Christian Onehirokpeana Oyakhilome (born December 7, 1963), known worldwide as Pastor Chris, is a Nigerian pastor, televangelist, author, and philanthropist.
He is the founder and president of Christ Embassy, also called Believers’ LoveWorld Incorporated, one of the largest Pentecostal ministries to come out of Africa.
He built his name on a mix of faith healing crusades, a global television network, and Rhapsody of Realities, a daily devotional now printed in thousands of languages.
His wealth, his 2016 divorce, and a string of controversial public statements have made him one of the most searched, and most debated, pastors in the world.
At a Glance
| Personal | |
| Full name | Christian Onehirokpeana Oyakhilome |
| Born | December 7, 1963, Edo State, Nigeria |
| Age | 62 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Spouse | Anita Ebhodaghe (m. 1991; div. 2016) |
| Children | Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome, Charlene Oyakhilome |
| Parents | Elder T.E. Oyakhilome (father), Angelina Oyakhilome (mother) |
| Siblings | 7 children total; siblings include Rev. Ken Oyakhilome, Evang. Katty Woghiren, Pastor Linda Okocha |
| Education | |
| School | Edo College, Benin City |
| University | Bendel State University (now Ambrose Alli University), Architecture |
| Ministry | |
| Title | Founder and President |
| Ministry | Christ Embassy / Believers’ LoveWorld Inc. |
| Mentor | Archbishop Benson Idahosa |
| Founded | 1987 (as a campus fellowship) |
| Headquarters | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Record Label | LoveWorld Records (founded 2009) |
| Career | |
| Books | 30+, including Rhapsody of Realities |
| Net Worth | $50 million–$150 million (unverified estimates) |
Early Life and Background
Pastor Chris was born on December 7, 1963, in Edo State, Nigeria. He was the third of seven children and the first of two sons born to Elder T.E. Oyakhilome and Angelina Oyakhilome.
His father was one of the early pioneers of the Assemblies of God church in Benin City, so faith was not something Chris discovered later in life. It was the family business, in the truest sense.
He grew up watching his father build a church from nothing. That early exposure to grassroots ministry shaped how he later approached his own calling: build small, build fast, and use whatever tools are available to reach more people.
Education
Oyakhilome attended Edo College in Benin City for his secondary education. He then won a scholarship to study architecture at Bendel State University in Ekpoma, now known as Ambrose Alli University.
He has since received honorary doctorates, including a Doctor of Science and a Doctor of Divinity from Benson Idahosa University.
Ministry and Career
The Youth for Christ Fellowship
While still a student, Oyakhilome started a small prayer and Bible study group called Youth for Christ.
It began as a handful of students meeting on campus. Within a few years, it had outgrown any classroom the university could offer him.
That fellowship became Believers’ LoveWorld Fellowship, and eventually Christ Embassy, officially established in 1987.
Oyakhilome was still in his mid-twenties when he founded what would grow into one of the largest indigenously built Pentecostal churches in Africa.
Who Mentored Pastor Chris Oyakhilome?
The person most credited with shaping Oyakhilome’s ministry is Archbishop Benson Idahosa, founder of the Church of God Mission International and one of the defining figures of modern African Pentecostalism.
As a young man, Oyakhilome worked in the mail room at Idahosa’s church in Benin City, and later described watching the Archbishop walk past his desk to the office every day as a formative experience.
Idahosa’s family has publicly called Oyakhilome a “spiritual son.” In 2015, Oyakhilome donated 1 billion naira to build the Faculty of Engineering at Benson Idahosa University, a gift he described as a way of honoring the man who shaped his calling.
In 2020, Idahosa’s widow, Archbishop Margaret Idahosa, presented Oyakhilome with her late husband’s personal Bible, a gesture the family called an act of passing on a legacy.
Oyakhilome is not a formal member of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, the body Idahosa helped pioneer, but the theological and stylistic influence of Idahosa’s faith-and-healing approach runs through nearly everything Christ Embassy teaches today.
Growth of Christ Embassy
Christ Embassy grew fast because Oyakhilome treated media as ministry infrastructure, not an afterthought.
He launched LoveWorldSAT, one of the first African Christian television stations to broadcast globally around the clock.
That single decision put his sermons in front of viewers across Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, the US, and Canada long before livestreaming was common.
Today, the church claims a following in the millions, spread across branches on every continent.
Its main auditorium in Lagos holds tens of thousands of worshippers, placing it among the country’s largest church auditoriums in Nigeria.
LoveWorld Records: Pastor Chris’s Record Label
Beyond preaching, Oyakhilome built an entire music business. In 2009, he founded LoveWorld Records, an independent gospel record label run under the umbrella of Believers LoveWorld Incorporated.
It operates out of Ikeja, Lagos, and works alongside the church’s LoveWorld Music and Arts Ministry (LMAM), which handles the artist development and worship arm of the same operation.
The label’s job is simple: find gospel artists, record them, and push their music out to as many countries as possible. Since 2009, LoveWorld Records has signed and developed some of Nigeria’s biggest gospel names, including Sinach, Frank Edwards, Joe Praize, Eben, and Ada Ehi. His own daughter, Carissa Sharon, records under the label as CSO.
LoveWorld Records also distributes through the Loveworld Singers, a rotating collective of vocalists drawn from the church’s worship team, who release albums and lead the church’s Praise Night events.
Between the label, the TV network, and the daily devotional, Oyakhilome has built one of the more complete media operations in African gospel ministry, with music as a core, not a side project.
Rise to Prominence
Two things pushed Oyakhilome from a Nigerian church leader into a global name: television and the written word.
His healing crusades, broadcast internationally, built his reputation as a faith healer. His daily devotional, Rhapsody of Realities, launched in January 2001 and became one of the most widely translated Christian publications in the world, distributed in thousands of languages and printed in the billions of copies over two decades.
He also built out the Healing School, the Global Day of Prayer, and Healing Streams Live Healing Services, recurring events that pull in massive online and in-person audiences.
Alongside Bishop David Oyedepo, Oyakhilome is regularly named as one of the two or three most influential figures in Nigeria’s Pentecostal movement.
His decision to launch LoveWorld Records in 2009 also gave him reach beyond the pulpit, turning Christ Embassy into a genuine hit-maker in Nigerian gospel music.
Books and Publications
Oyakhilome has written more than 30 books. Most focus on healing, faith, prayer, and personal transformation. His best-known titles include:
- Rhapsody of Realities (2001) — his daily devotional, translated into thousands of languages
- None of These Diseases (2001) — his teaching on divine health and healing
- Gates of Zion (1998)
- Your Rights in Christ (1998)
- The Power of Your Mind (2016)
- How to Make Your Faith Work (2005)
- The Power of Tongues (2001)
His books are sold through Loveworld Publishing and distributed to churches worldwide as part of Christ Embassy’s outreach materials.
Personal Life
Marriage to Anita Oyakhilome
Oyakhilome married Anita Ebhodaghe on February 2, 1991. She was a member of the Youth for Christ fellowship he had started at Bendel State University, and she went on to serve as a pastor within Christ Embassy, based mostly out of the church’s UK operations. Together they had two daughters, Carissa Sharon and Charlene.
For over two decades, the couple co-authored Rhapsody of Realities and were presented publicly as a ministry team.
Why Did Pastor Chris and Anita Divorce?
The marriage came under strain around 2014, when Anita filed for separation. Reports at the time pointed to a mix of factors: the two lived apart for much of the year, with Oyakhilome based mainly in Nigeria and Anita in the UK, and Anita’s legal filing referenced allegations that Oyakhilome had been unfaithful.
Oyakhilome denied the adultery claims through his legal counsel. Neither side gave an extended public account of what happened, and the church largely kept the matter out of its public messaging.
Their divorce was finalized on February 8, 2016, through the High Court of Justice in the UK.
Anita’s solicitors confirmed in a public statement that she was “no longer involved in or part of Christ Embassy.”
Her name and image were removed from the church’s materials, including later editions of Rhapsody of Realities.
Is Pastor Chris Still Married? Did He Remarry?
Pastor Chris has not remarried. He has continued leading Christ Embassy as a single man since 2016.
On the other side, Anita began using the name “Anita Ebhodaghe Schafer” on her personal website, which sparked rumors that she had remarried.
She addressed this directly in a public statement, denying the remarriage rumors and confirming that reports of a new relationship were false. There is no verified evidence that either party has remarried since the divorce.
Children
Pastor Chris has two daughters and no sons. His eldest, Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome, performs as a gospel singer and songwriter under the stage name CSO and is part of the LoveWorld Music and Arts Ministry.
His younger daughter, Charlene Oyakhilome, has kept a lower public profile. Carissa Sharon married Ghanaian businessman Philip Frimpong, and the couple made Oyakhilome a grandfather in 2021.
Family in Ministry
Ministry runs through the whole Oyakhilome family. His brother, Reverend Ken Oyakhilome, pastors the Christ Embassy branch in Houston, Texas, and sits on the church’s Central Executive Council.
His sister, Evangelist Katty Woghiren, directs the LoveWorld Music and Arts Ministry and chairs LoveWorld Records.
Another sister, Pastor Linda Okocha, oversees the church’s South-South region in Nigeria.
Theology and Ministry Philosophy
Oyakhilome’s teaching sits firmly within the Word of Faith movement in Nigeria. He preaches that healing, financial breakthrough, and personal victory are available to believers now, through faith and spoken declaration, not just in the afterlife.
This puts his ministry alongside broader prosperity theology teaching common across Nigeria’s largest Pentecostal churches.
His central emphasis is on the believer’s authority in Christ. He teaches that Christians already have healing, provision, and dominion secured through the finished work of the cross, and that most believers simply fail to lay hold of what is already theirs. This idea runs through nearly every book he has written.
Influence and Legacy
Oyakhilome’s biggest impact has been on how African Pentecostal churches use media.
Long before livestreaming was standard, he had built a 24-hour Christian television network reaching multiple continents. That model has since been copied by churches across Nigeria and beyond.
Rhapsody of Realities alone puts his voice into millions of households daily, in languages his own congregation will never speak.
Between the devotional, the healing crusades, and Christ Embassy’s branch network, Oyakhilome remains one of the most recognized Christian leaders to come out of West Africa.
His influence on music is just as real. LoveWorld Records helped launch or grow the careers of artists like Sinach, whose song “Way Maker” went on to become one of the most streamed worship songs in the world.
Few pastors anywhere can point to a record label under their own ministry with that kind of global chart impact.
Criticism and Controversies
Oyakhilome’s public profile has not come without pushback.
COVID-19 misinformation: In 2020 and 2021, the UK’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, sanctioned Loveworld, the church’s TV network, twice for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
Oyakhilome had linked COVID-19 to 5G networks and claimed the pandemic was part of a planned rollout of a “new world order.”
Ofcom fined the station £125,000 in 2021 after finding the network’s coverage included unsupported claims about vaccines and the virus’s origins.
Several fellow Nigerian pastors, including Sam Adeyemi and Matthew Ashimolowo, publicly disputed his claims at the time.
Money laundering allegations: In 2011, Oyakhilome faced reports connecting him to a money laundering investigation involving roughly $35 million allegedly moved through foreign accounts. He denied wrongdoing, and the matter did not result in a conviction.
Wealth and lifestyle: Critics have long questioned the scale of his personal wealth, including his ownership of a private jet and multiple luxury properties, arguing it sits uneasily with his role as a pastor.
Supporters counter that his success funds a global outreach few ministries can match.
Net Worth and Financial Information
Estimates of Oyakhilome’s net worth vary a lot, and none of them are officially confirmed by the ministry.
Forbes estimated his wealth at $30 million to $50 million back in 2011. More recent, unverified estimates from entertainment and finance sites put the figure anywhere between $50 million and $150 million.
His income is generally tied to book royalties, media operations, and ministry-linked business interests, though the details of those ventures are not publicly disclosed.
All net worth figures for Pastor Chris Oyakhilome should be treated as estimates. No audited or officially released financial statement is publicly available.
Does Pastor Chris Oyakhilome Have a Private Jet?
Multiple independent reports, dating back to at least 2017, indicate that Oyakhilome owns at least one private jet, reportedly received partly as a gift from members of his congregation.
Neither Christ Embassy nor Oyakhilome has issued an official statement confirming the exact number of aircraft or their value.
Interesting Facts
- He started his ministry from a university mail room, working alongside his mentor, Archbishop Benson Idahosa, before founding his own fellowship.
- Rhapsody of Realities has been translated into more languages than almost any other Christian devotional in print.
- He trained as an architect before becoming a pastor, and holds a genuine architecture degree, not just an honorary title.
- He was given Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s personal preaching Bible by the Idahosa family in 2020, 22 years after Idahosa’s death.
- He has no sons. Both his children are daughters, and his eldest, Carissa Sharon, is a professional gospel recording artist.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1963 | Born December 7 in Edo State, Nigeria |
| 1987 | Founds Youth for Christ fellowship, the seed of Christ Embassy |
| 1991 | Marries Anita Ebhodaghe |
| 1998 | Publishes Gates of Zion and Your Rights in Christ |
| 2001 | Launches Rhapsody of Realities daily devotional |
| 2011 | Faces money laundering allegations; Forbes estimates his wealth at $30–50 million |
| 2014 | Separates from Anita Ebhodaghe |
| 2015 | Donates 1 billion naira to Benson Idahosa University’s Faculty of Engineering |
| 2016 | Divorce from Anita finalized on February 8 |
| 2020 | Receives Archbishop Benson Idahosa’s personal Bible from the Idahosa family; Ofcom first sanctions Loveworld TV over COVID-19 claims |
| 2021 | Ofcom fines Loveworld £125,000 for a second COVID-19 misinformation breach; becomes a grandfather |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Pastor Chris’ wife leave him?
Anita Oyakhilome filed for separation in 2014, citing personal differences and, in her legal filing, allegations of infidelity, which Oyakhilome denied. Time spent apart, with him mostly in Nigeria and her in the UK, is also widely cited as a factor. Their divorce was finalized in 2016.
Did Chris Oyakhilome remarry?
No. There is no verified evidence that Pastor Chris has remarried since his 2016 divorce.
Is Pastor Chris still with his wife?
No. Pastor Chris and Anita Oyakhilome finalized their divorce on February 8, 2016. They had been married for 25 years.
Does Pastor Chris Oyakhilome have a private jet?
Reports since 2017 indicate he owns at least one private jet, but the ministry has not issued an official confirmation of the number or value of aircraft owned.
Who is Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s new wife?
There is no verified new wife. Pastor Chris has not remarried since his 2016 divorce from Anita Oyakhilome.
Who is Anita Oyakhilome?
Anita Ebhodaghe (later Anita Oyakhilome) was Pastor Chris’s wife from 1991 to 2016. She co-authored Rhapsody of Realities with him for years and led church activities in the UK before their divorce, after which she left Christ Embassy entirely.
Who is the mentor of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome?
Archbishop Benson Idahosa, founder of the Church of God Mission International, is widely recognized as Pastor Chris’s spiritual father and the key mentor of his early ministry years.
Does Pastor Chris Oyakhilome have a son?
No. He has two daughters, Carissa Sharon and Charlene Oyakhilome, and no sons.
How many children does Pastor Chris Oyakhilome have?
Two daughters: Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome, a gospel artist known as CSO, and Charlene Oyakhilome.
Does Pastor Chris Oyakhilome own a record label?
Yes. He founded LoveWorld Records in 2009, an independent gospel label under Christ Embassy that has developed artists including Sinach, Frank Edwards, Joe Praize, and Eben.
What is Chris Oyakhilome’s net worth?
Estimates range from $50 million to $150 million, though no figure has been officially confirmed by Oyakhilome or Christ Embassy.
