‘Warfare’ Pentecostalism, Poverty and Welfare Provisioning in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Warfare Pentecostalism entails a brand of the Pentecostal movement, which views the world in terms of evil machinations of enemies whom every individual must battle spiritually. Warfare Pentecostalism is associated with symbolic demonstrations of offensive and defensive mechanisms against the “enemy” through prayers. The warfare Pentecostal movement has been popular in Nigeria since the 1930s, and research on it has been limited to the larger spectrum of Pentecostalism and its structure, while little is known about the contribution of this brand of Pentecostalism to poverty reduction and welfare provision. Qualitative data was collected through 16 key informant interviews (KIIs), 28 in-depth interviews (IDIs), 6 Focus group discussions (FGDs) and 4 Case studies conducted at Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFM), Gethsemane Prayer Ministries (GPM) and Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Lagos, Ibadan and Ilesa. The study examines the context of warfare Pentecostalism, its connection to poverty and misery and consequent spiritualist constructions and the welfare interventions provided by warfare Pentecostal churches.