1. Introduction to the Scandal

Many of you have probably read about the recent scandal levied against the Senior Pastor of the Embassy of God Church, Sunday Adelaja. Many internet articles have been published with sensational headings to attract people to their sites. Headings such as "Nigerian Evangelical Pastor, Sunday Adelaja, Charged with Fraud in Ukraine!", "Nigerian Pastor defraud members of over $100 million in Ukraine". I am appalled how people could publish articles with such headings without an iota of investigation on their part. This is what I call lazy journalism - You pick up such a sensitive story and rush to publish it on your site without any investigation. The most surprising is Charisma's article posted on December 19, 2008, which many websites copied. Charisma House published Pastor Adelaja's ChurchShift book and was about to release a new Adelaja book, Money Won't Make You Rich, before posting the said article. Why did Charisma rush to post such an article without investigating the allegations?

It is so amazing how the Lord works. Before the scandal broke out, the Lord led me to the Embassy of God Church in Ukraine in August 2008. Pastor Sunday was very open with me, and he did not hide anything from me. I had access to any information I wanted to review. He is not one of those pastors that are very difficult to reach, and he is approachable. Initially, I planned not to write anything on the scandal and false accusations against Pastor Sunday, since my new books coming out would speak for themselves on the wonderful work God is doing at the Embassy of God Church; however, I felt obligated to speak out about the nonfactual articles and about the hypocritical attitude of some of our so-called Church leaders which kept bothering me. I am not here to defend Sunday Adelaja, but to express my feelings on certain players in the entire issue. I was with Pastor Sunday in Nigeria in November 2008 during the launching of the Microfinance Bank. I was in Ukraine again in 2009 during the Church's 15th anniversary. Pastor Sunday allowed me to carry out my own independent investigation; it was necessary because of the important book project the Lord has placed in my hands. I believe that if Pastor Sunday was guilty of such a magnitude of fraud, he could not escape being found guilty by the Ukrainian law. All his computers and laptops (both at home and in the office) have been seized since December 2008 by the Ukrainian Police who are yet to find something in those business machines that will incriminate Sunday Adelaja. I also believe that the Lord will always uphold the Truth in His Church. He does not need some Shenanigan Bishops to defend Him or sit on His throne of judgement.

So, what's new since the scandal broke out in December 2008?

1. The Ukrainian Interior Minister, who initially accused Sunday Adelaja, resigned from office.
   
2. Sunday Adelaja and the Embassy of God Church have sued the government for defamation of character.

So, you see how the tide changes direction. Keep watching for more comments from me. I will comment on Charisma, one Rick Renner, and the Ukrainian Bishops.

Abi Olowe, Ph.D.