Inclusion: A New Dawn Beckons In Deeper Life

Alexander Ogheneruemu

When news that the next Deeper Life Global Crusade holding in Enugu State will feature renowned gospel artiste, Don Moen as guest minister, quite a stir was created on social media space. The accompanying trending feeds and status updates stole the show for weeks. At any rate, the hype wasn’t unexpected, given Deeper Life’s and Deeper Lifers’ well known ultra-conservative stance in collaborations like this one.

The Enugu crusade, with theme: “Divine Touch For Total Freedom” ran from Thursday August 26th to Tuesday 31st. It was 6 days of supernatural power – a continuation of series of nationwide crusade campaigns by Dr. W.F Kumuyi. The revered holiness preacher, now in the twilight years of his ministerial calling, still demonstrates remarkable indefatigableness in his outreach to the masses with a touch of heaven’s emancipation.

One very exciting aspect of the crusade was the presence of the renowned Don Moen. Each evening, the American gospel artiste enthralled and edified the Enugu audience with his Midas touch on gospel lyrics – sometimes rendered in the local audience’s native Igbo dialect.

This was followed by Kumuyi’s powerful messages and prayers. As usual, testimonies of spectacular touches of the supernatural were recorded.

There was however a more exciting twist to the crusade. It was the “triumph of Inclusion”. For the first time, in the nearly 50 decades of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM), proof emerged that long agitations for fuller inclusion by Deaf brethren in the church was finally being heeded. This much was evident in the provision of live streamed, on-screen sign language interpretation which reach a global audience on various social media handles. The development, though long overdue, was met with wide applause – especially by the Deaf brethren and interpreters. As it turns out, the positive impact of this move cannot be overemphasized.

It is both cheering and heartening to know that Deeper Life, in a well timed move from a rigid, ultra-conservative approach to a sensitive matters like this is now on the progressive path of leveraging technology to provide a level playing ground for a hitherto marginalized section of the brethren. Indeed, this welcome development which is in tandem with the Pauline “by all means” gospel philosophy deserves full commendation.

Meanwhile, one hopes that this commendable first step naturally leads to other exciting options available for an even more inclusive church. That way, we will be fulfilling all righteousness.