Ukraine's Influential Church Leader Shifting the Way Americans Think Church
By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Jun. 22 2007

Hailing from Nigeria, Pastor Sunday Adelaja is considered one of the greatest church leaders in the modern era. He claims to run the largest evangelical congregation in Europe with 25,000 members in Kiev, Ukraine, alone. And now, he has taken it upon himself to impact the way America's churches operate.

Adelaja, who leads Embassy of God, visited with nearly 100 church pastors in the United States this week. He was in Dallas on Tuesday to launch a new U.S. ministry called ChurchShift.

"He believes the church [in America] needs to shift its thinking and the way the churches operate in society," explained James O. Davis, president of ChurchShift. "A shift from just being a place where believers come to worship in the weekend to [one where] believers are empowered in every sphere of society to be salt and light."

When Adelaja heard God's calling 13 years ago to start a church in a society that was predominantly white and filled with communism, he said God told him, "I want you to raise up a country of strong men and women to reach other countries, especially where the Soviet Union has been known to send death, destruction, and tears. Instead, I want to use the Soviet people to bring healing, health, and the Good News," according to Christianity Today. the rest photo