PewBeam vs Rhema A Nigeria’s Faith-Tech Drama

In April 2026, Nigerian tech Twitter (X) was buzzing with a story that blended faith, innovation, and rivalry. At the center were two apps, PewBeam and Rhema, both designed to help churches project Bible verses in real time during sermons. What started as one developer’s dream quickly turned into a debate about originality.

PewBeam: The Pioneer

The idea came from Dára Sobaloju, a Nigerian developer who wanted to solve a real problem in Pentecostal churches. Pastors often preach spontaneously, quoting or paraphrasing scripture without warning. Media teams scramble to find the right verse to display. PewBeam aimed to fix this.

Dára announced the project in August 2025 and spent six months “building in public,” sharing updates online and testing with pastors. The app could listen to sermons, recognise Bible references, and project the exact verse on screen in under 80 milliseconds. It also tackled tough challenges like noisy church environments and different accents.

By March 2026, PewBeam launched publicly, first tested at Celebration Church International (CCI Global) in Ibadan. It offered free and paid plans, with features like noise cancellation, NDI streaming, and multi-device support. Within weeks, hundreds of churches adopted it. For many, it felt like a breakthrough, proof that Nigerian developers could merge faith and AI to solve local church needs.

Rhema: The Fast Clone

Barely a month later, another developer released Rhema, a strikingly similar tool. The twist? Rhema was reportedly built in just seven days, using AI-assisted coding, and released as free and open-source. The creator even tagged PewBeam in the launch post.

This sparked a heated debate. Some praised Rhema as a win for open innovation. Others criticised it as unfair to clone a product still finding its footing. Memes spread quickly: “AI spent a Sunday afternoon building your replacement.”

The drama highlighted a bigger truth: in today’s AI world, ideas can be copied fast. What matters is speed, polish, customer trust, and community. PewBeam remains the more polished, commercial product, while Rhema (and later OpenBeam) represent the open-source counterpoint.

Beyond the rivalry, the story shows Nigeria’s growing AI ecosystem. Developers are building tools for local challenges, noisy churches, spontaneous preaching, and sparking a mini “worship-tech boom.” It echoes the fintech wave of Paystack and Flutterwave, but now with faith at the center.

As of mid-April 2026, the conversation is still alive on X: Should church tech be open-source? Is “building in public” too risky? And most importantly, how fast can you keep shipping?

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