By Olabisi Deji-Folutile
Dr. David Olaniyi Oyedepo, founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide and Presiding Bishop of the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State turns 70 years old today.
The name, David Oyedepo, registers differently in different people’s minds. To some, he is that controversial and flamboyant prosperity preacher with arrays of vehicles, properties-home and abroad, and multiples of aircraft. To others, he is seen as a strong voice in Nigeria’s Christian charismatic movement.
And to many, Oyedepo, a PhD holder in Human Development from Honolulu University, Hawaii, United States, is a revolutionist especially in Nigeria’s educational system where he championed the establishment of Covenant University, a leading educational institution in Nigeria and Landmark University, in Omu Aran, where a new form of agricultural revolution is being rebirthed in Nigeria.
It is no longer news that Covenant university in barely two decades of existence is ranked above most federal and state universities in Nigeria. It was ranked the 7th best university in Sub-Saharan Africa during the first Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa Rankings 2023. The university has consistently ranked among the best 800-1000 universities in the world between 2019 and 2024, according to Times Higher Education.
His impact in the educational sector is not limited to universities alone as the church also runs a network of primary and secondary schools known as Kingdom Heritage Model School and Faith Academy not only in Nigeria but outside its shores.
Yet to many others, Bishop David Oyedepo, who incidentally was born inside the church, although his father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim, but his mother, Dorcas, was a member of the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (C&S), is that bold preacher that speaks to power without any iota of intimidation.
He got lots of flaks from some quarters for his position on COVID-19 pandemic especially when authorities failed to reopen churches despite the re-opening of other institutions. But his continuous interventions led to the reopening of churches with regulations put in place to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
His voice was also loud during the plan of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to introduce Ruga, a settlement scheme for the Fulani across Nigeria. He spoke against Boko Haram and openly prayed that God would give former President Goodluck Jonathan the heart of a lion to tackle the issue frontally during his administration.
While the above summations and much more could aptly describe Bishop David Oyedepo, those who really know the bishop will describe him as a consummate lover of God and an insatiable hunter for souls. Only real WINNERS – the moniker for members of the Living Faith Church worldwide, can tell you the extent of his love for God and how he drives them to win souls which according to him is the true proof of the believer’s love for God.
He will tell you, “if you love God, you will love what he loves, God so loved the world that he gave his son. Prove your love for him by ensuring that you bring one soul to church next Sunday.’’
To show the extent of his passion for souls, he boldly announced that church members should not bother to give him any gift for his platinum celebration- all he wanted from them was just ‘one soul per person for Christ.’ “Don’t give me gifts, I don’t need them, don’t bother to give me cake, I don’t eat it. Give me souls. Make that your birthday gifts to me. That’s all I want from you,’’ he had announced.
To press this home, a week preceding his birthday was declared, “A week of Sacrifice For Soul.’’ Trust him, he will always do what he asks the church members to do. So, in fulfilment of his own sacrifice for souls, he still went out a week to his birthday to haunt for souls for Christ and he got 177 souls according to his testimony shared on the pulpit. The bishop still goes on the streets of Ota and environ to haunt for souls for the kingdom.
He has his target for every year and he always delivers beyond target. Thousands of souls in the church today are his direct converts and he nurtures them to remain in the faith as any would like to nurture a new believer. This is a total assignment aside his pastoral roles.
You may think his passion for souls is just an avenue to keep the church growing which ordinarily isn’t even a bad idea if you ask me, but the bishop has always been a consuming lover of God. Imagine this. As a teenager, in less than three months, he singlehandedly built a church in a village where he had gone to work, from the scratch to the finish. He practically led the villagers to Christ one by one.
The villagers gave him a bush lamp as a gift and told him that the light he brought to them would shine across the world. That is exactly what is happening now. The light is shining across the world. The Living Faith Church has its network of churches in 147 countries across the continents. The church has 38,000 house fellowship centres in Lagos alone.
Although his ambition was to be a businessman supporting the works of God, fate had another assignment for him. You don’t have to be close to the bishop to know that everything about God moves him.
He demonstrates this in different ways. I can’t tell the number of churches the bishop and his family have built. Only him and his family would have the details but going by his testimonies, they must be in thousands. These churches are also not necessarily branches of the Living Faith Church- they could be for other denominations. He is simply a violent kingdom promoter.
I have been a member of the Living Faith Church for over two decades now and I still wonder where outsiders get this impression that the only thing preached in Winners is prosperity message. Is Bishop David Oyedepo rich? The answer is a capital Yes.
He was named as Nigeria’s wealthiest pastor by Forbes magazine in 2011 with over $150m but the bishop will dispute this figure and tell you that his wealth is underestimated. His point is that he is worth everything in God by redemption. In other words, such wealth is unquantifiable. Are Winners rich? The answer is also in the affirmative.
But does the bishop pursue prosperity? The answer is No. Every living Winner knows the scripture that rules the bishop’s life. It is in Mathew 6:33 which says “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things ( that men are dying to have) shall be added unto you.’’ I am not sure I have attended any service in my last over 20 something years in Winners where this scripture is not quoted by the bishop. And by extension, this has become the mantra of every “Winner.’’ It works like fire.
Winners don’t pursue after wealth. They simply obey the covenant of prosperity, obey scriptures and God pours His blessings in unimaginable and undeniable ways. Mind you, this wealth is not measured in monetary terms only, they are riches that are all encompassing. In Winners, it doesn’t matter what you do, you will prosper, albeit everyone at their own levels.
That is basically the secret behind the wealth of Bishop David Oyedepo and members of the church that are truly committed to his teachings and walk by them. I have seen and heard countless of testimonies from ordinary church members -testimonies of exploits that are not shared on the pulpit-people doing marvelously well in their chosen fields. The bishop describes such testimonies as though noiseless but undeniable.
The secrets of men are in their stories. The Bible says if you see a man that is diligent in his work, he will stand before kings, and not mere men. Bishop David Oyedepo is an epitome of diligence. It is impossible for a man as diligent as him not to be wealthy even if he is a pure water seller. He prepares for every service as if it is his first sermon. He works minimum of 16-18 hours daily.
I once attended a vigil where the bishop flew in from outside the country and came straight to the pulpit to preach. He once laid hands on people from morning till evening standing on his feet for more than 10 hours.
The bishop is a workaholic if I’m permitted to use that word. He takes his assignment with every sense of commitment and seriousness. He quotes scriptures effortlessly.
As editor of the Saturday Punch title, I once asked the bishop during an interview how he was able to do this. Was he cramming the scriptures, I wanted to know. To my dismay, he said, “I don’t read scriptures, I eat them.’’ For those who don’t know, the bishop does not go to bed until he reads certain chapters of scriptures. To him, he does this to cleanse any debris that might have entered him in the course of the day.
Such is the level of his diligence in taking care of himself as well as the congregants. Let me share this interesting story here. My family moved from our previous place of abode in Lagos to another area and we joined the Winners zonal centre in our new area as newcomers. Soon, we interacted with other members and my husband discovered that one of the pastors at the zone was unusually meticulous, organized and of course prosperous.
We found out that the pastor, Mike Ewewie, was Bishop Oyedepo’s personal assistant for 17 years. That is how contagious the bishop’s organizational prowess is. In the Living Faith Church, time is precious. Service starts by 6am. Nobody waits for anyone. And that has been the order of the church since inception even when they were less than four members in church.
Bishop David Oyedepo is also bold and audacious. The church planted 10,000 churches during the COVID-19 lockdown. At the beginning of the year, the bishop had announced that God told him that the church would plant 10,000 churches.
When the lockdown came unexpectedly, one would have thought that it was impossible for this to happen again. But alas, the church planted 10,400 churches amid lockdown. “We do not do anything unless it is commanded, and whatever He commands,
He creates,’’ he always says. That also explains the movement of the church from town to a so-called wilderness now known as Canaan land. And not just that, it was responsible for the audacious declaration of building a 50,000 – seater auditorium within one year—the first of its kind in world history.
Today, Bishop David Oyedepo and by extension, the Living Faith Church is fulfilling prophecy. The things that were told of God and documented more than 40 years ago are seen coming to pass.
It is easy to refer to past prophecies and confirm them in the present. God spoke about the 50,0000 -capacity auditorium, ‘aircrafts,’ global connectivity and many other prophecies at the inception of the ministry. It is indeed gratifying seeing these prophecies fulfilled word for word.
The church has four aircraft and those who know how expensive it is to maintain an aircraft will tell you this is no cheap feat. For those who think the bishop flies around the world in jets, let me shock you.
The bishop has not stepped out of Nigeria—not even to Togo or Benin Republic which is very close to Ota—in the last five years. Why? God says so. It is impossible to share all I know about Bishop David Oyedepo. But let me say a little bit about his giving lifestyle. His family started giving scholarships to students in 1992.
He doesn’t even know most beneficiaries of his scholarships. In 2016, he gave all first-class graduates of Covenant University scholarships to pursue their Master’s programme. My son was a beneficiary of that slot. We didn’t even Know. We had paid his tuition. We got our money refunded. Till date, he has a scholarship fund for the indigent and beneficiaries don’t have to be Winners’ members.
To the man whose ministry has been of immense blessing not only to me and my family, but millions of others across the world – to the man who is an epitome of what it means to walk by faith, live by the word and demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit–to the man who has made the Bible as real as ever, teaching and leading by example, to the man, who I am ever proud to call a father in the Lord, and many more, this is wishing you a very happy platinum celebration. Your target is 120. You will live it in health, strength and grace if the Lord tarries in the name of Jesus.
Happy 70th Birthday, Bishop David Oyedepo. We love you.