TROUBLE IN PARADISE.-PASTOR SUNDAY ADELAJA'S UKRAINE DILEMMA

He oversees one of the largest congregations in that part of the world; we hear that he pastors a flock of over a hundred thousand at his Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God For All Nations in Kiev, Ukraine. His call is to that former iron curtain enclave-Ukraine that used to be part of USSR, until the whole republic broke up and their came out Ukraine and several other countries, but like it is said ''Old habits die hard''. Though it is another country on its own now, the old way of viewing everything with so much suspicion is still very prevalent. And that seems to be the problem the Man of God, Pastor Sunday Adelaja is battling with right now. He has been under investigation now for alleged fraud for the past 3 years, just because a member of his church was involved in a business that has now gone down. Because of his perceived larger than life influence, he is now in a battle for his existence with the state, to the extent that his movement, the last 3 years has been restricted.

OVERVIEW

Sunday Adelaja left his native Nigeria from a forty-hut village in 1986 to what was formerly known as the Soviet Union, where he was recruited to be sent back to Africa as a socialist revolutionary. But instead Sunday Adelaja soon rose to become the biggest Evangelical influence in all of Europe.

In 1993, he relocated to the Ukraine to work as a journalist. This was following the completion of his master’s degree in Journalism, which he obtained from the Belarusian State University.

In 1994, he started his fast-growing interdenominational church that soon became both a political and social power house in Ukraine.

In 2004, members of the church took an active part in the events of the orange revolution. This action resulted in Pastor Sunday Adelaja being declared a persona non-grata to Russia by Vladimir Putin, former President of the aforementioned country who equally accused him of being a voice and a herald of western value systems.

In 2007, Victor Yushchenko, former President of Ukraine informed that the Russian government saw the protestant church of Ukraine as the biggest threat to its political dominance that it held over the country. He also stated that Pastor Sunday had become a prime target for the Russian KGB and this information was subsequently passed onto the American ambassador in Kyiv be Pastor Sunday personally.

In 2008 after the global economic meltdown, the Ukrainian economy suffered greatly. One of the casualties of this was a company whose proprietor also happened to be a member of the Embassy of God Church. In times past, this individual had been given the opportunity to address the church, a move which certain political figures decided to capitalize on in their bid to rid the church and possibly the country of Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

To date, there is still no proof of Pastor Sunday`s involvement in King`s Capital apart from the fact that one of the founders of the said company was a regular member of his church. Additionally, Pastor Sunday’s signature is not on any of the documents. Furthermore, even the owners of the company refuse to accuse Pastor Sunday of any involvement in the set up and running of the company.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs went ahead to arrest and detain two members of Pastor Sunday`s church, who do not have anything to do with the company in a bid to get them to bear false witness against Pastor Sunday. The former Minister of Internal Affairs, Yuriy Lutsenko, issued a statement that they will remain in custody for their failure to cooperate with the investigators in the charges leveled against Pastor Sunday.

On the other hand, the Ministry actually released the directors of King`s Capital company following their agreement to work with the police department in bringing these false allegations against Pastor Sunday.

The duo arrested for their refusal to bear false witness i.e. Sergey Golovanov and Igor Kolesnikov have remained in police custody for the last two years. This is in fact illegal given that under the Ukrainian law, nobody is to be detained for more than 18 months.

In the last few years alone, there have been three different occasions during which the Ukrainian parliament sought to get rid of Pastor Sunday.

Despite having resided in the former Soviet Union for close to 25 years, the Ukrainian government has repeatedly refused to grant Pastor Sunday full citizenship due to the fact that he is still regarded as a foreigner. His influence is perceived as a threat to the monogenic culture of Ukraine especially as a black man who pastors a congregation that is 99% white.

Pastor Sunday however is a man of international repute. Recognized worldwide, he has spoken at the United Nations Summits, the Bill Clinton Global Initiative 2007, prayed in the US Senate, in the Japanese Parliament, the Israeli Parliament, and in various other countries.

Unfortunately the reverse is the case in Ukraine and the negative sentiments towards him run deep particularly within the political circle mainly because he pastors a protestant church in a predominantly orthodox country. The fact that he is a black man that leads a congregation of around a hundred thousand white Ukrainians (a figure that represents about 99% of its members) does not sit well with the political establishment. Moreover, several members of his church are also becoming more and more politically active, a move which some politicians regard as a threat to their political ambitions.

The investigation into the accusation that was supposed to last three months has dragged on for three years. This same period has also been wrought with a lot of noise and character assassination on the person of Pastor Sunday, with the intention
being to reduce his influence as well as that of all the protestant churches in Ukraine.

The general consensus is that the accusations leveled against Pastor Sunday are unfounded. Hence the underlying agenda now is to ensure that Pastor Sunday is not allowed to function within this capacity as the Senior Pastor of the church at all costs and he has subsequently been threatened with up to 12 years imprisonment.

The judicial system of Ukraine is rather biased and will not hesitate to send a black pastor to prison in the belief that they are doing God and the Orthodox Church a favor.

Sources close to the judge in charge of this lawsuit have disclosed that the judge does not have an option in this case. The Judge expressly stated that he had been sent the directive by the Prosecutor’s general office to pass the guilty verdict despite the fact that the case is yet to commence.

It remains common knowledge that the Ukrainian government as well as its judicial system is quite biased and sympathetic towards the Russian Orthodox Church but not only that. They will also not hesitate to send a black pastor to prison in the belief that they are doing God and the Orthodox Church a favor. We therefore strongly believe that the Ukrainian government is being influenced by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The members of the Embassy of God church and the members of civil societies in Ukraine are therefore pleading for an intervention in the above case so as to put an end to the unjustified attacks and persecution targeted against the Embassy of God church and its Senior Pastor, Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

Information about the Embassy of God Church and
Pastor Sunday Adelaja
Over one million salvations in the first 8 years

Over 1000 churches planted in over 30 countries

Three thousand leaders ministering in the Kyiv church

20 services held weekly in the church in Kyiv (in various auditoriums)

One thousand salvations recorded monthly in the Embassy of God’s Kyiv church (over 10 thousand per year)

There are homes for street abandoned children whereby over 500 children have been reunited to their families

The Embassy of God is unswervingly implicated in the transformation of all strata of society; church members are involved in schools, factories, banks and numerous social groups of the society

Thousands of mafia members have come to the Lord through the activities of the Embassy of God

The church’s hot - line has counseled over 70 thousand people of which 1,500 are now church members

The church’s radio and television ministry reaches approximately eight million people weekly in Ukraine and millions more through weekly TBN programs in Europe, Russia and Africa. He is also one of the main speakers at the Global Pastors Network, organized by the late Dr. Bill Bright.

The church’s "Stephania Soup Kitchen" feeds 1,000 - 2,000 people daily and ministers through outreaches to hundreds of needy street and abandoned children.

God has used the "Love Rehabilitation Centre" to touch the lives of more than 3,000 drug and alcohol addicts, setting them free from the bonds of addiction.

Established seven years ago the Embassy of God is now the largest evangelical charismatic in all of church of Europe

Activities of the Embassy of God church, Kyiv, Ukraine Rehabilitation

* Help people to get free from various addictions: - Drugs - Tobacco - Alcohol - Gambling - Internet/Computer

* Work with homeless and poor people. This work is carried out by "Social Partnership" in conjunction with the Embassy of God Church.

*Rehabilitation of People with HIV / AIDS

*Adaptation and Social rehabilitation of those who have just left prison.

*Adaptation and Social rehabilitation of people with different sexual orientations

* Rehabilitation of relatives of addicts.

* Spiritual & psychological rehabilitation of people diagnosed with cancer at ontological hospitals. This includes children as well as their parents - providing them spiritual and psychological help.

Work with Disabled Persons

*Muscular-skeletal system malfunction and other categories of disability.

* Rehabilitation of disabled people through the use of IT and the Internet

* Adaptation and Social rehabilitation of people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Kids

* Work with children with delays in their intellectual development (individual and Group works)

* Work with street children - the project "Planet is in children’s hands" is for street kids

* Children’s Puppet Theatre "Kapitoshka" (Vishnevy Town)

* Sport Movement (football clubs, clubs of various kinds of martial arts)

* Education Centre for Girls, "Institute of Noble Maidens" (Simferopol City)

* Children Psychological Training Centre (Prevention and treatment of neuroses in Children, fears, etc.)

Women

* Prevention of abortion and the post-abortion rehabilitation

* Rehabilitation of single women, women with low self-esteem and divorced women

* Rehabilitation of women who experienced violence and abuse in the family

* Spiritual and psychological help for pregnant women

* Spiritual and psychological help for widows Men

* The Movement "Fatherhood." Institute of fatherhood

* Encouraging relationships between fathers and children

* Adaptation and Social rehabilitation of ex-servicemen Work with the elderly people

* Spiritual and psychological help for the elderly

* Charity dinners

* Patronage

* Club for the elderly Youth

* All-Ukrainian Movement "Prevention of Negative Phenomena among Young People"

* Movement for direction of youth education in the spirit of patriotism and love for the Motherland

* Training Centre for personal development - Project "Skimens"

* Interactive Theatre "Three Years "- prevention of abortion in schools

* Travel Club for teens

* Youth Centre "Area of life" (Vishnevy Town). Family

* School of the preparation for marriage * Work with families in critical situations

* Club work with families * Movement "To be in marriage for life”

* Internet movement: Work with families - "Family psychologist". Lviv City

* Work with families on adoption of orphaned children

* Internet-project "1 + 1" (introduction service for married and unmarried)

Education * Bible Institute "Joshua"

* International Training School –History Makers Bible School Germany:

*History Makers Bible School UK

*History Makers Bible School USA

* "The Centre of Personal’s Restoration and Society’s Transformation"

* Education centre for girls, "Institute of Noble Maidens" (Simferopol town)

* Training via the Internet - Centre for the mastery of computer literacy Culture

* Christian Theatre "Light Theatre". Art Therapy

* Youth Theatre "Bright Heart" Ukrainian Folk Choir* Association of Christian Artists Sports

* Sport Movement - Children’s soccer teams; - Clubs of different kinds of martial arts.

* Sport Movement "Sport. Unity. Friendship". Sport as a means of preventing negative phenomena among young people.

* "Sports Against Drugs." Sport as a means of preventing negative phenomena among young people. Evangelistic

* The movement of evangelism "The Festival of Jesus" (holding citywide evangelistic activities)

* The Ministry of Healing (Spiritual Help for healing in hospitals, at home. Individual consulting)

* Motion "The Living Gospel" (Evangelism through visualization)

* Evangelism in medical establishments http://www.evangilizaciya.org.ua/ International Club Active Citizenship

* All-Ukrainian movement "Against Drug Addiction and Drug corruption"

* All-Ukrainian NGO "Committee for the fight against organized crime and corruption"

* Motion "Morality in Society"

* The project "Ukraine without tuberculosis"

* The movement for the protection of human rights and dignity. Legal advice and support

* Press centre. Public Movement "Pure pen".

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