ABOUT PASTOR 'DELE OLAWANLE Pastor Dele Olawanle was born over 40 years ago in Nigeria. He came to live in the UK in the early 90’s The story of Pastor Dele is unusual. He calls himself the first and the last following in the steps of his master Jesus Christ. To his father, he is the first child. To the mother he is the last. Pastor Dele’s mother was left with five children after her first husband died. She met Pastor Dele’s father and became pregnant. Considering that she was too old to have another child, she decided to terminate the pregnancy. On her way out of the house, she was visited by a friend who asked her where she was going. She told her that she was going to terminate the pregnancy. The friend persuaded her not to do so and told her that God will take care of the child. She also told her that who could tell whether she would rely on this child at her old age. How true she was? God has really been at work since his birth and everything that happened in his life showed that God planned his life the way it turned out to be. In 1973, after a simple disagreement with his older brother, he ran away from home to live with an Anglican vicar. He lived there until 1976 when he returned to his mother. Whilst there, he learnt a lot at the feet of the Anglican reverend. He never knew that he will later become a pastor. God he says is a master planner. On getting to the UK, he met his wife, Bimbo, a British citizen in the UK. In 1992, they got married and he later applied for the right to stay in the UK. The Home Office (the body that deals with immigrants in the UK) refused to grant him extension of leave in the UK. A deportation order was issued against him and he was asked to be reporting at the police station. He did this for over 7 years. During this time, he started reading law in the UK. At the first semester of his second year in the UK, he went to report at the police station before going to church. Coincidentally, it was the day he was to be ordained as a deacon at the former church he used to attend. He was arrested and detained at the police station. He was there for four days and on the fourth day, he was taken to Gatwick Airport to be deported. Thirty minutes to deportation, the flight was cancelled but he was not released. He was taken to Hammondsworth detention centre where he was detained for almost four weeks. Whilst in detention, he joined the Christians in detention to pray and seek the face of God. He applied for bail but it was refused. He was later released and he came out of detention filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. He was also asked to continue to report at police stations. He was later granted the right to remain in the UK and is now a British citizen. Whilst going through the immigration problem, he continued to serve the Lord and he was extremely committed to the things of God. He did not allow his problem to separate him from God. He was also and still is a cheerful giver. Pastor Dele believes that he is nothing without God and that whatever he has belongs to him. In 1996, during a church service, he felt an overwhelming power of God coming on him and he felt the urge to sing. He had never sung before. Neither has he ever been a member of any choir nor had voice training. He told his pastor that he wanted to sing and he was given the chance. The rest is history. In 1999, he released his first Gospel album titled “In Jesus Name I Pray” and in 2000, he released his second album titled “Fear Not”. He sang in over 200 churches in the UK and ministered in Germany, Nigeria and the United States of America. He has since then written over 2000 songs through divine inspiration. As he said “I don’t write songs, I just sing them out”. This is amazing. He has enough songs to release at least three albums every year for the next 30 years. Pastor Dele went to the law school after leaving the university. He later joined a firm of Solicitors where he did his training contracts and qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Pastor Dele as a lawyer now represents people who are having immigration problems all over the United Kingdom. He now goes to the same police station where he was reporting for many years and the immigration courts where he was refused bail to deliver people. He is the Principal of his legal practice. He also does Criminal litigation, Civil Litigation, contracts, Employment, Family law and other areas. He said “God took me through it to deliver others”. What an amazing turnaround? In 2002, Pastor Dele was ordained as an Evangelist and he started Pastoring a branch of the former ministry where he served for fifteen continuous years. In August 2004, pastor Dele left the former ministry after a clear instruction from God to leave and raise winners. In August 2004, Winners Kingdom International Christian Centre was founded in London and the church has been growing through God’s divine input. Pastor Dele presents a Christian television programme on BEN TV every Thursday at 7.30pm which draws millions. The programme called “I AM WINNING” is to challenge every believer to be a winner. To also pursue his goals of reaching out to every member of the community, he started another television programme called “Legal Panorama” on Revelation TV which is shown twice on Tuesdays at 1.00pm and 7.30pm. This is a programme where he talks on current law that affects people’s everyday life. This programme makes maximum impact as he believes that Christianity is not only about preaching the gospel, it is also about dealing with issues affecting people’s everyday lives. Pastor Dele is also a prolific writer. In May 2006, he released his first book titled “Discover Your Purpose” and in June 2007, he released his second book titled “Prayer is not the Answer”. He calls this book a life changer. Pastor Dele believes that more is to come as long as people are ready to humble themselves and serve the living God who is able in truth and in spirit. Pastor Dele never ceases to talk of his humble beginning from being a cleaner when he arrived in the UK to getting to the position he is today. He also tells his story everywhere he goes to encourage believers and unbelievers alike. A family man; He is married to his beautiful wife, Bimbo and they are blessed with three children: Samuel, Joshua and Praise. To God be the Glory.