Kazeem Ugbodaga

All roads in the Lagos metropolis seem to lead to the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, on Lagos Island. There was a rush from the Mainland to the Island. The crowd was massive, many were expectant that God will meet their needs, especially at this time of economic crunch in the nation. Many were craving for hope in the midst of the quagmire that has befallen Nigeria, which prides herself the biggest black nation on earth.

That was the Crusade held by the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, at the TBS on Lagos Island last Sunday. Pastor William Kumuyi, the General Superintendent of the DCLM was God’s instrument to usher in hope to the people of Island, a notorious haven of hooliganism and belligerency. The TBS was packed with huge congregation expecting to receive blessings from God.

However, the trajectory of the gospel crusades by Kumuyi remarkably changed in 2015 with the renowned man of God taking the gospel message to the very grassroots. Last year alone, he visited about 24 states in the federation. He did not just stop at the state capitals alone, he held gospel campaigns in many Local Government areas within the country. Countless of souls repented. Dramatic miracles, signs and wonders took place and otherwise damaged lives were transformed.

In virtually all the states, governors, Muslims and Christians alike, warmly welcomed the man of God, and pleaded with him to return time and again. Over the past two years, Kumuyi has been spearheading full-orbed missionary outreaches to the Caribbean, South Pacific and Asian nations.

In Lagos, Kumuyi has from the beginning of this year, been going from one contiguous Group of Districts (as the church is structured) to the other, ministering the gospel to sinners and enquirers, edifying the saints through revival programmes, retooling workers and leaders of the church and re-laying the basis for sacrificial and true leadership style.

Apart from Wednesdays and Fridays, the tireless preacher ministers live messages to members, workers and leaders, which are in turn streamed through satellite to all the church branches throughout the country and to all the over forty branches in Africa.

Why all this yeoman and expansive thrust one may ask? First, Kumuyi, whose life style is propelled by strong Biblical convictions, believes the gospel message must now be preached with unrelenting vigour with indices across the global landscape suggesting a world in crises and the coming of the Savior imminent.

Secondly, in as much as he appreciates the efforts of governments in mid-wifing eco-social and political transformation, the programmes so enunciated may not endure, except the hearts of men are first changed through the gospel. According to him, it is only hearts truly transformed by God that could possess the capacity to appreciate public-spirited programmes and be able to cooperate with governments in transforming their societies.

Thirdly, the rate of global destitution, poverty, squalor and criminality is on the increase, evidently defying proffered human solutions. It takes a conscious repudiation of these ailments through a deliberate return to God in penitence and brokenness, for these ills to be sustainably upstaged.

With these in mind, the Lagos Island Crusade was aimed at arresting social vices that have plagued the Island for too long as well as break the shackles of oppression, poverty and economic hardship. The huge congregation had their souls lifted up as they engage in intensive prayers unto God to deliver them from the shackles of poverty which the nation has placed them. There were cries unto God from different parts of the TBS, the way and manner they prayed showed a people in dire needs of God’s touch, protection and deliverance.

Around 6.00pm, Kumuyi mounted the podium, amidst expectation from the crowd. The man of God announced the topic of his sermon, which is “The Wonder of Turning Bitterness to Better.” Kumuyi painted a gory picture of the state of the nation and came up with a message of hope and betterment for all if they would only put their trust and confidence in God.

“In our city, there is lamentation everywhere and life is bitter. In the family, community, life is bitter and there is poverty everywhere,” Kumuyi said, drawing his analogy from the book of Lamentation in the Bible, but the man of God immediately quoted another scripture from the book of Ezekiel to proffer hope for man as God promised to pour his blessings upon man.

“God will do something in people’s lives today. He is going to turn our crying to laughter and suffering to joy. When people lament, they are sorrowful, they will see life as bitterness. They will see the community, economy as bitter. All the bitterness everywhere will change for the better,” he said.

Kumuyi said substituting the ‘I’ in ‘bitterness’ with ‘E’ will bring about ‘better,’ saying that individuals would need to take a decision to substitute the ‘I’ with ‘E’ so that their lives could be better. “God will turn your ‘I’ to ‘E’. The ‘E’ represents Emmanuel, that is Jesus Christ. Jesus will turn your bitterness to better. Tonight, you will need to move the ‘I’ out of the way.

The man of God emphasized the need for the worshipers to make up their mind to reject suffering and bitterness by returning unto the Lord as God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He stressed that sin, bad luck and evil were connected, challenging the congregation to cast away their transgression.

“There are people who rushed unto death. When you drink, you are killing yourself gradually; these are part of bitterness. The ‘I’ that fights, fornicate, drink, commit adultery and violence, if you drop it, things will be better. The ‘I’ in you will have to submit and we need to leave evil, idolatry and magic behind; that renunciation will bring restoration to our lives,” he stated.

Kumuyi said the step to dropping the ‘I’ was for sinners to repent of all their sins, renouncing adultery; rejecting everything that came from Satan as Satan is for darkness and damnation, adding that there was need to remove all the object of sin.

According to him, once the sinners returned to the Lord, God would make a covenant of blessings with them, saying that such covenant included, pardon, peace, protection, purity and power to break every yoke. He was optimistic that the congregation would receive showers of deliverance, miracle, signs and wonders.

Kumuyi emphasized that new things would surely come for members of the congregation who would surrender their lives to Jesus. “The Lord is calling you out of all the oppression of Satan, out of sins. Life is bitter without you having Jesus Christ in your life. The Lord is calling you into repentance and turn to Jesus as your Saviour. If you come to Jesus and make covenant with him, He said, he will in no way cast you out. He is the altar of covenant, he is the covenant of pardon, he is the covenant of peace, he is the covenant of protection, he is the covenant of purity and also the covenant of power,” he said.