A few years ago, Christian evangelist Joel Osteen and rapper Kanye West would have seemed like pretty unlikely friends. But West’s recent focus on his faith has led them to one another. Now, they are planning to collaborate on future projects. In a recent interview, Osteen opened up about West and why he considers him a true friend, according to People.
Osteen has only good things to say about West and his character. The well-known pastor says it was West who reached out to him to connect about a year ago. They began texting and their friendship grew from there, Osteen explained.
“We just struck up a conversation and friendship. It just felt right to me because … I’m a believer in people and I found him to be very genuine and just a fantastic person,” Osteen said.
Even he never would have expected to welcome West into his massive Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. This particular church has staggering numbers of attendees, welcoming around 50,000 people for worship each week. It was on this megachurch’s stage that Osteen was joined by West just last month to perform alongside his Sunday Service choir. Osteen credits God for bringing he and West together in friendship, despite the completely different lives they lead.
“I believe when you have favor God brings the right people to you. I never dreamed in a million years Kanye and I would be at Lakewood together, but here we are, you never know what God could do,” Osteen said at the time.
Their next performance together is expected to occur on May 2, 2020 at New York City’s Yankee Stadium. This will be a part of Osteens’ “Night of Hope Tour” which includes praise, worship, music, and preaching.
It doesn’t appear that the pair’s collaboration is ending any time soon. As The Inquisitr previously reported, inside sources say that West and Osteen are planning to go on a national tour together in the near future. It will be hosted at major venues, featuring Osteen with the sermon and West with the music.
West has discussed wanting to start his own church, perhaps one similar to that of the one Osteen leads. Thus, inside sources say the rapper has been having detailed discussions with the pastor about how to start this process.
When he visited Osteen’s church in Texas, West touched upon this topic. He explained that he dreamed of starting a church right in Calabasas, California.
