The world’s wealthiest televangelist, billionaire Edir Macedo of Brazil, has listed his beach condo in Porsche Design Tower, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, for sale at $14.6 million
Macedo’s neighbours included Russian oligarchs, soccer player Lionel Messi, Columbian singer Maluma, Mexican actress Thalía and Andrea Romanello Ferdinand, the daughter of Patrick Romanello.
In 2013, as the $560 million Porsche Design Tower was under construction, The Real Deal reported, “Nearly two dozen of the homes — 22 — under contract will belong to billionaires.” The luxury tower sports car garages and a patented elevator lifting autos to each floor!
And there might be more Macedo’s personal property in the United States. One property database indicates Macedo’s family owns a $9.6 million beach condo.
Recently, Trinity Foundation’s master address list for religious leaders topped 500 pages in length. ‘Building a large dataset is necessary to study and understand the accumulation of wealth by religious leaders’, a source said.
The master list includes American homes owned by pastors from Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Sometimes the residences, such as Macedo’s beach condo, appear to be for vacations. However, several foreign pastors who own these houses have come to America to start new churches.
Nigerian Pastor Enoch Adeboye acquired homes in Maryland and Texas. Adeboye serves as General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). Under his leadership the RCCG has become one of the fastest growing denominations in the world.
The RCCG’s Mission and Vision Statement says that “we will plant churches within five minutes walking distance in every city and town of developing countries and within five minutes driving distance in every city and town of developed countries.”
The RCCG has established its North American headquarters in Greenville, Texas, and owns $32.5 million of real estate in Hunt County, Texas.
Adeboye personally owns 20 acres of land in Hunt County, Texas. Meanwhile there is a 28-acre plot of land in Farmersville, Texas, that has changed hands between Adeboye and his church multiple times.
Other preachers from Africa with both churches and residences in the U.S., include Passion Java who lives in Beltsville, Maryland, and Chika Nnamdi Onuzo in Newnan, Georgia.
• *Critical questions*
According to Redfin, the median sale price for an American home in February was $425,249. When pastors and ministry leaders live in extreme extravagance, acquiring properties worth significantly more than the average home in their local area, questions naturally arise:
How does the pastor afford such real estate?
Does an independent board approve the pastor’s compensation?
Is the pastor’s compensation disclosed to church members or donors?
When a religious leader moves hundreds or thousands of miles away from his main congregation or ministry office, did God really call him to perform long distance ministry?
• *Donors have a responsibility to check out the churches and ministries they financially support.*
When a church or ministry refuses to provide thorough and accurate financial information, donors are unable to make educated decisions regarding the effectiveness of their giving.