We Are Not Ashamed to be Called the Church of the Rich – Bishop Oyedepo

Founder, Living Faith Church aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo,
in a new, very revealing interview with Punch talked about the
numerous stories we've heard about his church and how most of them are
lies plus how he reacts to them.

*.Why are there so many rich people in Winners?
Because they know better than their contemporaries. If you don't know
what you have, you won't know if you are deprived of it. The Bible is
an open chequebook, it is by revelation we access what belongs to us;
by faith we take delivery of it. Someone had access to our empowerment
programme and she is a pepper seller, while others sell one basket a
day, she sells six, seven. I learnt she had become the envy of all the
pepper sellers in her area. Such person has an understanding that
whatever
she does, she prospers and she knows that when she pays her tithe, she
experiences open heavens. But in case people don't know, they perish
for lack of knowledge, and in case they think when you are rich you
miss heaven, then they perish for lack of knowledge.

*.So, it's right when people claim that this church is only for the rich?
It's for all the people who believe that Jesus already paid for them
to be rich. And those who don't believe, when they come they start
believing when they see it happen in a lot of people's lives. And we
are not ashamed to be called the church of the rich. If they call your
family poor, will you be excited? Nobody would be excited. Even when a
family is poor, they hate to be called poor. No man in his right mind
enjoys being called poor, and nobody truly wants to be poor, people
may pretend. Which is more honourable between being a giver and a
beggar? Most of us came in very poor, but the light of God's word came
on us and we walked out of poverty in grand style into wealth and
riches.

*.We learnt your church members once donated about 700 cars as seed
and that the cars were given to the pastors?
It's important to mention that there was no time that I know in the
history of this church where there were 700 cars. There is no such
story. People can make anything out of anything. There was a time they
said we had six planes, and I said they didn't count them well, they
should be up to 30 so that we use one each day of the month.

Those are things that make news in the social media even when they are
lies. People give here because they are taught to give, because we
understand from the scriptures that it is the only way to increase.

Every normal Winner takes good care of his parents. We also give to
the poor. My family has sponsored close to 150 people out of
university and others at Landmark University are on scholarship on our
own ticket because of our commitment to agriculture.

It is a lifestyle; it didn't start yesterday or two days ago. Since
1992, I have been consciously sponsoring students in various
universities in Nigeria. The church is blessed because the church is a
giving church. Just today (before you came), I signed millions for
people who have health needs from the welfare account. And that
continues. For instance, the church gives scholarships annually, not
N100m or N150m. And it's not in the news. And that we have been doing
for years.

*.How do you feel when people accuse you of flying in jets and
spending church money to maintain the jets?
I feel very good. It's an opinion. Let me tell you what my
understanding of persecution is; it's simply an opinion harshly
expressed. And everybody has a right to his opinion. People who are
walking in the truth are hardly bothered when things are said
negatively about them because they have nothing to hide.

The truth is I have never felt it, some say it's not human, but I have
not. I can't be wasting my time trying to reply lies because I have
too many things to do. They are doing their work, let me be doing my
work too and before they wake up in the morning, I've done the next
one, so, it doesn't matter.

When we started Convenant University, so many people said it would not
work, now, we hosted two Nobel Laureates this week, whereas no
Nigerian university has ever hosted one in the history of university
education in Nigeria. Now, it is the most pronounced and preferred
private university in Nigeria. In fact, they say this is the
university of the future; that is what they say in the university
community. Those who said it could not work now have their children
here because they have changed their mind.

Some people say how can you tell children how to dress? We have to do
that so they won't behave like mad people on the street. They say how
can you tell them they can't use phone? We tell them so they would be
disconnected from cultism. Ask me anything, I can tell you why we did
it