Brief History

On May 2, 1981, at the end of a visionary encounter that lasted about eighteen hours, I saw a roll of afflicted, battered, beaten, tattered, deformed and all that one could ever imagine, groaning and agonizing, as a result of pains and pangs, crying as it were, for rescue. I was so moved with compassion that I began sobbing profusely asking,

“Why Lord ?” I heard the Lord say to me, “But from the beginning it was not so”.

I questioned further, “But why Lord ?” and then came the mandate,

“The hour has come to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil through the preaching of the word of faith, and I am sending you to undertake this task.”

This mandate was further confirmed from the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians where God Said,

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph 6:16).

This was the genesis of this global ministry today, and according to this mandate, the Word of Faith is the key to triumphant living.
Shortly thereafter, a weekly teaching program took-off, popularly known as the Faith Liberation Hour. Alongside, a caucus was put in place, tagged The Power House which was involved in prayers and fasting among others, towards the actualization of this heavenly vision.
Today, testimonies of liberation through our messages, books, tapes, magazines and other periodicals are most humbling. The word of faith is working like fire for the liberation of mankind across the nations.

 

– Bishop David Oyedepo

 

The Mandate​

Our Mandate speaks of liberation in all facets of human existence. We focus mainly on destinies that have been afflicted, battered, beaten, tattered, deformed and subsequently in groaning and agonies, as a result of pains, pangs and crying. This is the mandate.

“The hour has come to liberate the world from all oppression of the devil through the preaching of the word of faith, and I am sending you to undertake this task.”

Today, testimonies of liberation through our messages, books, tapes, magazines and other periodicals are most humbling. The word of faith is working likefire for the liberation of mankind across the nations.

– Bishop David Oyedepo (Presiding Bishop, LFCCWW, WMA)

Operational Mandates​​

The operational mandate of our ministry is as follows:

1. Pastoral Mandate​​

The understanding of the liberation commission is that, it will basically be an outreach operation. The Presiding Bishop could not imagine any church connection with the commission. Our understanding then was that there was no kind of church that was not in existence and that what was needed was to ignite the fire of the Holy Ghost in existing churches through itinerant preaching in churches, instead of finding new ones.
However, one glorious day, in November 1982, the Lord spoke to the Presiding Bishop clearly from Luke 1:1-3 that

 

“this mandate shall have a church base, all that is in existence notwithstanding”.

 

Today, the Living Faith Church, well known in some cities and nations as Winners’ Chapel International, and has become a worldwide name.

2. Foreign Mission Mandate

On May 4, 1994, as The Presiding Bishop was driving from a meeting held in Zaria to Kaduna, the Lord spoke to him in very clear terms, saying,

 

“The harvest of Africa is now over-ripe, rush in and preserve it from decadence.”

 

On May 8, 1994, with a giant map of Africa, we dedicated the mandate to God for execution and by January 15, 1995 the first set of missionaries left the shores of Nigeria. Today, we are in more than 32 African nations and operating in more than 63 cities and towns in those nations. It’s clear again that whatever God speaks with His mouth, He performs with His Hand (I Kings 8:15).
The foreign mission mandate gave birth to two organizations. One was the African Invasion Program (AGIP) and the World Mission Agency (WMA). It wouldn’t be until the year 2000 that God gave the Commission the prompting to expand beyond the shores of Africa in a program called the Mission To the World (MTW).
The church in London was subsequently born in the year 2001, the New York Church in 2004 and the Maryland Church in 2008. Clearly, the mission to spread this commission and its churches around the world came directly from God and that is why we have been experiencing God’s backing in a strange way.

3. Church Growth Mandate

During our Easter Faith Convention in 1987, The Presiding Bishop was on his way to the platform on April 27, 1987, when the Lord spoke to him in very clear terms, saying,

 

“It’s time to spread out.”

 

He declared it to the church that same day, and to the glory of God by May 27, 1987, our branch network began in five cities and towns in northern Nigeria, namely Maiduguri, Bauchi, Mubi, Azare and Biu. Today, we are in over 300 cities and towns in Nigeria, and over 35 nations in Africa, Europe and America.

Faith Tabernacle

The largest church auditorium in the world!

In 1998, Bishop David Oyedepo set forth to build a new building to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers. This resulted in the Ministry’s acquisition of the initial 530-acre (2.1 km2) facility, known as Canaanland, which serves as the headquarters of the Ministry. It is the home of the 50,000-seat capacity auditorium, the ‘Faith Tabernacle’, which is reputed to be the largest Church auditorium in the world; a feat also recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

The speed of the construction of Faith Tabernacle was breath taking, considering the size of the building. Construction of this gigantic project was completed within 12 months, which experts claim could only have been a miracle, because such a project should normally take a minimum of three years to complete. To the glory of God, this building was built debt-free. This 50,000-seat edifice was dedicated on September 18, 1999.

Canaanland is in Ota, a suburb of Lagos and is a 10,500-acre (42 km2) campus that houses the 50,000-seat church building, the church secretariat, the church’s youth chapel, a Primary School called Kingdom Heritage Model School, a full boarding mission secondary school called Faith Academy with over 1,500 students, and Covenant University which accommodates over 7,000 students, fully resident in ultra-modern hostel facilities, with fully equipped faculty buildings and numerous staff housing facilities. Canaanland also houses the Canaancity Estate, other establishments operated by the church such as a bakery, a bottled water processing plant, petrol stations, various restaurants and shopping stores, several residential houses that provide for the over 2,000 church employees, and guest houses. Four banks are also located in this estate, three of which are branches of external commercial banks and one which is a community and micro-finance bank operated by the Church.

We are a God-ordained city of refuge in this end time. Come experience the love of God with this family. Expect a life-transforming encounter.

Service Times:

  • Sundays: 9:00 am
  • Wednesday: 6:00 pm

Contact Us:

  • (804) 481-5731
  • info@winnerschapelrichmondva.com
  • 10455 Midlothian Turnpike Richmond, VA, US 23235