Pastor Faith Abiola Oyedepo (born Florence Abiola Akano; February 5, 1958) is a Nigerian pastor, author, and educationist. She is best known as the wife and co-minister of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, popularly called Winners’ Chapel International. Millions across Africa and beyond know her simply as “Mama Faith.” She serves as Vice President (Education) of Living Faith Church Worldwide and Pro-Chancellor of Landmark University in Kwara State. She has written more than 20 books on marriage, family, healing, and women’s calling. And she carries a testimony that has held countless people through their darkest seasons: a near-death health crisis in 2004 to 2005, which she later put into print in her book Rescued from Destruction.
[IMAGE: Pastor Faith Oyedepo at Winners’ Chapel Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota]
Faith Oyedepo at a Glance
| Category | Detail | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Full birth name | Florence Abiola Akano |
| Known as | Faith Abiola Oyedepo / Mama Faith | |
| Date of birth | February 5, 1958 | |
| Age (as of 2026) | 68 years old | |
| State of origin | Kwara State, Nigeria | |
| Nationality | Nigerian | |
| Spouse | Bishop David Oyedepo (m. 1982) | |
| Children | David Oyedepo Jr., Isaac Oyedepo, Love Oyedepo-Ogah, Joyce Oyedepo (Abodunrin) | |
| Education | Primary & secondary | Kwara State, Nigeria |
| University | University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife | |
| Ministry | Title | Pastor (Mrs.) / Vice President (Education), Living Faith Church Worldwide |
| Church | Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners’ Chapel International) | |
| University role | Pro-Chancellor, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State | |
| Foundation | Faith Abiola Oyedepo Foundation | |
| Career | Books authored | 20+ (including Rescued from Destruction, Raising Godly Children, Success in Marriage) |
| Net worth | Personal figure not publicly disclosed |
Early Life: Who Is Faith Oyedepo?
Pastor Faith Oyedepo’s birth name was Florence Abiola Akano. She was born on February 5, 1958, in Kwara State, Nigeria. She was the sixth of eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Akano. Beyond her place in the family, her parents and siblings have not been discussed publicly by the family.
Faith Oyedepo hails from Kwara State — the same state as her husband. That shared background is one of several things they discovered they had in common early in their relationship.
[IMAGE: Kwara State, Nigeria — Ilorin city landmark or welcome sign]
She gave her life to Christ at 18 years old, in 1976. That was not a small moment for her. It was the turning point that set the direction for everything that came after, including the man she would meet that same year.
Faith Oyedepo’s Educational Background
Faith Oyedepo completed her primary and secondary education in Kwara State. She then studied at the University of Ife — now Obafemi Awolowo University — in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
It was at the University of Ife that her path crossed with David Oyedepo, then a young architecture student at Kwara State Polytechnic. They first met in 1976. Their meeting point, according to accounts both have shared over the years, was a motor park. From that encounter, a relationship began that would last decades and shape one of Africa’s largest church networks.
By the time she graduated, she was already committed to a life in Christian ministry alongside David Oyedepo. Her academic years were also her years of faith formation.
[IMAGE: Obafemi Awolowo University campus, Ile-Ife, Nigeria]
How Faith Oyedepo Met Her Husband
David and Faith Oyedepo met in 1976 when both were young students in their teens. She was 18. He was attending Kwara State Polytechnic while she studied at the University of Ife. Their six-year courtship is something both have spoken about with warmth.
During those years, David Oyedepo received what he described as a divine mandate: a calling to preach the Word of Faith and liberate people through the gospel. Faith did not step back from that calling. She walked into it with him.
They married in 1982. That same year, Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God ordained both David and Faith Oyedepo as pastors, formally commissioning their ministry together. One year later, Living Faith Church Worldwide was founded.
[IMAGE: Bishop David Oyedepo and Pastor Faith Oyedepo at a Winners’ Chapel ministry event]
Faith Oyedepo’s Ministry at Living Faith Church Worldwide
From day one, Faith Oyedepo was not just the pastor’s wife. She was a co-builder of the ministry. Her role at Winners’ Chapel has never been ceremonial. She has served as an active pastor and leader whose specific focus has always been the home: marriage, family, children, singles, and women.
She currently holds the title of Vice President (Education) within Living Faith Church Worldwide’s leadership structure. That role puts her over the church’s educational institutions, including Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State, and Landmark University in Omu-Aran, Kwara State. She serves as Pro-Chancellor of Landmark University.
In February 2026, she spoke at the inauguration of Covenant University’s new College of Law, marking the occasion against the institution’s declared theme of “Open Doors.” The date was significant: February 12 also marks the anniversary of Covenant University’s original approval in 2002.
Her influence in the Word of Faith movement in Nigeria stretches beyond her congregation. She is recognized across the Nigerian Pentecostal space as an authority on Christian womanhood, marriage, and family ministry. People who do not attend Winners’ Chapel still quote her teachings.
What Mama Faith Teaches: Her Ministry Focus
Ask any regular Winners’ Chapel member what Pastor Faith Oyedepo focuses on, and they will tell you: the home. For over four decades, she has built a ministry around marriage, family, and the role of women in God’s plan.
She has said her mandate for this ministry came in 1981, even before the church was officially established. She describes it as a divine calling to show people what God’s perfect will for their homes looks like. That covers singles preparing for marriage, couples in hard seasons, parents raising children in faith, and women stepping into their identity.
Her approach is direct. She does not wrap complex things in difficult language. She says plainly what she believes Scripture teaches, and she backs it up from her own life. When she writes about raising godly children, she writes as a mother of four. When she teaches on surviving a health crisis, she teaches from experience, not theory.
That is what has given her teaching staying power. It is not abstract. It is lived, and it shows.
Faith Oyedepo’s Sickness: The Health Crisis That Changed Everything
One of the most searched facts about Pastor Faith Oyedepo is her illness. Between 2004 and 2005, she faced a serious, life-threatening health challenge that lasted roughly ten months. A second attack came in 2008.
According to her own account in Rescued from Destruction, the crisis started suddenly. There was no medical history doctors could trace. It began with unbearable shoulder pain that steadily worsened over months. At her lowest point, she could barely move and had to relearn basic physical functions.
She has described the period as walking through “the valley of the shadow of death.” Even at her worst, she refused to accept that she would die. She kept declaring healing scriptures, often having others read them over her when she could not do it herself. She did not stop confessing life.
The support she received was global. Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the RCCG was among the spiritual leaders who prayed and provided prophetic covering for her during that season. She credits the prayers of spiritual fathers, family, and the church community as central to her recovery.
When she returned to the pulpit, she came back with what she calls a “renewed sense of urgency.” Her testimony became the foundation of Rescued from Destruction, her most widely read book. People facing serious illness consistently name it as one of the books that held them through their own darkest stretch.
[IMAGE: Cover of Pastor Faith Oyedepo’s book “Rescued from Destruction”]
Faith Oyedepo’s Books
Pastor Faith Oyedepo has authored more than 20 books, all published through Dominion Publishing House, the publishing arm of David Oyedepo Ministries International. Her books are read across Nigeria, Africa, and in Nigerian diaspora communities worldwide.
She does not write for an academic audience. She writes for the woman sitting in her kitchen, the couple navigating a hard season, the young person about to make a life-shaping decision. The writing is direct, personal, and Scripture-grounded throughout.
| Book Title | Theme |
|---|---|
| Rescued from Destruction | Personal health testimony and healing faith |
| Raising Godly Children | Christian parenting |
| Success in Marriage | Marriage and relationships |
| Marriage Covenant | Biblical foundations of marriage |
| Making Marriage Work | Practical marriage guidance |
| The Healing Scriptures | Biblical teaching on divine healing |
| Understanding Womanhood | Women’s identity and purpose |
| When Mr. and Mrs. Right Turns Wrong | Marriage restoration |
Rescued from Destruction remains her most compelling work. She documents her ten-month health battle in real, specific detail: the pain, the prayers, the prophetic moments, the mornings she felt death near, and the day she knew she had crossed over into life. It reads less like a book and more like a report from someone who came back to tell you what she saw.
[IMAGE: Collection of Pastor Faith Oyedepo’s published books by Dominion Publishing House]
Personal Life: Faith Oyedepo’s Children and Family
Faith and David Oyedepo have four children: David Oyedepo Jr., Isaac Oyedepo, Love Oyedepo-Ogah, and Joyce Oyedepo (now Joyce Abodunrin after her 2020 marriage). All four are active in ministry.
- David Oyedepo Jr. is the Resident Pastor at Faith Tabernacle, the ministry’s main campus in Canaanland, Ota. He and his wife Kemi previously led Winners’ Chapel in London.
- Isaac Oyedepo pastors Winners’ Chapel International in Maryland, USA, with his wife Ayomitide. He previously led the Winners’ Chapel South Africa congregation.
- Love Oyedepo-Ogah is married to Stephen Ogah, who also pastors within Winners’ Chapel. Love is a speaker and Christian counselor focused on relationships and personal development.
- Joyce Oyedepo (Abodunrin) is the youngest child. She married Abimbola Abodunrin in 2020 and is active in Christian ministry and teaching.
Pastor Faith has spoken many times about the deliberate effort she and her husband put into parenting. Her book Raising Godly Children is drawn directly from that experience. Raising children who love God was not accidental for them. It was a daily decision.
By 2026, she and Bishop Oyedepo are grandparents, a season she has referenced with visible warmth in church settings.
[IMAGE: The Oyedepo family at a church or ministry event]
The Faith Abiola Oyedepo Foundation
Pastor Faith Oyedepo founded the Faith Abiola Oyedepo Foundation as a channel for her passion to serve people beyond the pulpit. The foundation focuses on charity work and support for underprivileged individuals and communities.
This sits alongside the broader David Oyedepo Foundation, which includes scholarship programs that enable students from low-income backgrounds to attend Covenant University and Landmark University. Together, these two institutions educate thousands of Nigerian students every year.
For Pastor Faith, the foundation is not a side project. It is an extension of the same gospel she preaches. She has been clear: helping people is not optional for believers. It comes with the territory.
Her Place in Nigerian Christian Leadership
Within the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Faith Oyedepo carries quiet but real weight. She is not a leader who seeks platforms for their own sake. But when she speaks, people listen — inside Winners’ Chapel and outside it.
She belongs to a generation of Nigerian ministry first ladies who built their own spiritual authority rather than simply inheriting their husband’s. Figures like Peace Ibiyeomie, wife of Pastor David Ibiyeomie of Salvation Ministries, represent a similar pattern: women who lead distinct ministries, author their own materials, and are sought out in their own right.
For many Christian women across Nigeria and the diaspora, Mama Faith represents what it looks like to stand by a vision, survive the hardest seasons inside it, and still be standing four decades later. That consistency carries more weight than any title.
Interesting Facts About Pastor Faith Oyedepo
- Her birth name was Florence Abiola Akano. She took the name Faith after marrying Bishop David Oyedepo in 1982.
- She and her husband first met in a motor park in 1976. She was 18 years old at the time.
- Their courtship lasted six years before they married.
- She gave her life to Christ in 1976, the same year she met David Oyedepo.
- She is the sixth of eight children in the Akano family.
- Both she and her husband are from Kwara State, Nigeria.
- She was ordained as a pastor alongside her husband by Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the RCCG in 1982.
- Her health crisis in 2004 to 2005 lasted approximately ten months. A second attack came in 2008.
- Rescued from Destruction was written as a direct result of her personal testimony from that season.
- She has authored more than 20 books, all published by Dominion Publishing House.
- She serves as Pro-Chancellor of Landmark University in her home state of Kwara.
- Her youngest daughter Joyce married Abimbola Abodunrin in 2020.
- All four of her children are in active Christian ministry.
Career Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1958 | Born Florence Abiola Akano in Kwara State, Nigeria |
| 1976 | Gave her life to Christ; met David Oyedepo as university students |
| Late 1970s | Graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) |
| 1982 | Married David Oyedepo; ordained as a pastor alongside him by Pastor E.A. Adeboye (RCCG) |
| 1983 | Living Faith Church Worldwide officially founded; began co-ministry |
| 1990s–2000s | Developed family and marriage ministry focus; began writing and publishing books |
| 2002 | Covenant University founded; began active role in educational leadership |
| 2004–2005 | Faced a life-threatening health crisis lasting approximately ten months |
| 2008 | Second health challenge; overcame by faith |
| Post-2008 | Published Rescued from Destruction; returned to ministry with renewed urgency |
| Ongoing | Serves as Vice President (Education), Living Faith Church Worldwide; Pro-Chancellor, Landmark University; founder, Faith Abiola Oyedepo Foundation |
| February 2026 | Spoke at inauguration of Covenant University’s new College of Law |
Faith Oyedepo Net Worth
Pastor Faith Oyedepo’s personal net worth is not publicly disclosed. No reliable, separately verified financial figure for her exists in the public domain. Her financial standing is closely tied to Living Faith Church Worldwide and David Oyedepo Ministries International (DOMI), of which she is a key leader.
Bishop David Oyedepo’s net worth has been estimated by various sources at between $100 million and $200 million, placing him among the wealthiest pastors in the world. The ministry’s income comes from its global network of branches, Covenant University, Landmark University, Dominion Publishing House, and real estate holdings. Pastor Faith, as co-minister and head of the educational arm, is active at the center of this institution.
Her book royalties from more than 20 titles are also an independent income stream. The figures, however, are private. Any specific dollar amount attributed solely to her should be treated with caution until a credible source confirms it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Faith Oyedepo
What is the real name of Faith Oyedepo?
Pastor Faith Oyedepo’s birth name was Florence Abiola Akano. She was born into the Akano family in Kwara State, Nigeria. After marrying Bishop David Oyedepo in 1982, she became Faith Abiola Oyedepo. The name “Mama Faith” is an affectionate title given by church members and the wider Nigerian Christian community.
How old is Pastor Faith Oyedepo today?
Pastor Faith Oyedepo was born on February 5, 1958. As of 2026, she is 68 years old. She celebrated her 68th birthday in February 2026.
What state is Faith Oyedepo from?
Faith Oyedepo is from Kwara State, Nigeria. She was born and raised there and completed her primary and secondary schooling in the state. Her husband, Bishop David Oyedepo, is also a Kwara State indigene.
Who is Oyedepo’s spiritual father?
Bishop David Oyedepo has publicly identified Pastor E.A. Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), as a key spiritual father and mentor. Pastor Adeboye ordained both David and Faith Oyedepo as pastors in 1982. During Pastor Faith’s health crisis in 2004 to 2005, Adeboye was among the spiritual leaders who prayed for and provided prophetic covering for her recovery.
What was Faith Oyedepo’s sickness?
Between 2004 and 2005, Pastor Faith Oyedepo faced a severe, near-death health crisis that lasted about ten months. A second attack followed in 2008. According to her testimony, it began with extreme shoulder pain that had no medically traceable cause and escalated to the point where basic movement became impossible. She fought through it with persistent Scripture confession, the prayers of spiritual fathers worldwide, and personal acts of faith. The full account is in her book Rescued from Destruction.
What are Faith Oyedepo’s most popular books?
Her most widely read titles include Rescued from Destruction, Raising Godly Children, Success in Marriage, Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, The Healing Scriptures, and Understanding Womanhood. All are published by Dominion Publishing House.
Who is Joyce Oyedepo (sometimes searched as “Joys Oyedepo”)?
Joyce Oyedepo is the youngest child and second daughter of Bishop David and Pastor Faith Oyedepo. The search term “Joys Oyedepo” appears to be a common spelling variation. She married Abimbola Abodunrin in 2020 and is now known as Joyce Abodunrin. She is active in Christian ministry and teaching.
Does Faith Oyedepo have brothers?
Pastor Faith Oyedepo was born as the sixth of eight children in the Akano family. While she does have siblings, specific details about her brothers or sisters have not been shared publicly by her or her family. This page will be updated when verified information becomes available.
What is Faith Oyedepo’s role at Winners’ Chapel?
She serves as Vice President (Education) of Living Faith Church Worldwide and oversees the church’s educational institutions. She is Pro-Chancellor of Landmark University in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, and holds a senior leadership role connected to Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State.
