Women in Neo-Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah,and the Mainline Churches in Contemporary Nigeria

Conversion Narrative

It is often the case that men and women make choices that eventuate in their moving from one religion to another or from one denomination to another within the same religion. While, of course, many factors precipitate this movement, it often smacks of lack of full integration into the belief system of their previous denominations or religions. ¹⁷ It is interesting to note that all the characters in Adichie’s Americanah that move from their previous Christian denominations to Pentecostal churches are women. For instance, from her Catholic faith, Ifemelu’s mother moves to Pentecostalism. She locates her reason for this in the fact that her new Pentecostal church, the Revival Saints, is not only a ‘Bible-believing church’, but also a ‘living church’. ¹⁸ From the Revival Saints she soon joins another Pentecostal church, Miracle Springs, and then yet another, the Guiding Assembly, in the last of which Ifemelu confesses that ‘her mother’s spirit had found a home’ (p. 43). As expected, Ifemelu, who is just 10 when her mother first joins Pentecostalism follows her. But her father does not. Equally, from her Anglican faith, Kosi, Obinze’s wife, moves to Pentecostalism. She cites as her reason for moving to a Pentecostal church, the House of David, the fact that equally it is a ‘Bible-believing church’ (p. 35).

Although the trajectory of Esther’s Pentecostal reality is not given in the novel, two things are obvious: Either she is born a Pentecostal, or, as in the case of Kosi, Ifemelu, and Ifemelu’s mother, she has moved from a mainline church or African initiated church, to Pentecostalism. In this latter situation, one has a case of what Stark and Finke ¹⁹ call reaffiliation, ‘shifts within religious traditions’. She could have as well – as often happens – moved from Islam or African Traditional Religion, to Pentecostal Christianity. Here, one has, according to the same Stark and Finke, a case of conversion proper, ‘shifts across religious traditions’. ²⁰ The same holds in the case of both Ranyinudo and Mrs Ojo. And this movement of only the aforementioned female characters in the novel to Pentecostalism is not surprising. Women are generally the first to move or convert from their previous religion or denomination to Pentecostalism. ²¹

The Issue of Prayer

Prayer is an important ingredient of Pentecostal life. Both men and women pray. During church services/meetings, and especially, as it relates to prayers of healing with the imposition of the hands, men are often at the vanguard. ²² But it is the women who are often the spiritual leaders of Pentecostal families. Their husbands, and, indeed, the entire household, often look up to them for spiritual direction and guidance. ²³ For instance, not neglecting the prayers Pastor Gideon does during church services (p. 44), one of the noticeable things in Adichie’s novel is that it is the women, rather than the men, who are often found praying, or calling others for prayer, especially in their families. To start with, Ifemelu narrates how her mother calls her household to morning prayer, daily:

Every morning, she woke the household up for prayers, and they would kneel on the scratchy carpet of the living room, singing, clapping, covering the day ahead with the blood of Jesus, and her mother’s words would pierce the stillness of dawn: ‘God, my heavenly father, I command you to fill this day with blessings and prove to me that you are God! Lord, I am waiting on you for my prosperity! Do not let the evil one win, do not let my enemies triumph over me!’ (p. 43)

Although Ifemelu reports that her father once says that her mother’s prayers ‘were delusional battles with imaginary traducers’ (pp. 43–44), and never, therefore, joins in the prayers, when he loses his job, he cannot but follow the family in prayer (p. 48). Equally, Obinze recounts that his wife, Kosi, is also in the habit of calling her own household for prayer (p. 464). Obinze is also a reluctant participant.

The Reality of Fasting

This is related to what is said above about prayer. Fasting is a spiritual discipline in many religions. In Christianity, both Pentecostals and Christians of the mainline/African initiated churches, fast. ²⁴ But the former appear to accord it a somewhat greater value. Often, two types of fasts are carried out by Nigerian Pentecostals: (a) Dry fast: Here, one does not take either water or food. This is often for a shorter period of time, between 3 and 7 days. ²⁵ (b) Straight fast: Here, one takes only water, but no food. This is often for a longer period of time, between 40 and 50 days. ²⁶ In the novel, in the instances in which something is said about fasting, it is usually in relation to women Pentecostals. The first concerns Ifemelu’s mother. This is on the heels of her conversion from Catholicism to Pentecostalism:

But after that afternoon [of Ifemelu’s mother’s conversion to Pentecostalism] her God changed . . . She bartered with Him, offering starvation in exchange for prosperity, for job promotion, for good health. She fasted herself bone-thin: dry fasts on weekends, and on weekdays, only water until evening. Ifemelu’s father followed her with anxious eyes, urging her to eat a little more, to fast a little less, and he always spoke carefully, so that she would not call him the devil’s agent and ignore him, as she had done with a cousin who was staying with them. ‘I am fasting for your father’s conversion’, she told Ifemelu often. . . . Ifemelu worried that she would, one day, simply snap into two and die. (p. 42)

There is also the case of the character, Esther. Zemaye who works also at Zoe Magazine’s office, reveals that this Esther is always: fasting! (p. 416)

Quest for Miracles

A certain kind of miracle-mania is at the heart of contemporary Nigerian Christianity, ²⁷ especially, Pentecostalism. Among other things, it is a carryover of the quest for miracles in African traditional religion. ²⁸ Thus, in the event of such difficulties as illnesses, childlessness, unemployment, and school failure, many Nigerian Pentecostals easily move from one Pentecostal church to another in search of miracles. ²⁹ In this search, more women than men are involved. ³⁰ In the novel, Doris, the editor of Zoe Magazine, reports how her aunt was cured of cancer in Esther’s church (p. 418). The latter may not have been her aunt’s original church, but one she has to visit for the sake of receiving healing. The common belief is that since the biblical Christ carried out many miracles, today’s Pentecostals can both carry out and receive the same. Only a simple faith to, ‘claim’ the said miracle is required. Hence, in the novel, Obinze accuses his wife, Kosi, of learning from her church, not only how to say: ‘There is power in the spoken word’ (p. 461), but also, how to say: ‘Claim your miracle’ (p. 461).

The Fact of Faith Healing

Faith healing involves the understanding that physical illnesses – some of which could have ordinarily been handled by orthodox medicine – may instead be healed through a solid demonstration of faith in Jesus Christ in prayer. According to its exponents, Jesus’ death on the cross atoned not only for the sin of humankind, but also the physical sickness of the same. ³¹ Granted, faith healing is a distinctive feature of Pentecostalism anywhere in the world. But today, it has become more popular in Nigeria because of the economic reality and the lack of adequate healthcare facilities in the country. ³²

In Americanah, an instance on faith healing is provided by yet another female Pentecostal: Esther. MacNutt once confessed: ‘In no way do I conceive prayer for healing as a negation of the need for doctors, nurses, counselors, psychiatrists, or pharmacists’. ³³ Esther does not seem to buy that. Down with typhoid that even made her face dull (p. 416), this Esther, an enthusiastic Pentecostal, would not have bought any medicine, or, – as she does eventually – gone to the hospital, if Doris had not given her money with a strict instruction to do so (p. 416). Of course, many factors may account for this. But a better appreciation of Esther’s religious psychology as revealed in the novel would definitely locate the reason more in her belief that she would be healed without any recourse to orthodox medicine. This could be through her prayers, or the use of anointing oil, or even, the handkerchief that she uses in fasting (p. 418). She could as well go to her pastor for a laying-on of hands since the latter is a ‘powerful man of God’ (p. 401).

Scope of Testimonies

In Pentecostal circles, a testimony is generally ‘a grateful public sharing of God’s gracious work in one’s life to the glory of God’. ³⁴ While it is practised world over by both male and female Pentecostals, the latter are often more given to it. They are louder and more elaborate in their testimonies. ³⁵ By the agency of these testimonies, they are not only able to reassure themselves of who they are, and have access to leadership roles normally reserved for men, ³⁶ they also participate in and thus influence the theology and witness of their congregation. ³⁷ Through Ifemelu’s mother, Adichie also portrays this reality of testimony in the novel:

In church, at testimony time, her [Ifemelu’s] mother was first to hurry to the altar. ‘I had catarrh this morning’, she would start. ‘But as Pastor Gideon started to pray, it cleared. Now it is gone. Praise God!’ The congregation would shout ‘Alleluia!’ and other testimonies would follow. I did not study because I was sick and yet I passed my exams with flying colours! I had malaria and prayed over it and was cured! My cough disappeared as Pastor started praying! But always her mother went first, gliding and smiling, enclosed in salvation’s glow. (p. 44, emphasis original)

While it is acknowledged that Adichie does not, as shown above, reveal the identities of the three other testifiers, it is more probable that they are still women.

Exorcism and Deliverance

The belief is rife among African Pentecostals that not only can the devil take hold of a Christian and hinder his or her progress, but that it often takes a powerful man/woman of God to diagnose this and thus, by binding and casting, deliver the said person from the shackles of the demon. ³⁸ Such deliverance is considered one of the distinguishing marks of Nigerian, and wider African Pentecostalism. ³⁹ In fact, it is one of the factors that makes for its rapid growth. ⁴⁰ Granted, men and women are and can be demon-possessed. However, the majority of those who come forward, either by themselves, or brought by others, for exorcism and deliverance, are women. ⁴¹ This is against the backdrop that in most places in Nigeria/Africa, it is the women that are mostly blamed for witchcraft, and by extension, as being possessed of other evil spirits, and thus more in need of deliverance. ⁴²

In the novel, the majority of those said to be in need of deliverance are women. For instance, Ifemelu once had a spat with Sister Ibinabo of the Guiding Assembly. This is over the church’s intention of honouring, in a special Sunday Thanksgiving service, one Chief Omenka. The latter has just donated two new vans to the church, but Ifemelu considers him a ‘thief’ and a ‘419’ (p. 51) – that is, a shady character. Sister Ibinabo whom Ifemelu says ‘was a person who denied that things were as they were’ (p. 51), demands that Ifemelu leaves if she is not ready to join the other girls of the church in preparing for the special Thanksgiving Sunday. On getting home from the church, however, Adichie states that Ifemelu’s mother pulls her ear twice, telling her: ‘The devil is using you’ (p. 52). And that accusation that the devil is using her means that she has to be delivered from the influence of the same devil. It is actually this belief also that prompts Esther, in the novel, to tell both Zemaye and Ifemelu the kinds of spirit that possess them and the fact that her pastor could deliver them therefrom. For example, while she tells Zemaye that she has the ‘spirit of seductiveness’ (p. 418), to Ifemelu, she says, ‘Ma! I think you have the spirit of husband-repelling. You are too hard, ma, you will not find a husband. But my pastor can destroy that spirit’ (p. 419).

Evangelism

In worldwide Pentecostalism, it is the women, more than the men, who are and have been at the vanguard of evangelism. ⁴³ They do this not out of compulsion, but with a certain sense of freedom and zeal. This is to the extent that Cox notes that without women, ‘Pentecostalism would probably have died out long ago’. ⁴⁴ In Nigerian and wider African Pentecostalism, the story is not different. Women still lead the way. ⁴⁵ They employ various means and methods: personal witnessing to their faith in their daily activities, house to house evangelism; distribution of tracts in market places and other centres within their respective communities, ⁴⁶ and early morning ministrations. Recently, there has equally been a massive utilization of the new digital media such as the Internet, mobile phones and social media.

In the novel, the above scenario also holds. It is the women who are seen engaging in evangelism. For instance, it is Mrs. Ojo’s evangelistic zeal that sees to the conversion of Ifemelu’s mother from Catholicism to Pentecostalism. As Ifemelu’s mother tells her: ‘Mrs Ojo ministered to me this afternoon during the children’s break and I received Christ’ (p. 41). Again, the receptionist at the office of Zoe Magazine, Esther, is seen in many places in the novel, inviting others to her church. Adichie presents the following encounter between this Esther and Ifemelu: ‘Will you come this Sunday, ma? My pastor is a powerful man of God..’.. ‘Why do you think I need to come to your church, Esther?’ ‘You will like it, ma. It is a spirit-filled church’ (p. 401). Zemaye also reveals Esther’s insistent invitation for her to come to her church (p. 418).

Membership

One of the interesting things about Nigerian Pentecostal churches is that the women outnumber the men. ⁴⁷ This is also the way it is in many places in the world. ⁴⁸ They also actively participate more than the men in most church activities. This lends credence not only to Martin’s observation that Pentecostalism is a ‘women’s movement’, ⁴⁹ but also to Brusco’s that it is a ‘female collective action’. ⁵⁰

Nigerian Women’s membership of these Pentecostal churches is attributable to a good number of factors. For one, there is the issue of the liveliness of Pentecostal liturgies. ⁵¹ Again, there is the fact that it gives them, just like the youths, greater opportunity to express themselves, and assume, as it were, some leadership positions. Similarly, the issue of marriage has been pointed out as another factor: Joining these churches helps them, especially, the married ones, to manage problematic relations with their husbands. ⁵² For single young women, it simply helps a good number of them to find husbands! ⁵³ This is not to underestimate, of course, the obvious spiritual fulfilment, upwards mobility (thanks to Pentecostalism’s emphasis on prosperity gospel), and the sense of community, that some of the women get by joining these churches.

In the novel, Adichie captures the above picture of and about women. Of the characters mentioned in the novel as attending Pentecostal churches, the majority are women: Ifemelu’s mother; Mrs. Ojo; Kosi; Ifemelu; Ranyinudo; Esther; Sister Ibinabo; Christie, as well as the other young ladies doing Sunday Work with Sister Ibinabo (pp. 49–50). This is against the mention of only four men: Pastor Gideon; Kosi’s pastor, Esther’s pastor; and Chief Omenka.

On the issue of marriage being one of the reasons pushing most of women to the Pentecostal churches, Adichie equally has something to say. It is said that some truths, especially, the uncomfortable ones, are often told by way of jokes. In teasing Esther and her compulsive fasting, Zemaye says: ‘You know she’s [Esther’s] always fasting. She will fast and fast until God gives her a husband’ (p. 416). There is also the case of the character, Ranyinudo. She attends a Pentecostal church where she is an usher. She confesses her willingness to marry (p. 389), even if in the meantime, she is ‘dating a married chief executive who bought her business-class tickets to London’ (p. 389). Equally, Adichie points out Obinze’s regrets on discovering that his wife’s church, House of David, has a special prayer for keeping one’s husband: ‘Later, when he [Obinze] found out that the House of David had a special prayer for Keeping Your Husband, he felt unsettled’ (p. 35).

Leadership

While, as pointed out above, the greater number of Nigerian Pentecostals are women, and while the greatest number of them participate more than men in church activities, the leadership of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, however, are mostly male. ⁵⁴ Many Pentecostal women are not made leaders and pastors just because they are: women! This is often a reflection of at least two realities:

In the novel, Adichie depicts this as well. All the three pastors mentioned in the novel – Pastor Gideon, Kosi’s pastor, and Esther’s pastor – are men. Of Sister Ibinabo, the powerful member of the Guiding Assembly, of whom, it is said that Pastor Gideon did whatever she asked, Adichie notes that she ‘could not be pastor because she was a woman’ (p. 50).

The same issue of leadership of Nigerian Pentecostal churches is manifested in the area of preaching. More often than not, it is the men who are given the greater opportunity to preach, especially, during the main services. This is also shown in the novel. In the two instances of preaching in the novel, only Pastor Gideon (p. 44) and Kosi’s pastor (p. 462) are involved. Sometimes, when women are given opportunities at all, they are usually for smaller groups like women’s meeting, fellowship or gathering. This could account for the leadership of Sister Ibinabo of the girls that participate in Sunday Work with her (pp. 50–51).