not be left in the hands of the government alone but churches must be involved in the spiritual and social needs of the society.
It is almost impossible for the man William Kumuyi to make a public statement without drawing men and women to Jesus Christ.
“We must make our churches gates of heaven. Our task does not end until we see multitudes come to Christ,” he stated.
He pointed out that the numerous social ills plaguing the Nigerian society could be attributed to man’s reluctance to abandon his old ways and come to Jesus Christ, quoting Proverbs 14: 43, which says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
The man of God also gave his ‘thoughts’, which was like a mini-sermon. He dwelt on the need to separate from the world and surrender to Jesus Christ.
Rather than giving his ‘thoughts’, Kumuyi gave ‘Christ’s Thoughts Concerning His Church’, including divine proclamation, divine promise, divine purchase, divine possession, peculiar people and preservation.
It was now the turn of Yemi Osinbajo. He mounted the podium and expressed powerful words.
“This is one of my proudest moments for me as a Christian, seeing this edifice being dedicated for the propagation of the gospel of Jesus.”
“We know Deeper Life and we know its commitment to the gospel and we know that its commitment is to honour Jesus. We saw what was here before and that is indeed the glory of the latter times,” he said.
Osinbajo’s last statement was the fulcrum of the bible reading got from the Book of Haggai 2:9, which says, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Osinbajo expressed the need to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and urged Christians to be mindful of those who want to stoke religious tension in the country.
Many pastors from Europe, the United States, Francophone West Africa, and Anglophone West Africa, among others, spoke.
Kumuyi’s wife, Esther, who spoke on behalf of the women members worldwide, stole the show as she paid glowing tribute to the late ‘Biodun. She challenged one and all to make adequate preparation for heaven, which she noted is more beautiful and without comparison with any edifice on earth. She held everyone spellbound with her speech and really acquitted herself well.
One of the key takeways was the need for Christians to understand, according to John 14: 1-3, that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for them.
“What a great assurance we have that Jesus has gone to build a place for us,” Jerry Asemota, Deeper Life Church’s secretary, said.
Asemota invited those outside the church to join, adding that all the engineers and architects who designed and built the church are members of the church.
ODINAKA ANUDU
