Kumuyi’s crusade of signs and wonders

For six straight days in July 22 to July 27, 2021, Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, addressed huge local and world audiences to market, not himself with sweet talk for personal gain at the expense of the people as would Nigeria’s typical religious and political personages, but messages of hope and comfort to a troubled globe.

Kumuyi, leader of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, was in Calabar, capital city of Cross River State, in Nigeria’s south-south, hosting a world-wide crusade that had the theme, Signs and Wonders for the Needy. The churchman got an ideally complete setting that had the world at his feet. For, from that metropolitan point, he connected, via every strategic social media platform, to every part of the planet. Each evening, over a period of less than four hours, Kumuyi climaxed the day with a teaching that addressed the needs of his audience. He would start by saying that man has lost his peace and joy because he first lost his link to his Creator. This bereavement is colossal and grave, he would argue sternly.

According to the pastor, the alienation between the creature and his Creator has ripped into man’s institutions and environment and brought in a correspondingly toxic culture: revolt against all what God stands for, the summary of what is known as sin. The pastor would then go on to break sin down in liquid lingo: murder, lying, stealing, cheating, corruption, sexual and marital perversions, atheism, idolatry, antisocial activities like kidnapping, embezzlement, man’s inhumanity to man, etc.

If all these stole our peace, argues Kumuyi, renouncing them would, superfluous to say, restore what was lost. That signifies a reconciliation between God and man, leading to man’s return to his lost glory manifesting in victory over the devil and his works. Kumuyi then proceeds to rest on this new-found triumph to pray for the crowd.

For many, these were the ultimate miracles, the landing of Christ in a populous idol-honouring nation, and His acceptance in another globally influential community that had for decades outlawed Jesus Christ. Although Kumuyi agrees, he adds that it’s not enough to stay rooted to these signs and wonders from Heaven. He says these supernatural acts are expected to point to some more significant phenomenon. In one of his sermons at the event, he said signs and wonders lead man to a haven of new relationships with his Creator Who is only using miracles to make a statement.

The statement, according to Kumuyi, is simply that if man is moved by the razzmatazz and glamour of signs and wonders, the real goal is to draw his attention to the supreme ability of a Power to tame the forces threatening to overwhelm humanity. If He is the unseen Finger behind His servant raising the dead, calming storms, healing long-standing ailments, overthrowing godless cultures, feats that confound man, can’t He also be trusted to overrule the reign of fear and insecurity on earth?

We must address the missing God factor in our midst. It is what will offer the integrity input required to eliminate the beast in man. The ancient Chinese who built The Great Wall of China several centuries ago to defend their homeland against nomadic Mongolians underestimated the power of personal rectitude. The bulwark was massive, constructed to be impregnable. For decades, it kept invaders off. But later, repeatedly the fortress was breached when the enemy stopped attacking the wall and assaulted the probity-deficient souls of the military commanders who collected bribes and let in invaders.
• Ojewale is a writer in Ota, Ogun State.