30 years after leaving to found Embassy of God Church, Kiev, Ukraine, said to be the largest church in Easthern Europe. Nigerian-born Pastor Sunday Adelaja is planning to return to his country of birth. He spoke with SUNDAY OGUNTOLA on the planned relocation as well as the recent allegation of adultery leveled against him. Excerpts:
Russian Union of Christians Evangelical Faith alleged that you confessed to having adulterous affairs with at least 20 women in your church. How true is this?
I never once was invited to a meeting with any Russian Union of churches. Neither did I ever speak to them either by telephone or any other way. So there is no way I could have confessed to people I never spoke to or met.
Your spiritual father, Apostle Toff Ulissis, also attested to this allegation, stating that you need “psychiatric help”. What is your reaction to this?
Apostle Tuff is not my spiritual father but I had a relationship with him. But I actually was saved under W.F Kumuyi. Besides, even this Apostle Tuff has denied ever making any such statements to the press or any media house.
You hinted that the allegation was an old fabrication cooked by disgruntled leaders in your church over power tussle. Let us in into what really transpired?
We have over 40 churches in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev and about 400 other churches in the country, plus over a 1,000 churches worldwide. When I got the revelation about moving to Africa, I wanted to totally go and leave a local leadership of the entire ministry while I go back to Africa to start all afresh.
My thought was that I’ll be so busy with the enormous task of Nigerian transformation that I won’t have the time to be managing the church in Ukraine. That was when all hell broke loose. As usual, some wanted the buildings; others wanted the budget, while some wanted the crowd. The rest is history…
The allegation has raised global concern and uproar. What will you tell those who still believe in you and look up to you?
As ministers, we don’t defend ourselves. We all have God who called us and who is our only defence; so at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that God is pleased and happy with you. If He is on your side, you are in the majority.
If on the other hand, people are on your side, but God isn’t, then you are in trouble. We are not movie or sports stars that need a fan base. We, on the other hand, only have one audience; we are actors performing to only please the Master. When the Master is pleased, He will even reconcile your enemies with you.
Is this allegation not taking a toll on your wife and children?
Not at all; that is the easy part. They know me. Secondly, they know the truth. There is a saying that you should never explain yourself because those who know you don’t need it, they know and love you anyway.
Those who don’t know nor love you, you’ll never be able to convince at any rate. So the conclusion is to simply walk before God and let your conscience be clean before Him.
What happens to the church in Ukraine if you leave?
That is the more reason why I’m actually happy that all the rebellion happened. Thanks to it, I was able to clean house. So we are establishing a new structure in the church now, top of which is that I must remain the senior pastor of the church even when I’m in Africa. That is a major point of stability moving forward.
How do you conceive the idea of returning home?
In 2015, I had a two- week solitude with God at which God specifically gave me instructions to go back to Africa, including what He wants me to do there. There have since been several confirmations of the revelation.
What part of Africa are you coming to?
The destination is Nigeria, to be specific. I have a 25- point instruction on what I’m coming to do. It’s not about religious or church ministry. But it’s more on the transformation of Nigeria in all spheres of life.
How soon will this materialise?
I’ll simply follow the Lord’s direction and guidance. Besides, I have a 30-year experience in Europe and ministry all over the world that will go a long way to help me fulfill the task ahead in Nigeria.
There are insinuations that the Nigerian media latched on to the story because some powerful forces in the Christian community are desperate to dent your image ahead of your relocation. Are you aware of this and what will you say to that?
It could be especially since I’m a straightforward person, a frank person who shares his opinions openly anywhere, anytime. In short, I’m a straight taker. No doubt, many people might not like my style. Others might have been outright incensed and offended by me or some of my past publications.
I guess they have the right to react anyway they see right in their eyes. We are all living in a free society, so I don’t mind if any of them is a part to this. On the other hand, I too have the right to freely express my opinion on the issues going on in my fatherland.
Can you recall your past struggles with sexual addictions and how you overcame?
Oh yes, like every man I, too had hard my own share of sexual struggles, which I publicly attest to in my publications. I wrote a book on the subject, Living Sexually Free and recently, I posted an article on ‘20 ways to overcome masturbation’ on my blog, www.sundayadelajablog.com, so anyone interested in more details of my journey on this matter could consult those sources.
In one of your popular series, ‘Ask Pastor Sunday’, you hinted that a Christian cannot commit adultery. Can you clarify this?
I never said such a thing. Of course, both Christians and non-Christians can commit adultery or fornication. What I was saying in that particular programme mentioned is that Christians shouldn’t be sin-conscious; they need to be more conscious about their relationship with God rather than be thinking only about one sin or the other from morning till evening.
The reason I spoke in particular about fornication and adultery was because I was speaking to young students who were concerned about such topic. The whole gist is, be more particular about your personal relationship with God, than you are particular about sin, whatever it’s called.
Why are you always reeling from one allegation to the other?
There is no person who is in the limelight that is not being accused of one thing or the other on a regular basis. If you want to be nothing, do nothing. Maybe then people won’t accuse you of anything.
Look at any popular person in Nigeria or the world, from Presidents Barrack Obama to Muhammadu Buhari, all of them are being accused regularly of one thing or the other. Controversy is the fuel of popularity. So better get used to it.
Even Jesus could not escape this law of nature. If He couldn’t avoid it, how can I avoid it? Better to start enjoying it!!!
Russian Union of Christians Evangelical Faith alleged that you confessed to having adulterous affairs with at least 20 women in your church. How true is this?
I never once was invited to a meeting with any Russian Union of churches. Neither did I ever speak to them either by telephone or any other way. So there is no way I could have confessed to people I never spoke to or met.
Your spiritual father, Apostle Toff Ulissis, also attested to this allegation, stating that you need “psychiatric help”. What is your reaction to this?
Apostle Tuff is not my spiritual father but I had a relationship with him. But I actually was saved under W.F Kumuyi. Besides, even this Apostle Tuff has denied ever making any such statements to the press or any media house.
You hinted that the allegation was an old fabrication cooked by disgruntled leaders in your church over power tussle. Let us in into what really transpired?
We have over 40 churches in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev and about 400 other churches in the country, plus over a 1,000 churches worldwide. When I got the revelation about moving to Africa, I wanted to totally go and leave a local leadership of the entire ministry while I go back to Africa to start all afresh.
My thought was that I’ll be so busy with the enormous task of Nigerian transformation that I won’t have the time to be managing the church in Ukraine. That was when all hell broke loose. As usual, some wanted the buildings; others wanted the budget, while some wanted the crowd. The rest is history…
The allegation has raised global concern and uproar. What will you tell those who still believe in you and look up to you?
As ministers, we don’t defend ourselves. We all have God who called us and who is our only defence; so at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that God is pleased and happy with you. If He is on your side, you are in the majority.
If on the other hand, people are on your side, but God isn’t, then you are in trouble. We are not movie or sports stars that need a fan base. We, on the other hand, only have one audience; we are actors performing to only please the Master. When the Master is pleased, He will even reconcile your enemies with you.
Is this allegation not taking a toll on your wife and children?
Not at all; that is the easy part. They know me. Secondly, they know the truth. There is a saying that you should never explain yourself because those who know you don’t need it, they know and love you anyway.
Those who don’t know nor love you, you’ll never be able to convince at any rate. So the conclusion is to simply walk before God and let your conscience be clean before Him.
What happens to the church in Ukraine if you leave?
That is the more reason why I’m actually happy that all the rebellion happened. Thanks to it, I was able to clean house. So we are establishing a new structure in the church now, top of which is that I must remain the senior pastor of the church even when I’m in Africa. That is a major point of stability moving forward.
How do you conceive the idea of returning home?
In 2015, I had a two- week solitude with God at which God specifically gave me instructions to go back to Africa, including what He wants me to do there. There have since been several confirmations of the revelation.
What part of Africa are you coming to?
The destination is Nigeria, to be specific. I have a 25- point instruction on what I’m coming to do. It’s not about religious or church ministry. But it’s more on the transformation of Nigeria in all spheres of life.
How soon will this materialise?
I’ll simply follow the Lord’s direction and guidance. Besides, I have a 30-year experience in Europe and ministry all over the world that will go a long way to help me fulfill the task ahead in Nigeria.
There are insinuations that the Nigerian media latched on to the story because some powerful forces in the Christian community are desperate to dent your image ahead of your relocation. Are you aware of this and what will you say to that?
It could be especially since I’m a straightforward person, a frank person who shares his opinions openly anywhere, anytime. In short, I’m a straight taker. No doubt, many people might not like my style. Others might have been outright incensed and offended by me or some of my past publications.
I guess they have the right to react anyway they see right in their eyes. We are all living in a free society, so I don’t mind if any of them is a part to this. On the other hand, I too have the right to freely express my opinion on the issues going on in my fatherland.
Can you recall your past struggles with sexual addictions and how you overcame?
Oh yes, like every man I, too had hard my own share of sexual struggles, which I publicly attest to in my publications. I wrote a book on the subject, Living Sexually Free and recently, I posted an article on ‘20 ways to overcome masturbation’ on my blog, www.sundayadelajablog.com, so anyone interested in more details of my journey on this matter could consult those sources.
In one of your popular series, ‘Ask Pastor Sunday’, you hinted that a Christian cannot commit adultery. Can you clarify this?
I never said such a thing. Of course, both Christians and non-Christians can commit adultery or fornication. What I was saying in that particular programme mentioned is that Christians shouldn’t be sin-conscious; they need to be more conscious about their relationship with God rather than be thinking only about one sin or the other from morning till evening.
The reason I spoke in particular about fornication and adultery was because I was speaking to young students who were concerned about such topic. The whole gist is, be more particular about your personal relationship with God, than you are particular about sin, whatever it’s called.
Why are you always reeling from one allegation to the other?
There is no person who is in the limelight that is not being accused of one thing or the other on a regular basis. If you want to be nothing, do nothing. Maybe then people won’t accuse you of anything.
Look at any popular person in Nigeria or the world, from Presidents Barrack Obama to Muhammadu Buhari, all of them are being accused regularly of one thing or the other. Controversy is the fuel of popularity. So better get used to it.
Even Jesus could not escape this law of nature. If He couldn’t avoid it, how can I avoid it? Better to start enjoying it!!!
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