Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

Africa was once labeled, stigmatized, and misconstrued as a “Dark Continent” devoid of the knowledge of God by Christian missionaries and armchair anthropologists from Europe. The Christian missionaries never saw any positive outcome in African welfare; neither did they take the indigenes of African communities to be religiously, morally or intellectually sound. However, despite all these erroneous beliefs and misconception, the seed of Christianity was planted on African soil. Today, the massive growth of churches of African provenance is an indication that in ‘African hands’ Christian mission and evangelization have truly gone international and African Diaspora Christianity is at the fore front of the new initiatives. Some of the largest congregations in Europe and beyond are either founded by Africans or led by people of African descent. This, to use Pauline language, testifies to how God chooses “the foolish things of the world” to serve His purposes (1 Cor. 1:27-29). Premised on the theoretical framework of transnational studies and sociology of religion, this study investigates the role of Deeper Christian Life Bible Church in global evangelism. Adopting historical and phenomenological research model, findings indicate that, though the church originates in Nigeria and is founded by a Nigerian (Pastor William F. Kumuyi), the vision and mission statements has a global outlook. It is anchored on the Great Commission (Mtt. 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-20; Luke 24:46-49). The very presence of the church in various continents of the world and the large number of followers attest to the dynamic quality and significance of the church evangelical witness. However, it is not insignificant that Africa, a continent despised and shamed in many ways, has emerged as a beacon of Christian mission and evangelization in the global spread of the faith. Thus, this paper argues that, for many African Christians, the recession of Christianity among Westerners is a call to evangelism and reestablishment of kingdom values in the lands of the nineteenth century missionaries. Mission is in reverse. African Christians are therefore enjoined to utilize this opportunity to embark on massive evangelism. The entire globe is the mission field and evangelism is a divine mandate!

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