In a Nigerian Christianity
environment, where most churches either distance themselves from PWDs (persons with
disabilities) or use them as guinea pigs in 'miracle sessions' experiment, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) The King’s Court,
located in Victoria Island, is redefining the landscape by putting together
ministerial church programmes that are aimed at bringing inclusivity to the Christianity
community by integrating persons with disabilities into the church’s
congregational activities. One of such programmes was the Diversity Sunday Outreach
that held on March 22, 2026 inside the church auditorium. The event brought
together PWDs from several clusters in a ministerial service that highlighted
the importance of inclusivity within the Christian fold.
According to Adeola
Obagun, the convener of the event, Diversity Sunday Outreach is a programme
that is intended to create a conducive environment for everyone, whether able
bodied or persons with disabilities, to come to church and worship together in
an atmosphere of love and oneness. In a chat with Lagos Today Extra!,
she revealed that the initiative was a vision of a former pastor of the church,
Pastor Ben Akabueze but the church has keyed into it and so, it is a programmed
that has come to stay.
“It was a vision from our former
pastor, Pastor Ben Akabueze, who had this vision that he actually brought to
life and made it possible for the very first one to hold. We've not had this
event in the last two years but now, the event looks like it's here to stay. We
want to make sure that, through this event, persons with disabilities are
provided with all that they need to comfortably come to church and worship. And
in our church, we have some persons with disabilities who are regular members
of the church,” she stated.
The King’s
Court Church of RCCG is not just preaching inclusivity in Christianity, it is
actually practicing what it preaches. The church has provided a ram so that
those on wheelchair can easily go into the church auditorium to worship. It has
also employed a sign language interpreter so that those with hearing impairment
can be carried along during church activities.
“We have
people who are hearing impaired among our members. And because of their hearing
impairment, the church hires a sign language interpreter who interprets so that
they are able to flow along with everyone else and know what's going on during
service,” Adeola said. She added that even though the initiative is a vision
from The King’s Court, she believes it is something other churches, including
those of other denominations, should key in to make the Christian community
more inclusive in line with God’s command to love everyone, no matter their
situations or conditions.
In her
words, “It's an initiative of The King's Court which we are hoping not just
RCCG but all churches and institutions can imbibe as well. So, we want to use
this as a platform to encourage other institutions to follow along because
disability can happen to anyone. I know quite a lot of blind people and none of
them was born blind. There is no guarantee that someone who is seeing today
would not become blind tomorrow. So, what we're preaching is that people should
be empathetic to persons with disabilities. Empathy means putting yourself in
their shoes, right? If your doctor told you that you had only two more weeks
before you lose your sight, How would you want the world to receive you? How
would you want the world to treat you? How would you want to fit in? Would you
like life to continue just as it was before you lost your sight? Of course, the
answer is yes. So, we are saying that it's not just us, but everyone should
make accommodations for persons with disabilities both inside and outside of
the church environments. It is not their fault that they are that way. We must
try our best to make sure that anything that they need to make life easy, is
provided for them.”
On the
issue of some ministers of God saying that the reason people with disabilities
have not been healed by God is because they do not have faith when they pray,
Adeola said that was an outright lie. “That is a total lie. As we read in
Matthew 25, verse 40, whatever you do for the least person is how you are
treating Jesus. That's what Jesus said directly. Now, what is Jesus saying in that
verse? It is a blessing to help others who are in need because whatever you do
for them, you have done for him.
“There
are some people who have two hands, two legs, two eyes, right? Everything is
working. Jesus wants those people to help those who cannot see or walk or hear.
It is an offense if you see a blind person walking into a gutter and you don't tell
that person there’s a gutter there. And in our society, this is what it looks
like. People would see a blind person on the road, a danfo driver would see a
blind person on the road, attempting to cross the road and instead of stopping
for the blind man to cross, the driver would shout on him to move out of the
way while he drives past. empathy is putting yourself in other people's shoes.”
Adeola
Obagun also stressed that disability is not actually the problem but the
barriers which society has put in the way of persons with disabilities. She said,
“Disability is not the problem. The problem is the barriers and there are all
sorts of barriers. The first barrier in a country like Nigeria is the
stigmatization. For instance, there are
actors, popular people who have recently gone blind. But Ever since they went blind,
they've just hidden themselves from the society obviously because of the stigma
society has imposed on blindness. And we're saying, no, you should not be stigmatized;
you should not be discriminated against if you go blind or if you lose the function
of any part of your body. It is not something to be ashamed of. People should
not be written off simply because they have disability; it’s rather the
beginning of a new world for that person. And if they adapt to the new world, their
other senses will be so sharpened and effective that they would make up for the
part of the body that is not working. And some of these people can be very
intelligent. I was once featured on a radio show and someone who just heard my voice
once, recognized me two years later when we met. Someone like that can be a
perfect listener. If you had a customer service center and employed such a
person, he would deliver the job very well because he is a good listener. So, the
loss of one of your sensory organs does not mean that you are completely
useless. Rather, all your other organs will get sharper and you will see that
you are actually able to cope with life.”
Adeola
admonished everyone and every institution, including churches, to make
themselves familiar with the disability law, noting that The law is very exhaustive and covers almost all
areas of life as they affect persons with disabilities. She highlighted the
issue of discrimination, saying that the
law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities.
“If
people are discriminated against, it is such an easy case to take to court and win
because the law is very clear that if people are discriminated against, there
are penalties to pay. If the violator is a corporate entity, there's a one
million naira fine attached to it. If it is an individual, there's a one hundred thousand naira fine or a
six-month jail term. And that's why we need you, the journalists, to help push
the awareness. This law actually exists but how many people know about it? We
need you to remind people that there's a law that prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities,” she said.
Diversity Church
Outreach showcased lively and soul-lifting presentations from
Bethesda Home and School for
the Blind , Wesley School for the Hearing Impaired , among others. There
was also a panel discussion made up of persons with disabilities as well as
relatives of persons with disabilities. The discussion focused on issues
bothering PWDS at the home front, in the workplace, and social health work
environments.
A major highlight of
the event was a sermon presented by Pastor Lawrence Adegoke Arowosegbe, a visually impaired RCCG pastor,
who delivered a message titled ‘The Effect Of Love’. Drawing from the teaching
of Jesus Christ on The Good Samaritan, Pastor Arowosegbe admonished all to
imbibe Godly love because love overcomes all challenges, stressing that even if
one manifests all the spiritual gifts, and it is not backed up with love, it
does not profit anything.
Another highlight of
the event was the presentation of assistive gift items to PWDs in attendance.
