ABSTRACT

Faith Tabernacle Church was a major indigenous African church that promised succour for adherents during the immediate post-World War One era which witnessed a major outbreak of the deadly influenza epidemic and its concomitant economic recession. Western medicine and mission founded churches proved quite incapable of handling the crisis. Most African Christians were convinced that the crisis had an important spiritual dimension. As a result, a number of prayer fellowships were formed in homes to pray for divine intervention. One Daddy Ali, who claimed to have had a religious experience during which God charged him to consecrate himself to be used as a vessel to heal the sick, organized one of such prayer fellowships at Ijebu-Ode (in the Southern part of Nigeria). Miss Sophia Odunlami, a member of the group, claimed she was directed to prescribe rain water and prayer for the purposes of faith healing. Testimonies of people who claimed that they received healing as a result of following her prescription drew large crowds to join the group. The group later assumed the name, Egbe Okuta Iyebiye, which is a Nigerian term, interpreted as the ‘Precious Stone’ or ‘Diamond Society’.