*Real Reasons He Re-married At 71
The decision of Pastor William Kumuyi, the General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry to give marriage another trial had astounded some members of the public, who least expected the 71 years old cleric to contemplate such an action at this moment.
The celebrated man of God and popular preacher had stormed the city of London penultimate Wednesday and took 65-year-old Esther Folashade Balise to the altar. The wedding was said to have been attended by selected few including some elders from the church, while the reception took place at Crowne Plaza Hotel, London.
Kumuyi's first wife, Biodun died on April 11, 2009 at her residence in the International Bible Training Centre, Ayobo, Ipaja, Lagos following a brief illness. Biodun was the National Woman Co-ordinator of the church. She was also International Co-ordinator of the women ministry in Africa and other continents where the church has branches, and was Editor-in-Chief of the well-circulated Women Mirror magazine published by the church. Kumuyi had taken the death of his wife with calm and went ahead with the convention of the church, which was on then and shocked many, when he preached at the woman's funeral.
Not a few worshippers in Deeper Life were shocked over the news as the development was least expected less than two years after the death of Kumuyi's wife.
Almost all the members of the Deeper Life Church and concerned members of the public, who spoke to First Weekly on the issue, were amazed that Pastor Kumuyi had tied the knot with another woman, but they were quick to add that it was the best he could do to avoid temptations and scandals.
They maintained that it was not advisable for Kumuyi to stay alone as he is working closely with many women, and that the devil could use the opportunity to taint the good image he has acquired over the years.
“It is better now that Brother Kumuyi has re-married. If he continues to stay single, people could scandalize him with the females who are working with him. Even some men would not want their wives to move too close to him as they would start feeling that the man could give in to nature, though Kumuyi has risen above such temptation. All the same, you can never tell and no one can cheat nature,” said Sister Ranti, a devoted member of the church.
Another member of the church, who simply gave his name as John said Kumuyi has not done anything wrong. He said that Kumuyi may have decided to re-marry, not only to satisfy nature, but to have a companion who would be helping him in the work of God.
A concerned member of the public, Mr. Adewale Oshinaike stated that the development shows that only God is infallible.
“You forgot that Kumuyi is a mortal, what he has done shows that he is human afterall. I was shocked when I heard the news, but I quickly got over it after a while. So, let us see what will happen. I hope people will now understand that nobody can play God. I expect that Deeper Life members will mellow down on some of their beliefs with what has happened,” he said.
News of the wedding had filtered into public arena through media reports, but the leadership of Deeper Life Church swiftly went to town with press statements to put the records straight and avoid baseless rumours. The video recordings of the wedding proceedings were also shown to members of the church across the nation during service last week Tuesday.
Sources insisted that Pastor Kumuyi had to bow to pressure from elders in the church, who urged him to re-marry as no one could cheat nature and to avoid scandals.
However, contrary to reports all over town that Kumuyi's new wife, Esther is a widow and mother of two children, a statement from the church has said she was never married.
The statement, signed by the Church's Secretary, Pastor Livinus Nnadozie, said that Esther was never married all her life until she got married to the Deeper Life Pastor in London.
It added that she was the Administrator of the Deeper Life Bible Church, London and that she had committed her life to the service of the Lord.
Nnadozie added that the solemnization ceremony was attended by leaders and members of the church in different parts of Europe and representatives from some states of the federation and the Lagos headquarters. He added that key leaders of the church in all parts of Nigeria, who could not attend the wedding ceremony, burst into spontaneous applause as they watched the video recording of the event in Deeper Life Churches across the nation last week Tuesday.
Pastor Kumuyi, 71, was introduced to the Apostolic Faith Church, and became born again on Sunday, April 5, 1964. He started the Deeper Life Bible Church, which now has over one million members in more than sixty countries around the world, as a 15-member Bible Study group in Kumuyi's official quarters (Flat 2) at the University of Lagos in August, 1973. Kumuyi was at the time a Mathematics lecturer in the university.
Kumuyi is the latest entrant to the fold of pastors who have new wives; Pastor Taiwo Odukoya of the Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Chris Okotie of the Household of God, and Pastor Ituah Ighodalo of the Trinity House. Just like Kumuyi, Odukoya re-married after the death of his wife, Bimbo in a plane crash.