The founder and the General Overseer of Deeper Life Bible
Church, Dr W.F Kumuyi in an interview with Elife talks about his
Christian Faith, why his church was named Deeper Life and the real
meaning of his name.
Pastor Kumuyi narrated why he changed his originalname Ikumuyiwa meaning “death brought this” to Kumuyi.
Excerpts:
African names have meanings. What does Kumuyi mean?
The full name is Ikumuyiwa, which means ‘death brought this”. After I
became a Christian, I realised it was the death of Christ that has
brought us salvation, and also the redemption and reconciliation we have
with God. So, for me, the name, Ikumuyiwa, is very significant – death
has brought something good. The death of Christ has brought us the grace
and goodness of God, and the relationship we have now with the Lord.
How many siblings do you have?
I have two siblings – a sister who is three years younger than I am, and a brother who is far much younger, 18 or 19 years younger than I am. Both of them are in Nigeria . My sister lives in Ondo State . A born-again Christian, she attends Deeper Life. My brother lives in Osun State, and he is also in the Church. Both of them are following the Lord.
I have two siblings – a sister who is three years younger than I am, and a brother who is far much younger, 18 or 19 years younger than I am. Both of them are in Nigeria . My sister lives in Ondo State . A born-again Christian, she attends Deeper Life. My brother lives in Osun State, and he is also in the Church. Both of them are following the Lord.
You left the Anglican Church for the Apostolic Church. What made you switch?
I was teaching in Mayflower School, my alma mater. I completed my secondary school education in 1961, and started teaching mathematics at Mayflower in 1962. It was there that I was introduced to the Apostolic Faith, not Apostolic Church, and really heard about the change that Christ could make to our lives when we turned from our sins and believed in him and how he died for us on the cross of Calvary. It was there that I had the salvation experience and things really turned up for me.
I was teaching in Mayflower School, my alma mater. I completed my secondary school education in 1961, and started teaching mathematics at Mayflower in 1962. It was there that I was introduced to the Apostolic Faith, not Apostolic Church, and really heard about the change that Christ could make to our lives when we turned from our sins and believed in him and how he died for us on the cross of Calvary. It was there that I had the salvation experience and things really turned up for me.
You became a born-again Christian at the age of 23, on 5th April 1964. Do you still remember what happened?
Yes, a preacher was preaching a simple message, and because I had
become almost like a moralist in the sense that I protected my name and
personality, when that preacher preached, I saw that it was not just our
actions that made us unacceptable to God, even our wrong thoughts and
wrong plans or planning our lives as if God didn’t exist, also made us
unacceptable. I then realised that I needed God. And when the preacher
made an altar call, he pointedly said if “anybody needed Christ to fill
the void in their lives, such people should come forward”, I felt drawn
to what he was saying. I went forward, knelt down and prayed.
In fact, it was such an important day for me that I still remember it
to this day, even where I knelt, how it all happened, and the peace and
joy that came to my heart, that now I was reconciled with God through
Jesus Christ. It was very definite.
Was it in Lagos ?
No, it was in Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State , about one-and-a half hours drive from Lagos.
Why did you call it Deeper Life?
Actually it came from the people. When they received the articles,
they came to the Bible studies and said: “We’ve been Christians before,
but this one is deeper than what we used to know.” So they used the name
Deeper Life. We also knew that we were leading them to deeper relations
with God; that is how those articles became Deeper Christian Life
Articles. Then as we continued with the Bible studies, the group became
known as the Deeper Christian Life Ministry. And when it became a Church
in 1983, we called it the Deeper Life Bible Church.
Are you saying the name, Deeper Life, didn’t come from you?
Well, yes and no. We called the articles we sent out “Deeper Life
Articles”. The people themselves were saying those articles were
deepening their Christian lives. So the name came from both sides.
Source: Naija Gists
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