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 like fire for the liberation of mankind across the nations.
On September 27, 1954, Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo, a native of Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria, was born in Osogbo into a religiously mixed family. His father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim healer, while his mother, Dorcas, was a member of the Eternal Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement (C&S). He was raised by his grandmother in Osogbo, who inculcated in him the virtues of Christian life through the early morning prayers which he attended with her. She also taught him the importance of tithing and other basic Christian virtues. David Oyedepo gave his life to Jesus Christ in 1969 through the influence of his former teacher, Ms Betty Lasher, who took a special interest in him during his high school days. He studied Architecture at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, and worked briefly with the Federal Ministry of Housing in Ilorin before resigning to concentrate on missionary work. David Oyedepo also earned a PhD in Human Development from Honolulu University, Hawaii, United States of America. In 1982 he married Florence Abiola Akano (now known as Faith). They have four children together (David Jr., Isaac, Love, and Joy). David Jr. and Isaac Oyedepo were ordained as Pastors in May 2007 by Kenneth Copeland.