US Tycoon to Build Religious Broadcasting Empire in Rwanda
FCN is a ministry of Fore Christ, which Williamson founded after a religious experience in 1974. Its website explains:
In August of 1974, Dr. DeCarol Williamson was thrown to the floor by the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. He was instantly delivered and healed from both alcohol and drug addiction. While on the floor he received a Vision from God The vision was "to build A Global Army Fore Christ": ...Williamson believes that like in the day of Pentecost when the church was in one place with one mind and in one accord there will once again come a fresh baptism of power. In fact, Williamson has his own corporate website, where we learn that DeCarol Williamson Enterprises (based in Wilmington, North Carolina) consists of more than fifty companies, ranging from construction through to horse breeding and golf - in fact, his golf package holiday service is named "Fore Travel", echoing his "Fore Christ" religious venture. FCN has had an interest in Rwanda since 2005, as these rather dull legal documents show. Details about Williamson are scarce, although he is described as a Vietnam veteran and a USA International Director of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International. His full name is Odell DeCarol Williamson Jr, and he is obviously named for Odell Williamson (most likely he's a grandson), who developed the Ocean Isle Beach area of North Carolina after returning from World War II. There is now an Odell Williamson Auditorium and an Odell Williamson Municipal Airport, but the name is not without controversy: in 2004 a local weekly named The Indy made mention of
...one [of] North Carolina's most prominent developers, Brunswick County land tycoon Odell Williamson...[who] was indicted in June 1999 on charges of using his position on the N.C. Board of Transportation to direct public road projects to benefit his private developments. (A judge ruled in December 1999 Williamson was medically unfit to stand trial, ending the case.) The website of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission has the detail that someone named Odell DeCarol Williamson of Ocean Isle Beach (one assumes another relative of the evangelist) had had his broker license suspended in 1996 for "drug related offenses".
A 1999 news report from Nicaragua has a short profile of DeCarol Williamson and his mission: El Ministerio Para-Cristo, Inc., es un organismo que se define sin inclinación denominacional, es decir, no se identifica con bautistas, pentecostales, Asambleas de Dios o cualquier otra organización. Tampoco es nacionalista ni étnico. However, although his ministry is not related to any particular organisation, he is not apolitical at home: records (e.g. here and here) show various donations made by his wife Jan through DeCarol Williamson Enterprises to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Rwanda is also of particular interest to Rick Warren, and to some other evangelical organisations.
US Tycoon to Build Religious Broadcasting Empire in Rwanda | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
US Tycoon to Build Religious Broadcasting Empire in Rwanda | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
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