The General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, has opened up about the death of his first wife, Abiodun Kumuyi, attributing the tragic loss to his absence from home while ministering during a church retreat.
Speaking during the Global Workers’ Conference held at the Deeper Life International Conference Centre, Kumuyi shared the emotional experience, recalling that his wife passed away on April 11, 2009, at the age of 57, following a brief illness.
The couple had been married for nearly 28 years, tying the knot on September 13, 1980. Their union was blessed with two sons, Jeremiah and John. Pastor Kumuyi remarried on October 13, 2010, in London.
Reflecting on the events of that day, Kumuyi said:
I was preaching here on Saturday, 11th April 2009, and the devil worked on my absence. My wife was at home because she had a health challenge. I was driving out, and the devil came. I forgot to close the spiritual door to prevent any intrusion. After I finished the Faith Clinic that morning, I received a message that my beloved wife was gone.
He rushed home—known as IBTC—and found a group of people praying.
It had happened. But the Lord assured me to let it go, not to dwell on it.
Rather than remain in sorrow, the renowned holiness preacher said he chose to turn his grief into spiritual zeal, launching a more aggressive global evangelism mission. He described this new phase of ministry as a form of “revenge” against the devil.
I let it go. But I said, ‘That one happened; another one like it will never happen again.’ Since that time, as revenge on the devil, I have gone to nearly every local government in Nigeria, to almost every nation in Africa, to all the continents of the world. Blind eyes have opened, deaf ears have heard, the lame have walked—and now, even the dead have been raised.
Those who are gone are gone. What has passed is water under the bridge. Now, in your family, you will be in charge. Anywhere I go now, I will be in charge. Nothing will be allowed to steal anything again, he declared.
Pastor Kumuyi emphasized that the painful loss marked a turning point in both his personal life and ministry, and he remains determined that such tragedy will never be repeated.