by Ikechukwu Njoku | Freelance
Embattled Nigerian ‘Prophet’ T.B. Joshua declared in his church
service Sunday, September 21, 2014 that he will be visiting South Africa once in a month ‘in memory of the martyrs of faith’.
Joshua relayed the message in his church service on Sunday, September 21
2014 following the tragic building collapse at The Synagogue, Church
Of All Nations (SCOAN) that left 84 South Africans dead and hundreds
more injured.
“Those who are affected in one way or another and those who passed
onto glory, their greatest desire is to see that the work of salvation
they died and suffered for continues and reaches unreachable places,”
Joshua declared, a message subsequently relayed via his official
social media portals on Facebook and Twitter.
“For that, what they are coming here for should be taken to meet them
in their country,” he stated to applause from foreigners but a muted
response from Nigerian congregants.
“Once in a month, I will be travelling to South Africa to meet people
from South Africa and other nations who find South Africa easier to
visit, in memory of martyrs of faith,” the controversial cleric stated
in a broadcast transmitted live on Emmanuel TV, one of Africa’s most
popular television stations.
Joshua quickly countered any insinuation that his visitations will be
to challenge other South African churches. “My ministration in South
Africa will not be on Sunday so that people will have the opportunity
to attend their respective churches,” he explained.
“This kind of faith expressed by South Africans deserves this kind of
blessing from God,” he added.
Joshua thanked people for the messages of condolence and encouragement
The SCOAN had received from supporters around the world. “I have been
your pastor, preaching to you. Now, it is your turn that you are
preaching to me. It is your turn that you are giving back what you
have received in terms of preaching, teaching and counselling,” he
said.
Referring to the biblical principle in Ecclesiastes 3, Joshua
continued, “There is a time to give and a time to receive. There is a
time to laugh and a time to cry. There is a time to be born and a time
to die. Thank you for understanding the time that I am in.”
The cleric acknowledged that the decision would have some adverse
effects on Nigeria but insisted it was a ‘revelation from God’ that he
must obey.
He further called on the South African government to be involved in
organising the monthly meetings, knowing that ‘mammoth crowds’ would
attend.
Taking a trip down memory lane, the embattled pastor played a clip of
a man he claimed was the first South African to visit The SCOAN 15
years ago. The Emmanuel TV archive clip showed a pastor named Francois
Van Zyl telling the congregation that ‘persecution’ would soon cause
T.B. Joshua to travel worldwide.
Strangely, the broadcast on Emmanuel TV was intermittently disrupted
due to technical problems before Joshua arrived to deliver the
message.
Ikechukwu Njoku is a freelance journalist who writes for Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
