Pentecostals Experiencing Possibilities And Breakthroughs In Nigeria

WE HEAR A LOT about the lovely Muslims doing a spot of genocide on the Dinka tribes in South Sudan. And we hear about Muslim gangs burning Christian churches in Nigeria. But we don’t often hear about the Christians themselves.

Here is a report on the Pentecostals in Nigeria, led by “Daddy,” Rev. Enoch Adejare Adeboye. His church is about 5 million strong, and its growing. In Nigeria, in China, and in South Korea.

Here’s how it feels to attend a service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, reported by Brian Murphy of the Associated Press.

It's eight hours into the service, and the congregation is still dancing. Shout, they're told. Yell out to the Lord. Their cries melt into a muggy night with the odor of sweating bodies, jasmine and the tropical musk of the Nigerian bush land.

"Hallelujah," rumbles the head pastor as the church band kicks into a new number. "Hal-le-luuuuuuu-jah."

Yes, it’s not really approved of by the World Council of Churches, but Christianity is alive and well in Africa. There were an estimated 300,000 people at that all-night service.

What is the attraction of Pentecostalism, now estimated by some at 500 million out of a total of 2.2 billion Christians worldwide?

Eve Akindabe, a 35-year-old seamstress who was raised as an Anglican, does some hemming work as she waits to worship. She's been giving a monthly tithe -- worth about $10 -- for five years.

"Why did I join Daddy's church? Take a look around," she says, waving her hands at the crowds. "Daddy inspires. Daddy tell us Jesus is right here to help improve our lives. The Anglican church was all about, 'Don't do this, don't do that.' Daddy is all about possibilities and making breakthroughs. It deals with heaven, but also the here and now."

Possibilities, breakthroughs. You chaps familiar with modern American pschology like Spiral Dynamics will know what that is about. It is the orange world of creativity, beyond red power gods, beyond blue discipline and purpose, to orange creativity, and life as a game to be won.

The thing is, it’s almost miraculous. Why would the struggling masses in third-world cities be responding to a Gospel of Prosperity? Not red victimization, not blue rules and roles, but possibilities and breakthroughs. It is a testament to the eternal hope breaking through in the human spirit.

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.