The Redeemed Church of God (RCCG) is one of the biggest losers as Cameroon continues its crackdown on Pentecostal churches, News Express can reveal this morning.

Investigations showed that the lightning speed at which the church and some other Nigerian-owned Pentecostal churches have been spreading in Cameroon is one of the reasons why the government of Paul Biya decided to outlaw Pentecostal churches in the central African country.

As reported last night by News Express, the Government of Cameroon has shut over 50 Pentecostal churches and ordered all other ones across the country also closed down after a 9-year-old Christian girl collapsed and died during a prayer session in Winners’ Chapel, a Pentecostal church in Bamenda belonging to Nigerian Pastor David Oyedepo. The girl’s mother, Mih Theresa, had told CNN that the pastor intended to cast out the numerous demons that were in control of her daughter’s life.

Reports from Cameroon identify RCCG as one of the fastest growing churches in the country – which is not surprising considering that RCCG, under the watch of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, is generally acknowledged as the fastest growing church in the world.

News Express found that the Biya administration has been uncomfortable with the development for years. As far back as six years ago, Cameroonian authorities had been “seeking to control the surging numbers of Pentecostal churches in the country being set up by Nigerian pastors crossing over the border,” according to an April 24, 2007 report by BBC.

“Distinguishable by the loud music which emanates during services, the churches are found in the most densely-populated areas. With names like Christ Chapel International, Witness Chapel, and Redeemed Churches of Cameroon, they are growing massively,” the report added.

The report quoted Christopher Ambe, a local journalist in the south-western town of Buea, as saying that the majority of the churches had not been legally registered. Besides, “Some of them had a very noisy way of worship – using loudspeakers to preach. They are disturbing what Cameroonians would refer to as the quiet enjoyment of others,” he told BBC World Service’s Reporting Religion programme.

The report quoted Nigerian Victor Praise, a senior pastor of the Houses of Truth Assembly, as admitting that some of the Nigerian pastors in Cameroon are charlatans looking to make money, but that this is not the case with all of them.

“Many people are out to make money, actually. But it is a test of the spirit. God sends those people there, testing the pastors to know whether these people are out to make money or not. I do not minister for money. I minister to impact on the lives of people,” Praise said.

•Photo shows RCCG General Overseer, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, on his knees . . . praying.

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