CHICAGO -- Following years of American missionaries taking Christianity to Africa, the tables are turning. African Christians are bringing their worship and faith message to the United States, according to The Chicago Tribune.

"The United States has become very slack, so God is making us bring worship and praise to them," the Rev. Samuel Sorinmade said. Sorinmade was attending the North American convention of the Nigeria-based Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Chicago June 17-21.

Christianity is growing faster in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere in the world, according to the Tribune. The number of African Christians coming to the United States also is rising.

The RCCG, the largest African Pentecostal church, has 82 parishes in the United States. Congregations emphasize biblical inerrancy, the power of the Holy Spirit, divine healing and prophecy, Sorinmade said.

The African Pentecostals are characterized by their use of music and dance in liturgy and their attempts to adapt Christian values to African beliefs and ways of life, said Jacob Olupona, a religion professor at the University of California at Davis who has studied the group.

"The African mind is one that believes in the existence of witchcraft and evil in the world and the effect of magic and medicine," Olupona said. "The Pentecostal church counteracts the forces with the power of prayer and the word of God."

Mainline groups such as the Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists and Presbyterians have been reaching out to the African population with ethnic ministries. The churches hope to prevent more defections to Pentecostal churches considered more sensitive to the Africans' needs, Olupona said.