The Billionaire Pastors In Kenya & Africa.

Pastors are increasingly making their mark in the financial world, and African pastors are not being left behind. According to Forbes Magazine, on Africa’s list of the richest pastors, the five top positions are taken by Nigerians.

Bishop David Oyedepo estimated net worth is $150 million( Ksh 12.75billion.)
With a branch also in Kenya, Bishop David Oyedepo’s Winners Chapel is the largest worship centre in the world. It has a sitting capacity of 50,000 people inside and an outside overflow of 250,000 people. The church holds three services every Sunday.
It is rumored that the Sunday tithe collection exceed 30 million Naira (Kshs 56million).

Founded in 1981, it now has well over 400 branches. Its assets include two aircraft (Gulfstream 1 & Gulfstream 4) and a fleet of over 400 buses that convey worshipers to and from church. Plans are in the making to purchase a third aircraft for use by the vice president, Bishop David Abioye.

The Church also owns Dominion Publishing House, which churns out books and other materials written by Oyedepo. The church is also heavily involved in humanitarian causes thorough its subsidiary, World Mission Agency (WMA) which provides welfare and other health and humanitarian services to the needy in the society.

Diversified interests
Another rich church is the Christ Embassy headquartered in Lagos. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s estimated net worth is $50M (Shs 4.25 billion). With up to 30,000 members, the church owns a string of large business with interests in broadcasting, entertainment, banking, publishing, and the hospitality industries.

The major money spinning arms of the ministry includes LoveWorld Cyber Ministry, LoveWorld Television, Love World Christian Network, LoveWorld Multimedia Ministry and LoveWorld Publishing Ministry. Love World the first 24-hour Christian Network from Africa to the rest of the world. Monthly financial yields of the 2 billion Naira printing press is approximately 10m Naira. (Kshs 19.8 million).

The church is headed by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, is the founder and lead pastor of the Christ Embassy, a thriving congregation with branches in Nigeria, South Africa, London, Canada and the United States. His publishing company, Loveworld Publications, publishes ‘Rhapsody of Realities,’ a monthly devotional he co-authors with his wife.

It sells over 2 million copies every month at $1 apiece. That’s a cool $2m every month. He also owns television stations, newspapers, magazines, a hotel, a fast-food chain, and more. His Loveworld TV Network is the first Christian network to broadcast from Africa to the rest of the world on a 24 hour basis.

Miraculous healings
Nigeria’s most controversial clergyman is also one of its richest and most philanthropic. T.B Joshua heads the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), a congregation he founded in 1987, which accommodates over 15,000 worshippers on Sundays. His estimated net worth $15 million (Shs 1.275 billion)

The Pastor has remained controversial for several years for his inexplicable powers to heal all sorts of incurable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, cancer and paralysis. For miracle-craving worshippers, it’s the perfect seduction. The church currently has branches in Ghana, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Greece.

In the past three years, he has given over $20 million (Sh 1.7 billion) to causes in education, healthcare and rehabilitation programs for former Niger Delta militants. He owns Emmanuel TV, a Christian television network, and was close friends with Ghanaian President Atta Mills.

Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC)
KICC is one of the richest churches in the United Kingdom. The church, which was started in 1992, has 12,000 members. Pastor Ashimolowo, who earns an annual salary of £100,000(Kshs 13.2million) bags more than the Archbishop of Canterbury, the official head of the British church.

KICC’s profit in 18 months was approximately £4.9m(Kshs 600m). It also has assets of £22.9m(Sh 2.99 billion), more than three times the amount held by the foundation, which maintains St Paul’s Cathedral in England. In 2008 the church received £9.5m(Sh 1.23 billion) in offerings and tithes, dwarfing the £33,000 (Sh 4.2 million) that the average Church of England congregation gave over the same period.

Under investigation
In 2005, KICC’s charity-The King’s Ministries Trust, was investigated by the Charity Commission for financial irregularities and mismanagement. The report alleged that Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo acted as both a trustee and a paid employee of the charity, contrary to existing UK charity law, and was responsible for approving payments and benefits to himself and his wife, Yemisi, totaling more than £384,000.

Benefits received included free accommodation for himself and family, an £80,000 car and purchase of a Florida timeshare property for £13,000 using a charity credit card. Over half a million pounds were paid out to Ashimolowo’s private companies, which were operated from church property and had unclear business relationships with the charity. New trustees were appointed. Ashimolowo earns his salary from preaching as well as royalties from sermons published in books and on DVDs through his own company.

Flamboyant congregation
Another rich church is Household of God Church owned by Pastor Okotie who made his first success as a popular pop musician in the 80s. Estimated to be worth $ 10m(Sh 850 million) he found the light, embraced the Bible and set up the Household of God Church, one of Nigeria’s most flamboyant congregations. His 5,000 member church consists predominantly of Nollywood celebrities, musicians, and society people. He contested and lost Nigerian presidential elections for the third time this year under the Fresh Party, a political party he founded and funds. An automobile lover, he owns a Mercedes S600, Hummer and Porsche among several others.

Renowned televangelist Benn Hinn caused an uproar in 2008 when in South Africa, he offered a two minute blessing on his followers credit cards. Hinn delivered a message about "you reap what you sow", then said the service would yield millionaires and billionaires within 24 hours.

God's blessing would last only two minutes and it would create 500 churchgoing millionaires or even billionaires- all they had to do was use their credit cards to pay $1000(Kshs 8,500) in offerings to televangelist Benny Hinn as "an exceptional blessing rested on $1 000."
 By David Odongo 

Uhuru Kenyatta just bought his fourth Radio Station. Guess which?

In small strides, Uhuru Kenyatta is slowly turning into a media mogul, just like Royal Media's S.K Macharia. Slowly taking over radio stations and making changes in each one of them, Uhuru is strongly demanding an audience from the Kenyan citizens.Initially, Uhuru Kenyatta owned three radio stations; Kameme FM, Meru FM and Mbaitu FM, all under MediaMax. Uhuru has now gone and added yet another influential and widely listened to radio station under Mediamax. Milele FM is now owned by deputy Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta. He now has a lot of power over most media houses in Kenya, not forgetting that he also owns K24 and People Newspaper.

Could this purchase have anything to do with the fact that the general elections are just around the corner and therefore more influence on the people is required, or is this just pure business.

Thursday, 13 September 2012 13:43

Written by  Kone Sekou

Ten ways to Spot a Fake Friend

We must be careful and diligent in choosing our friends. The most important factor is trustworthiness, and when you find your trust was misplaced, the consequences can range from disappointment to disaster and can be heart-breaking.

Awhile back a long-time friend revealed a hidden hostility and envy of my success.

As always, my intuition had warned me several times, but I failed to listen to it.

For today, here are 10 ways you can spot a friend whose integrity is in decline and may be getting ready to bite.

But first, check your pride: if you have truly wronged someone, always be the first to admit it and sincerely apologize.

1. Auditory: Short, curt, distant and agitated tones. You can tell they have something to say but aren't saying it. The reason for this is that their conscience is conflicted, their subconscious knows they are wrong, but their pride is searching for an excuse to oppose you. Until they find the excuse, they lay in waiting like a viper coiled on a limb.

2. Visual: Beady, shifty eyes. For the same reasons listed above, their eyes become beady and almost animal-like. They begin accessing their memory (lower left) where they have 'created' past justifications of disliking/betraying you, and they can also access their imagination (right or upper right) to reach and create.

3. Kinesthetic: Body language and Energy. They begin to appear shifty and uncomfortable around you. You can tell they're preoccupied. You'll start to detect a certain lack of natural comfort.

4. Breathing: their breathing may become noticeable, as may a very slight sheen of sweat on the skin. They may pause, look down and take a breath before speaking to you, as if they're subconsciously trying to 'get ready' to tell you something.

5. Life Circumstance: Incidents of friendship betrayal are often surrounded by economic factors and related stress and duress. If you find yourself happy and doing well, don't be surprised if some friends start to accuse you of being fake or doing wrong.

It's because of their own limiting beliefs and personal choices that they are in a struggle, but rather than recognize that and change their beliefs and make better choices, people tend to cling to previous programming such as 'money is evil' etc.

Rather than being rational and sober in thought, they resent that you have more than they do, so they smugly figure that you must have cheated or been helped to get success, not seeing the years of patience and toil it took you to get there.

They make an excuse for not living up to the comparative image themselves, falsely claiming the moral high ground, they will always try to shoot you down when you achieve something.

Negative thinkers always look for what's wrong, and they always 'find' it, most often by creating it in their own minds and clinging to it with pride.

6. The Law of Concentrated Attention: When you discover they have been unduly concentrating on you in an imbalanced way, you can be certain something is wrong with the relationship.

When a person concentrates on an idea, the idea tends to manifest itself. Remember that thoughts and behaviors become habitual through repetition.

An agitated/antagonistic thinker will repeat to themselves all of the things about you they perceive to be offensive, in order to reinforce to themselves that they are "right."

We can learn this for ourselves so that we don't make the same mistake: if it takes pressure effort or constant reinforcement to convince yourself that you're right... then you're not!

When you're truly right, you're at peace with yourself and with the world, and even with those who you believe have done you wrong.

7. The Law of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: R.K. Merton, Sociology Professor at Columbia University, stated that when we predict an event, the expectation of the event changes our behavior in such a way to make the event more likely to happen.

According to Merton, the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition or belief about a situation. This false belief causes a new behavior that makes the false belief come true.
So your betraying friend will, in his mind, compile a "crap list" to justify his self-informed prejudice and feel secure. That is the secret pleasure people unknowingly get from sitting in the Judgment Seat.

It's why public lynchings and feeding people to the lions in ancient Rome were so popular. Humans want others to be as they expect them to be - it makes us feel more secure.

Remember also that in the battle between Imagination and Logic, Imagination will almost always win! That's why so many people in the world are troubled - they aren't aware that they themselves hold the power to direct their imagination for a good result by design, so they let it control them by default through desires, emotions, and impulse.

In order to protect yourself from falling into this trap, imagine only what is good, clean, powerful and positive, and know when you are imagining.

8. The Character Test: Self-Responsibility. People who take responsibility for their own lives and circumstances are generally those with good lives and good character. They are the friends you want.

When you have the type of friends who blame others - God, the economy, the government, their childhood, etc., once they run out of things to blame, they'll pick you!

So look closely at how friends talk and think and make sure they tend to have a self-responsible worldview.

9. Smug Self-Righteousness: Notice if they are constantly claiming the moral high ground, quoting scripture, and taking pleasure in pointing the bony finger of contention.

That's a huge red flag of a friend about to flip. Remember, the only one anyone should ever be pointing at, the one you were born to work on, is the one in the mirror.

10. Refusal to be Held Accountable: When you call them on their imagined offenses and provide logical evidence to refute them, they'll clam up. This is pride looking for something to eat, and finding the fridge empty.

Give them a little time and they may come out of it. In the end, if they don't, let them go and bless them and move on. Resentment is a dangerous and highly addictive drug that is almost impossible to detect when you are under its influence. It will impair your judgment and hinder your results.

Whatever demon of delusion is in your former friend wants to get inside you too, and the only way it can do that is if you resent it.

Upon reading this you can easily look back and recognize these traits in former friends or associates who betrayed you or went sour

the Most Tantalizing Self Care Tips Ever - By Lori Lynn Smith

Passionate Self Care

One of the surest methods to stay on a focused, purposeful course in your business, relationships ... in all of your life, is to take extra special care of yourself. Oftentimes what happens is exactly the opposite: everyone and everything else in our lives takes precedence over our personal needs.

What happens then? Everything crumbles. Nothing works. The entire system shuts down.

What is your idea of self care?

I bet you are thinking it is something like spending a glorious time at a particular luxurious spa hotel. Sinking into a hot steaming bath filled with roses and smelling of vanilla; candles and soft music playing. You pick up a romance novel that you bought in the gift shop. Oh you lost track of time, you need to quickly dry off so you can get to your hot rock massage. While you are in the spa you decide what the heck you might as well get a mani and pedi as well.

And then reality sets in as your boss or your assistant drops a stack of paperwork on your desk...

While it is very nice to steal away a spa weekend every once and a while, it is not always practical. So how can you create that same feeling of re-energizing and relaxation at home with just 15 minutes?

Let's take a look at some tantalizing tips that you can do anytime:

Self-Care Tips for the Body

Create a wonderful nourishing morning ritual that allows you to rise gracefully into your day.

Listen to your body: your body is always sending messages to you, most often it is specifically asking you to take care of yourself. Sometimes this means more pampering and self care, sometimes it means more grounding and meditation.

Energize your body: many people find music very energizing. Now take it a little further and dance like no one is watching. To keep your body happy and healthy, get your heart pumping each day at least for 15 minutes.

Self-Care Tips for the Mind

Create a sacred space for yourself in your home; this can be as simple as a chair in the corner of a room or as big as your own room. Take time for yourself; spend time in solitude and make time for yourself to do something alone with yourself...like a walk in the woods.

Find inner stillness. Take 10-15 minutes a day to be still...meditate, journal your thoughts, stay in the present, or just focus on the positive.

Set boundaries. Setting healthy boundaries will allow you to find what works for you specifically and allows you to say "yes" or "no" when needed the most.

Self-Care Tips for the Soul

Connect with your soul-nourishing friends: make sure that your circle of friends leaves you feeling uplifted and wonderfully happy. Then make sure to pencil this time into your schedule each week. Nothing feels better than time with good friends.

Connect with your higher power and center within your spiritual self, maintaining your connection with your spiritual self and your higher power feeds your personal power. Strong personal power amplifies all the other areas of your life.

Connect with your heart, practicing compassion, forgiveness and random acts of giving & kindness allows you to enter a whole new level of self love.

Body, Mind and Soul Alignment

Small annoyances of daily life just don't bother you any more and they can't steal your peace while you are focused on self care. Tranquility and solitude refreshes your soul like the streams of a fountain washing away all anxiety and fear. You can be bold and confident in your future choices when you quiet all the other voices around you and listen to the ONLY inner voice inside of you. Your inner peace is reflected outwardly through all your actions. When you are at peace within your soul, you are able to accomplish more than you ever imagined.

Creating alignment with your Body, Mind and Soul is about taking time to give yourself the room to breathe in the peace and find your balance. When was the last time that you made time for yourself? Even just 15 minutes of "alone" time? Make a plan today, schedule in your calendar 15 minutes every day. Then try several different items from the list above to see how they feel. Did they make you feel more peaceful and relaxed? Great, try another couple items. You will soon have a list of some of your favorite self care items.

21 Ways Rich People Think Differently

By Mandi Woodruff

World’s richest woman Gina Rinehart is enduring a media firestorm over an article in which she takes the “jealous” middle class to task for “drinking, or smoking and socializing” rather than working to earn their own fortune.

What if she has a point?

Steve Siebold, author of “How Rich People Think,” spent nearly three decades interviewing millionaires around the world to find out what separates them from everyone else. It had little to do with money itself, he told Business Insider. It was about their mentality. “[The middle class] tells

people to be happy with what they have,” he said. “And on the whole, most people are steeped in fear when it comes to money.”

1. Average people think MONEY is the root of all evil. Rich people believe POVERTY is the root of all evil - “The average person has been brainwashed to believe rich people are lucky or dishonest,” Siebold writes. That’s why there’s a certain shame that comes along with “getting rich” in lower-income communities. “The world class knows that while having money doesn’t guarantee happiness, it does make your life easier and more enjoyable.”

2. Average people think selfishness is a vice. Rich people think selfishness is a virtue- “The rich go out there and try to make themselves happy. They don’t try to pretend to save the world,” Siebold told Business Insider. The problem is that middle class people see that as a negative––and it’s keeping them poor, he writes. “If you’re not taking care of you, you’re not in a position to help anyone else. You can’t give what you don’t have.”

3. Average people have a lottery mentality. Rich people have an action mentality- “While the masses are waiting to pick the right numbers and praying for prosperity, the great ones are solving problems,” Siebold writes. “The hero [middle class people] are waiting for may be God, government, their boss or their spouse. It’s the average person’s level of thinking that breeds this approach to life and living while the clock keeps ticking away.”

4. Average people think the road to riches is paved with formal education. Rich people believe in acquiring specific knowledge- “Many world-class performers have little formal education, and have amassed their wealth through the acquisition and subsequent sale of specific knowledge,” he writes. “Meanwhile, the masses are convinced that master’s degrees and doctorates are the way to wealth, mostly because they are trapped in the linear line of thought that holds them back from higher levels of consciousness…The wealthy aren’t interested in the means, only the end.”

5. Average people long for the good old days. Rich people dream of the future- “Self-made millionaires get rich because they’re willing to bet on themselves and project their dreams, goals and ideas into an unknown future,” Siebold writes. “People who believe their best days are behind them rarely get rich, and often struggle with unhappiness and depression.”

6. Average people see money through the eyes of emotion. Rich people think about money logically- “An ordinarily smart, well-educated and otherwise successful person can be instantly transformed into a fear-based, scarcity driven thinker whose greatest financial aspiration is to retire comfortably,” he writes. “The world class sees money for what it is and what it’s not, through the eyes of logic. The great ones know money is a critical tool that presents options and opportunities.”

7. Average people earn money doing things they don’t love. Rich people follow their passion- “To the average person, it looks like the rich are working all the time,” Siebold says. “But one of the smartest strategies of the world class is doing what they love and finding a way to get paid for it.” On the other hand, middle class take jobs they don’t enjoy “because they need the money and they’ve been trained in school and conditioned by society to live in a linear thinking world that equates earning money with physical or mental effort.”

8. Average people set low expectations so they’re never disappointed. Rich people are up for the challenge- “Psychologists and other mental health experts often advise people to set low expectations for their life to ensure they are not disappointed,” Siebold writes. “No one would ever strike it rich and live their dreams without huge expectations.”

9. Average people believe you have to DO something to get rich. Rich people believe you have to BE something to get rich- “That’s why people like Donald Trump go from millionaire to nine billion dollars in debt and come back richer than ever,” he writes. “While the masses are fixated on the doing and the immediate results of their actions, the great ones are learning and growing from every experience, whether it’s a success or a failure, knowing their true reward is becoming a human success machine that eventually produces outstanding results.”

10. Average people believe you need money to make money. Rich people use other people’s money- Linear thought might tell people to make money in order to earn more, but Siebold says the rich aren’t afraid to fund their future from other people’s pockets. “Rich people know not being solvent enough to personally afford something is not relevant. The real question is, ‘Is this worth buying, investing in, or pursuing?’” he writes.

11. Average people believe the markets are driven by logic and strategy. Rich people know they’re driven by emotion and greed- Investing successfully in the stock market isn’t just about a fancy math formula. “The rich know that the primary emotions that drive financial markets are fear and greed, and they factor this into all trades and trends they observe,” Siebold writes. “This knowledge of human nature and its overlapping impact on trading give them strategic advantage in building greater wealth through leverage.”

12. Average people live beyond their means. Rich people live below theirs- “Here’s how to live below your means and tap into the secret wealthy people have used for centuries: Get rich so you can afford to,” he writes. “The rich live below their means, not because they’re so savvy, but because they make so much money that they can afford to live like royalty while still having a king’s ransom socked away for the future.”

13. Average people teach their children how to survive. Rich people teach their kids to get rich. Rich parents teach their kids from an early age about the world of “haves” and “have-nots,” Siebold says. Even he admits many people have argued that he’s supporting the idea of elitism.

He disagrees. “[People] say parents are teaching their kids to look down on the masses because they’re poor. This isn’t true,” he writes. “What they’re teaching their kids is to see the world through the eyes of objective reality––the way society really is.” If children understand wealth early on, they’ll be more likely to strive for it later in life.

14. Average people let money stress them out. Rich people find peace of mind in wealth- The reason wealthy people earn more wealth is that they’re not afraid to admit that money can solve most problems, Siebold says. “[The middle class] sees money as a never-ending necessary evil that must be endured as part of life. The world class sees money as the great liberator, and with enough of it, they are able to purchase financial peace of mind.”

15. Average people would rather be entertained than educated. Rich people would rather be educated than entertained- While the rich don’t put much stock in furthering wealth through formal education, they appreciate the power of learning long after college is over, Siebold says. “Walk into a wealthy person’s home and one of the first things you’ll see is an extensive library of books they’ve used to educate themselves on how to become more successful,” he writes. “The middle class reads novels, tabloids and entertainment magazines.”

16. Average people think rich people are snobs. Rich people just want to surround themselves with like-minded people-The negative money mentality poisoning the middle class is what keeps the rich hanging out with the rich, he says. “[Rich people] can’t afford the messages of doom and gloom,” he writes. “This is often misinterpreted by the masses as snobbery. Labeling the world class as snobs is another way the middle class finds to feel better bout themselves and their chosen path of mediocrity.”

17. Average people focus on saving. Rich people focus on earning- Siebold theorizes that the wealthy focus on what they’ll gain by taking risks, rather than how to save what they have. “The masses are so focused on clipping coupons and living frugally they miss major opportunities,” he writes. “Even in the midst of a cash flow crisis, the rich reject the nickle and dime thinking of the masses. They are the masters of focusing their mental energy where it belongs: on the big money.”

18. Average people play it safe with money. Rich people know when to take risks- “Leverage is the watchword of the rich,” Siebold writes. “Every investor loses money on occasion, but the world class knows no matter what happens, they will aways be able to earn more.”

19. Average people love to be comfortable. Rich people find comfort in uncertainty- For the most part, it takes guts to take the risks necessary to make it as a millionaire––a challenge most middle class thinkers aren’t comfortable living with. “Physical, psychological, and emotional comfort is the primary goal of the middle class mindset,” Siebold writes. World class thinkers learn early on that becoming a millionaire isn’t easy and the need for comfort can be devastating. They learn to be comfortable while operating in a state of ongoing uncertainty.”

20. Average people never make the connection between money and health. Rich people know money can save your life- While the middle class squabbles over the virtues of Obamacare and their company’s health plan, the super wealthy are enrolled in a super elite “boutique medical care” association, Siebold says. “They pay a substantial yearly membership fee that guarantees them 24-hour access to a private physician who only serves a small group of members,” he writes. “Some wealthy neighborhoods have implemented this strategy and even require the physician to live in the neighborhood.”

21. Average people believe they must choose between a great family and being rich- Rich people know you can have it all- The idea that wealth must come at the expense of family time is nothing but a “cop-out”, Siebold says. “The masses have been brainwashed to believe it’s an either/or equation,” he writes. “The rich know you can have anything you want if you approach the challenge with a mindset rooted in love and abundance.”