Israel Ogundipe, a well-known prophet of the Celestial Church of Christ and founder of Genesis Global Ministry, Lagos, recently shared a surprising offer he received from a bank – N1 billion loan intended to expand his ministry’s reach.

Speaking on Tuesday during an interview with popular Nigerian On-Air Personality Ifedayo Olarinde, also known as Daddy Freeze, Ogundipe disclosed that the bank, which he chose not to name, provided him with detailed information about other churches that had previously secured similar loans.

According to Ogundipe, the bank mentioned that several churches had taken loans ranging from N3 billion to N4 billion to fund their activities.

“A bank contacted me two months ago, proposing to loan me N1 billion,” Ogundipe recounted. “I was curious about their intentions and asked what the loan was for. They explained that many churches were taking such loans and given the size of my church, they believed I could easily repay it.”

The pastor further revealed the bank’s unconventional repayment plan: “They suggested that we could repay the loan through proceeds from our revivals, crusades and other religious events, on a monthly basis.”

Ogundipe expressed his surprise, particularly when the bank cited examples of other churches that had relied on such loans to fund continuous conferences, crusades, and revivals to generate the necessary funds for repayment.

However, it’s worth noting that Ogundipe has faced legal challenges in the past. In 2020, he was convicted and sentenced to jail for defrauding a London-based architect. The charges included unlawful conversion of property, forgery, and fraud, involving sums of N14 million and £12,000, collected from the victim between 2002 and 2005.