CELEBRATING THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD--7 Interesting Facts About David Oyedepo

According to the latest ratings, David Oyedepo is the richest pastor in Nigeria and in the whole world. But there are plenty other curious things you should know about the “Papa”. The facts below prove that the founder and the presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church could be far more interesting than you have possibly imagined.

1.    Records His church is Living Faith Church World Wide, also known as Winners’ Chapel, in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Oyedepo has a 50,000 seat church auditorium, and it is reported to be the largest church auditorium in the world by the Guinness Book of Records. The Winners’ Chapel network of churches is located in over 300 cities and towns, in all the states of Nigeria, as well as, in over 63 cities in 32 African nations, Dubai, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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2.     Wealth In 2011, Forbes named him the richest pastor in Nigeria. And nobody has been able beat his records yet. Oyedepo is the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria with a net worth of over USD150 million. The church owns four private jets and several buildings around the world, including real estate in London, UK, and in the United States.

3.    Family 
  In 1982 he married Florence Abiola Akano (now known as Faith). They have four children together: David Jr, Isaac, Love and Joys. David Jr and Isaac Oyedepo were ordained as Pastors in May 2007 by Kenneth Copeland. David Jr pastors the London Branch of the Church with his wife, Kemi, while Isaac Oyedepo is the present Resident Pastor of Winners’ Chapel International, South Africa.

 4. Scholarships David and his organization founded over 100 educational institutions for primary, secondary and tertiary stages of formal Education. Covenant University was opened to students on October 21, 2002, and was adjudged to be the best private university in Nigeria as of 2005. On March 21, 2011, Landmark University, Omuaran Kwara State (another educational institution founded by the Ministry) officially opened for the first students.

5. Christianity comes First Rumours say that once David refused to help his half-sister, who was poor, only because she is not Christian. Alhaja Saratu Bello is a Muslim, she lives in poverty in Lagos.

 6. “Exorcism” During a “deliverance” service at Otta, Ogun State, in 2011, the bishop and the General Overseer of Winners’ Chapel slapped a girl on the face with considerable force. Oyedepo suggested to his kneeling victim that she was involved in witchcraft. She denied this, saying instead she was “a witch for Jesus”. The cleric shouted that Jesus has no witches, but when she insisted, the furious Oyedepo called her “a foul devil”, slapped her violently across the face, and shouted: “You can go and burn in hell.”

 7. He is not banned from UK In the end of summer 2014 there were rumors that the UK Home Office has barred the multi-millionaire Nigerian preacher from entering the United Kingdom. But David Oyedepo claimed that this information was false: “It’s nothing but a blatant lie and falsehood,” he stated on August 26, 2014, through his spokesperson.