Deeper Life Retreat At 50: Beyond The Precincts Of Religion

By Banji Ojewale

At the time the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, held its first Retreat in the premises of then National Technical Teachers’ College, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, December 24-28, 1975, the group, led by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, hardly discerned that it was scripting a narrative that would roll into a half-century milestone in the womb of time. But then, not everything connected to that era had to do with abstract history, even if we agree that making history matters.  Events history admit must be substantive and possess the weight that turns a tide for the good of humanity. 

For, what is a record in the annals if it doesn’t transform or usher in something new to enable man forsake the beaten path?

What import is history which is a mere reference dot, a marginal allusion, a talking point that bears no substance? It can’t but be transient like tinsel social media commentary.

What happened on the grounds of that school, now called Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, was beyond seeking recognition in the chronicles. The society required far more to experience real and lasting change. You don’t get the attention and glare of men and women if you give them what they are used to. 

In the Bible, Apostle Paul didn’t get the listening ears of the sophisticated philosophers of Athens until he gave them information they had never received before: a Man died and rose again to live forever. They also learnt that this same Man had the power to extend eternal life to those who believe in Him. These Athenians spent all their time waiting to hear something new. And in European folklore, the Pied Piper of Hamelin in Germany stole the hearts of 130 children with his strange music and colourful apparel. There’s power in novelty that transforms into a positive direction through the ages.

That’s exactly what Deeper Life’s first Retreat did 50 years ago. It overturned the tables and caused a fresh look at religion in Nigeria. Deeper Life’s Retreat in 1975 asserted that humanity can only be refined through the raw practice of the teachings of Christ when the masses of people congregate regardless of educational, social, gender or racial status. Religion doesn’t teach this. It offers more division in an already broken world; it delivers deadly dichotomies which Jesus Christ asked His followers to shun.

Because this first Retreat wasn’t a social gathering it rejected what it met on the ground: merely getting together to feast, fraternize and frolic and leave to meet again another season. Not so as laid down by Deeper Life’s Retreat 50 years ago. A leader said: ‘’The retreats were a period of consecrated study. We were taught, we studied the Bible, and had time to pray. We were encouraged to join the local Bible study fellowships, and to be active in helping our own churches.’’ 

Author and teacher Alan Isaacson notes in his book, Deeper Life: The extraordinary growth of the Deeper Life Bible Church, that at this maiden outing, ‘’One thousand five hundred people attended…(who were) provided food, books and accommodation. Participants had only to find their own travelling expenses.’’

This was audacious for a home-grown ministry only two years in existence, with no links to any mega denomination, local or abroad. It drew its strength and sustenance from Heaven’s charge on spreading the Gospel of Christ and on the vision of its leader, Pastor Kumuyi. Asked how the fledgling assembly got the resources for such an ambitious outreach, Kumuyi said:”…In the early days we had offering boxes in the meeting place, so those who came to the Monday Bible study would just drop in whatever they had. I was a lecturer at the university then, and a substantial part of my salary went into the work. I wasn’t married, so I had less responsibility. Then whenever we were to have retreats we made announcements and told our members that we needed to keep the retreat free so that nobody missed the opportunity of hearing the Gospel because of financial hardship. They always responded to the announcement by giving. And with that we held our retreats. We used schools for our accommodation… The premises of these schools were given to us free.’’

Every year over the past five decades, that’s the evergreen standard that has guided Deeper Life Retreat, in Nigeria, the nations of Africa and all over the globe where the Ministry has made a presence. The objective is one, but with a host of strands: Christ’s Gospel of peace, holiness, humility, love, brotherliness and preparation for Heaven is taught to all who attend. There are related teachings on marriage stability, citizens’ obligations to the state and its governing agencies and vice versa as well as counsel on addressing challenges of the youth in nation-building, all sourcing inspiration from the inerrant Word of God.

Because these Deeper Life convocations are nondenominational with no regard either for tribe or class, there’s an indisputable point we can make that they also help to prepare grounds for harmony in the larger community. When the attendees leave the retreat precincts, they take with them more than the basic salvation message and its accompaniments. They receive enriching spiritual perspectives necessary for a balanced pursuit of material aspirations. This way the Church and its retreats have become partners in the quest for the civic and moral buoy for the nation and its people.

The scenes at the retreats are humbling. There’s the story of how at one such meeting, Pastor Kumuyi was sighted carrying a bucket or jerry can on the field to fetch water. He was said to have been stopped by a young member who asked his leader to stay away from such chores, and let others handle them for him. It was a tug of war, as it were, before a concession was reached. Identities of ecclesiastical or social position, age and gender markings recede at the retreats. The editor of a national newspaper was seen with a big basin of food on his head, moving to distribute it to participants, among them a junior reporter. All eat the same broth from the same kitchen. The washing of plates is undertaken by both the low and high. When the retreat is over, no one is excused from the clean-up exercise, except the infirm, those advanced in age and the invited guests. But some of them still volunteer to serve, albeit minimally. 

Back home or in their respective places of work, the retreat participants are reminded of the spectacles of sacrifice and love fellowship that should guide them in the secular outpost.

That’s been the impact of the Deeper Life retreats these past five decades, which formal religious activity has been unable to offer. We gain fundamentally from the Word of God if we don’t allow our additives of pride, ego, materialism etc. to stray into the brew.

*Ojewale is a writer in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria