Reverend Ike - Wealth through faith

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Childhood

Rev. Ike was born in Ridgeland, South Carolina on June 1st, 1935.

His parents were immigrants from The Netherlands and so Ike was born as a Dutch-Indonesian descent.

Through his early childhood years, Rev.Ike encountered a lot of family drama and extreme poverty that made him believe in the possibility that one day through the power of God he will turn his whole life around. 

Higher calling

Rev.Ike began to pursuit the calling of God and convinced himself to become a teenage preacher and assistant pastor at the Bible Way Church in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

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Continuous growth 

After gaining experience as an assistant pastor, Rev.Ike decided to go into the US. Airforce as a Chaplain Service Specialist. He spent some time there and after that went on to grow his faith driven mission.

Rev.Ike took the wealth he accumulated during those early years and founded the United Church Of Jesus Christ For All People in Beaufort, South Carolina.  

To even spread his message further Rev.Ike also founded the United Christian Evangelistic Church in Boston and the Christ Community United Church in New York City.

Radio sermons

Rev. Ike was a believer in the power of using broadcasting to reach more people, therefore he created a program called; Blessing Plan.

In this program, listeners could buy some air time to call Rev.Ike, and in return he blessed them with prayer.

During this time, Rev. Ike gained a lot of attention because he introduced the controversial topic of monetary wealth through faith and affirmation.

Palace cathedral

Rev. Ike made a decent amount of money during his program and re-invested it to buy the Loew's 175th Street Theatre Movie Palace in Washington Heights. After acquiring the theatre for over half a million dollars in 1969 he renamed it to Palace Cathedral, also known as Rev.Ike's Prayer Tower.

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Immense growth

Rev.Ike became immensely successful during the mid-70's. His message of preaching wealth through faith quickly reached an audience of +2.5 Million people listening to his sermons on a weekly basis. He continued to please his audience by hosting over 1770 radio broadcasts and sold several motivational books and audio recordings of him preaching.

Chancellor

Continuing in his mission, Rev.Ike became the chancellor of The United Church Schools and The Science of Living Institute. This brought new hope to the black community who saw Rev.Ike as an example of becoming successful out of poverty through strong faith and courage.

Guest appearance in music

Rev.Ike was well known for preaching the gospel and singing several Christian themed songs during his sermons. His musical talent became noticed by Willie Nelson who invited him to do a featuring on the hit song; Mind Your Own Business released in 1986.

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Legacy

Rev.Ike definitely left a lasting legacy and made a huge impact on millions of people. 

His only son, Xavier wrote a  book about his father's life, called Reverend Ike An Extraordinary Life of Influence.

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Death

Rev.Ike sadly passed away on July 28th, of 2009 at the age of 74 years old after never fully recovering from a stroke he had in 2007.