The choir animated the atmosphere with songs of praise and worship, creating an enabling environment for the Spirit of the living God to move mightily in the midst of His people. Congregants were elated as they joined in expressing their faith through singing and dancing.
After ministering healing and deliverance in Jesus’ name, Prophet T.B. Joshua encouraged congregants and viewers worldwide to be sincere in their communication with God. “When you mean your confession, it becomes belief. When you mean it, it rests in your heart. Mean it – I know Jesus – He is my Saviour, my Deliverer, my Redeemer!”
The inspiring power of testimonies was brought to the fore when those who God had touched came out to testify to His spectacular works in their lives.
TESTIMONIES
I ATTEMPTED SUICIDE 150 TIMES – CONFESSIONS OF A CUTTER
Miss Danielle Kriel suffered from the terrible problem of bipolar disorder that caused her constant suicidal thoughts, depression and self-harm. After suffering abuse from a young age for many years, she experienced terrible nightmares with wild animals such as tigers and bears and even people attacking her in numerous ways. At the age of 8, she started biting and cutting herself just to make herself feel better. She soon discovered that the sight of blood calmed the rage within her and she developed the urge to drink her own blood.
After attempting suicide multiple times without succeeding, she went online at the age of 12 and typed in “How to commit suicide”. She was surprised at the countless sites she discovered where people were actually encouraging others in their suicidal attempts. She learned many methods such as electrocuting herself, all of which she attempted.
Danielle explained how she had attempted suicide more than 150 times. She overdosed on pills, drank poison and antiseptic, tried to hang herself and almost pulled the trigger of a gun on herself. One attempt in slicing her artery left her in the hospital unconscious with only 33 milliliters of blood left in her body.
At just 16 years old, Danielle said that she had been living in hell where she had to be isolated and constantly watched because of her impulse to cut herself and see blood in herself and others. She was taken out of school and had to be home schooled. Mrs Kriel explained how she had to watch her daughter 24/7, 365 days a year and had to remove every sharp object and all cleaning products from her reach.
Desperate to see an end to her daughter’s misery, Mrs Kriel heard about the deliverances of God in The SCOAN and resolved that it was only God who could solve the problem. Fear gripped Danielle and she became determined to die before coming to The SCOAN. In the month before travelling to The SCOAN, she attempted suicide more than 20 times. In her last attempt, she found and hid a razor blade but after being told she was going to The SCOAN the following day, something made her submit the blades that she was planning on using to take her life.
It was in The SCOAN Sunday Live Service that the demon behind Danielle’s problem was exposed and cast out.
Holding the photographs of the self-inflicted wounds and showing her arms crisscrossed with scars from her numerous suicide attempts, Danielle cried out for the mercy of God. At the prophet’s touch, she said she felt an electric shock run through her body and her arms began to shake violently.
After her deliverance in Jesus’ name, the spirit of suicide disappeared. Now smiling and at peace, Danielle explained how she can now look at glass and knives without the urge to use them as weapons against herself. She sleeps without nightmares and the rage and urge for blood has completely left her.
Speaking about the mercy of God, she said, “Now, I know that Heaven is aware of this situation. Giving this testimony is the first step to my destiny in Christ Jesus.”
Her mother thanked God for the amazing change in her daughter’s life, saying that now she can sleep throughout the night and has been released from the fear of losing her daughter to suicide.
Trying to hold back the tears of joy, she said, “Don’t despair. Jesus gave His blood for us. Only God can give peace.”
YOKES OF BEDWETTING AND ALCOHOLISM LOSE THEIR GRIPS BY FORCE
Her bedwetting problem started from childhood and became a stigma when she enrolled into high school. The problem would naturally be excused on account of her childish instincts back in the days, but for it to persist up to adulthood showed that it was not ordinary. Miss Auguste Da-Costa, while in high school, would wet the bed to the extent that her urine would flow from her upper bunk to the lower bunk occupied by her roommate. In no time, the news had gone round that she was a bed-wetter. It was a huge psychological burden for her as she tried to avoid people, turning herself to some sort of recluse. She even avoided spending the night in the home of her son’s father lest he discovered the problem with her.
The problem of bedwetting affected her in very drastic ways. Aside from the psychological effects it had on her, it was difficult for her to have a relationship with the opposite sex, hence making it difficult for her to get married. Because of the feelings of inadequacy which the bedwetting problem had caused, Miss Da-Costa embraced alcoholism at age fifteen. She saw it as an escapist route out of the psycho-social stigma that was staring her in the face. Sometimes, she would so much indulge in drinking and forget that she was cooking, leaving the whole food to get burnt. She lost respect in the eyes of people and looked older than her true age.
The whole problem also led her to have a child out of wedlock. Her son was sharing the same bed with her until he was thirteen. By that time, he was already aware that his mother was a bed-wetter. That development did not go down well with her as she kept searching for an end to the perennial disgrace. While her drinking problem persisted, it sapped her of her finances as she spent so much on always getting herself intoxicated. She would always go to drink in the morning before proceeding to work. There were times when she would be drunk and spend almost a week indoors trying to get over her stupefaction.
Reprieve would later come to the Namibian after she visited The SCOAN and received the Morning Water. According to her, she ministered the Morning Water one day, asking God to bring an end to her woes. Ever since that day, her problems came to an end. Both the bedwetting and alcoholism problems ceased to be. Today, Miss Da-Costa is looking younger and full of life. During her testimony last Sunday, she recalled how the problems, especially that of bedwetting had tormented her life for almost four decades.
Thanking God, she added that since her deliverance, life has been very favourable. As a worker in a magistrate court, she was sponsored to study German by the government of her country. After the course, she emerged tops in a German language competition and was sent to Germany for more studies. Basking in the glory of what God has done in her life, Miss Da-Costa advised people to make the Word of God the standard for their lives.
COMPRESSED SPINE DECOMPRESSED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
She had come to The SCOAN with difficulty in walking due to a compression of her spine. The problem affected her social life so much that she found it difficult to do many things including her house chores. Being a Nigerian resident in the United Kingdom, she had thought that access to quality health care facilities would be of immense help. That was not to be as most of the hospitals she visited could not really help. At best, they suggested that surgery would be the only way out, albeit with no assurances that she would recover a hundred percent.
For Mrs Augustina Ebohon, life was synonymous with pains. It got to a time that she could not walk for six weeks after which she had to depend on a walking stick. Having tried some of the best hospitals in the United Kingdom with no definite assurance of finding a solution, Mrs Ebohon made up her mind to return to her native Nigeria to come and see the man of God at the Arena of Liberty.
Mrs Ebohon proceeded to the Prayer Line during the Sunday service penultimate week. The man of God laid hands on her and that was all. According to the Nigerian from Edo State, when the man of God touched her, she felt something like a brick fall on her. She eventually lost all memory only to later find herself rising from the floor, shouting “Thank You, Jesus!”. Since that moment, all the pains and incapacitation have stopped. During her testimony last Sunday, she demonstrated her new-found wellness, reiterating that all the pains had gone for good and that she now walks freely.
SPIRITUAL EMBARGO ON MY PROMOTION LIFTED
For over nine years, she had been stuck on the same rank in the Nigerian Police Force. It was abnormal for a career officer not to be promoted for that long. Knowing that there was more to her predicament than met the ordinary eye, Mrs Oluwatoyin Agbaminoja who was then a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, decided to come to The SCOAN, believing that the mystery behind her stagnant career would be unveiled and resolved by the Almighty God.
Earlier in 2017, she had visited the Arena of Liberty and had received prayers as well as the Morning Water from the man of God. Returning home, Mrs Agbaminoja continued to minister the Morning Water, praying to God to change the story of her career. Barely one month later, she received a message from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, requesting her to forward her emolument documents to them. In May, 2017, she received another message, informing her of her promotion from the rank of a Chief Superintendent of Police to an Assistant Commissioner of Police.
Testifying last Sunday, Mrs Agbaminoja lamented how she had almost been frustrated due to her failure to get promotion. She told congregants that “The touch of the man of God brought favours in my career and in every area of my life. Hold firmly to God and always watch Emmanuel TV”, she advised people all over the world.
HOW SLEEP APNEA WAS DISGRACED OUT OF MY LIFE
Mr Ronald Hairbottle had been having a running battle with the problem of severe sleep apnea – a condition that made it extremely difficult for him to breathe while trying to sleep at night. According to the South African, whenever the condition sets in, he would usually stop breathing about two hundred times every night. The severity of the condition had seen him use the breathing machine for ten years after two surgical operations did not provide a solution. As a businessman, he had resorted to the use of the CPAP machine to enable him to have enough sleep lest he developed other health challenges due to lack of sleep. Aside from the sleep apnea, Mr Hairbottle also grappled with other conditions such as joint pains, elbow growth and poor vision.
Mr Hairbottle and his wife would later access Emmanuel TV from a popular Pay TV network in their home. As he watched, the Spirit of God ministered to his heart and opened his eyes to so many things that he had overlooked in the past. He realised that great things were going on at the Arena of Liberty, especially with the multitude of people whose healings and deliverances were being broadcast on Emmanuel TV. For a man who had questioned the rationale of why he would have to travel all the way to get healing, it was time to have an encounter with God. And this time, nothing on earth would stop him.
Penultimate Sunday, Mr Hairbottle was in the Arena of Liberty and received his deliverance. Speaking during his testimony, he told congregants how God used Prophet T.B. Joshua to bring an end to a condition that had hung around his life like a calamitous chain. According to him, the experience was surreal. “I felt an electric shock when the man of God touched me. I have never fallen to the ground during prayer but in this case, I was surprised to see myself getting up from the ground. By that time, I knew something had happened. For the past seven days, I have been sleeping easily”, he added.
He also thanked God for his deliverance from many other afflictions aside from the severe sleep apnea. “I am completely healed! Thank You, Jesus! Stay very close to God in every single action you do every day. keep your heart clean; fill your heart with God’s Word”, he advised.
THE URGE TO SLEEP WITH DOGS HAS GONE
Mr Tammy Mlimi from South Africa, a drug addict, had another addiction but this secretive one was known to him alone – a serious urge for animals, particularly dogs. During the mass prayer of The SCOAN Sunday Live service however, Prophet T.B. Joshua located him and exposed the secretive addiction through a word of prophecy. “There is a brother here who has a serious urge for animals”. The prophet then specified the type of animal he had affection for – dogs. After the prophecy which also stated the type of clothing he wore, Mr Mlimi was forced to come out and confirm the prophecy.
Sharing his testimony of how he was delivered through the prophecy he confirmed, “At home, I have five dogs and it only troubled me when it was mating time for the dogs. I always found myself with the dogs”. Even walking along the street, he would find strange dogs would come close to him. “I preferred to move with dogs rather than with friends”, he said. This particular addiction caused him to be isolated. Mr Mlimi said that as a drug addict, he would get high and be unaware of 95 percent of what he was doing. His addictions caused him to be isolated in life. Speaking on life after his deliverance he said, “After my deliverance, I feel a sense of relief within my body and my mind came to rest automatically”. He said he no longer has the urge for animals or drugs and advised youth like himself to respect their parents and to commit their hearts and themselves to the Word of God.