•The Story Of Christ Embassy’s Pastor DEOLA PHILLIPS
Recently, a top female pastor in Christ Embassy donated a total of 50 cars to her fellow pastors and workers in the church.
It was all over social media and many people gave the pastor thumbs up for her kind gesture. This act of kindness was carried out by no other than the number 1 female pastor in Christ Embassy Church, Pastor Deola Phillips. She is a woman who has a large heart. Giving is second to her skin. She is well-loved by her members and her service in the church and the things of God endeared her to the heart of the church founder, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. Reverend Chris does not joke with her at all.
The right-hand woman to the founder of Christ Embassy or Loveworld Inc., Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, has been one of his most trusted and accomplished partners in the ministry for almost fifteen years.
As the CEO of Christ Embassy, the Lagos Zone 5 director, and manager of both the ISM and the annual IPPC, Pastor Deola Phillips has played an integral part in the fortification of Christ Embassy and also continues to be a key contributor in its ever-expanding influence. The CEO has been awarded the most notable award of the Christ Embassy ministry at the IPPC of 2018, the award for the Top Partnering Zone.
The renowned award is handed out once a year during the annual International Pastors’ and Partners’ Conference and is known as one of the most prestigious prizes in the global convention. It is given to the partner who exhibits the utmost commitment and dedication to the ministry’s cause. Out of the many Christ Embassy partners, only ten of them were “specially recognized as ‘Gold Partners’”.
This selection signifies the “exceptional commitment to the vision of the Man of God. These few Golden Partners are handed awards based on their achievements in their zones.” It was Pastor Deola Phillips who won the award for Top Partnering Zone. That was Pastor Deola Phillip’s eighth consecutive win. The win signified the incredible sense of commitment to the church, and how she has led ‘Zone 5’, the church of Nigeria to new horizons.
In addition to the series of accolades, the highly esteemed partner has helped many initiatives within Christ Embassy. These initiatives all seek to nurture and assist forgotten communities who, without a helping hand, may never see a slither of hope. These many projects include; Trauma Care Intl. Foundation, an NGO that is focused on improving the health status and life expectancy of local communities, nations and regions; Volunteer Medical Corps, a medical outreach program that provides medical care, relief assistance and sustainable health care solutions to communities who are in dire need; and the Future Africa Leaders Foundation Awards (FALA), an award ceremony that celebrates young African leaders.
The new CEO was also the first Head of Department for the LoveWorld Television Ministry and is one of the very few recipients of the highly esteemed and coveted St. Paul’s Award. The 2018 International Pastors’ and Partners’ Conference (IPPC) celebrated many Christ Embassy milestones of the year. There was the record-breaking distribution of over 1 billion Rhapsody of Realities, digital media breakthroughs at the IMCC, mega-hits produced by the ministry’s top gospel artists, and yet amidst, all of these grand achievements, what has stood out the most, is Pastor Deola’s prestigious win as the Christ Embassy’s Pastor of the year.
For the eighth consecutive year, Christ Embassy Lagos Zone 5 took home the prestigious leadership award of the Loveworld Nation’s Top Partnering Zone. The woman behind this momentous achievement is none other than Pastor Deola Phillips.
Pastor Deola Phillips has had an illustrious career. As the ‘right-hand woman’ to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, the ambitious CEO has played an integral part in both fortifying the church’s foundations, as well as expanding its’ global reach. Pastor Deola Phillips is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
This is not the first time Pastor Deola Phillips has made waves in the ministry. This highly esteemed Christ Embassy partner has been successfully juggling some of the most crucial roles in the church for almost a decade. As the manager of both the annual IPPC and the International School of Ministry, Phillips has a lot of responsibility on her hands.
The IPPC is the ministry’s most notable global conference of the year. The annual international gathering celebrates Christ Embassy’s biggest exploits of the year. Managing an event like this is no easy feat. The week-long IPPC holds several conferences that celebrate the many aspects of Christ Embassy. During the global convention, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome awarded Phillips for outstanding achievements by handing her one of the most notable prizes of the Christ Embassy Ministry, the Top Partnering Zone Award. She expressed in her speech how she is prepared to give her all for the Word of God.
“I’m stepping forward. I’m ready and I’m able. I’m putting everything I have into the building of the temple. I’m giving willingly for the advancement of the gospel. The Lord can depend on me to do big things.” According to a Loveworld report, Pastor Deola Phillips cried tears of joy on receiving the award.
The organization has succeeded in executing over a thousand first aid, safety and Emergency Response training and educating tens of thousands of school pupils, law enforcement officers, teachers, caregivers, and road transport workers. These training sessions are comprised of specialized lectures and practical demonstrations designed to further enhance the quality of emergency response provided.
In addition, Deola Phillips is the manager of the International School of Ministry, an institution that specializes in equipping and training future ministers in the “Gospel of Christ”, as well as several other initiatives.
The CEO is also one of the very few recipients of the highly esteemed and coveted St. Paul’s Award and a member of the Loveworld Hall of Fame. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome handed the award to her and said, “You will do things that will put my praise on the lips of men.” She quoted Pastor Chris, as she defined leadership to be, “the ability to respond, because leadership is the assumption of responsibility, of guidance, control and directing, following the burden of higher intelligence or superior knowledge or information.”
Pastor Deola Phillips’ achievements are a testament to her unbreakable commitment to the ministry. This is something that developed early in life, despite coming from a secular background. Phillips has said that although she comes from a family “where no one ever talked about being born again or even a relationship with God”, she still experienced an indescribable connection to God.
With this deep connection and commitment to the cause, Pastor Deola Phillips has become an integral part of Christ Embassy and will continue to be a key contributor to its ever-growing influence. She states, “I had become conscious of God in a way I really couldn’t explain.” In an interview with Loveworld TV, Phillips described the moment she felt a change. “I remember standing at the gate of the girls’ dormitory where I lived as a boarding student, knowing that something had happened, and my life would no longer be the same.”
“I gave my life to Christ on March 15th, 1985 at the International School Ibadan (ISI). I remember standing at the gate of the girl’s dormitory where I lived as a boarding student knowing that something had happened and my life would no longer be the same.”
“I was born into a ‘Christian’ family though no one at home ever talked about being born again or even a relationship with God. It was just a church thing. However, at an early age, I had become conscious of God in a way I really couldn’t explain. I certainly didn’t get it from home but I was awakened to the love and presence of God. Still, I didn’t have a personal relationship with Him and I didn’t really understand spiritual things.”
“When I became a student at ISI, the things of God were last on my mind as I engaged in all the usual activities of student life. ISI then wasn’t a place to ‘find God’, but things were soon going to change.”
“In my 3rd year of school, a young youth corper joined the school staff as a mathematics teacher. He was a good teacher, but beyond that, he took an interest in us students and became quite influential among us. I marvel now to think how young he must have been as a mere youth corper, but he was quite respected in our eyes. While he taught us mathematics in the classroom, outside of class, he began to plant seeds in us about the love of God and God’s plan for our lives.
Suddenly, the Bible stories I had heard in Sunday School in my parents’ Anglican church began to take on a new meaning… Christ died for me and I needed to respond. There had to be a relationship… Over the course of his stay in our school, our maths teacher spread the Gospel through his love and interest in us.”
“Finally, on the ‘Ides of March’, that year, a senior girl in the dormitory called us to her room and led me and my classmates (14 of us boarders) to Christ. It was a simple transaction: I said the ‘sinner’s prayer’ and asked Jesus to become Lord of my life, but I knew I wasn’t the same.
Later that night, some friends invited me to go with them after hours to the main school area. Some older students were fooling around and we should just go see. We weren’t permitted to go out that late as boarders and it was when I refused to go with them, as I stood at the gate that I realized, something had happened. It didn’t end there, the next day, the senior girl got us filled with the Holy Spirit and so simply, I felt as though a communication channel had been opened straight from my heart to heaven.”
“I was home… this was the personal relationship that had been missing. At the end of the term, I approached my mum standing near her car when she came to pick me up and my brother for the holidays. ‘Mummy, I’m born again’, I said. She turned, looked at me queerly and answered, ‘you’ll get over it’. I was puzzled by her lack of enthusiasm, but I knew I wouldn’t ‘get over it’.
Today, I’m serving God in the ministry and helping others know Jesus. It’s been almost 28 years and there’s no sign of me “getting over it”.
Today, Pastor Adeola Phillips remains a force to reckon with at Christ Embassy Church as a whole.
– TAYO OYEDIJI
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