The SCOAN Sunday service of March 19, 2017 brought the people of God together to witness His marvellous works. The choir celebrated God´s lovingkindness with songs of praise and thanksgiving while the testimonies from different parts of the world served as an encouragement to all those who are waiting on the Lord for their own blessings. Just back from Israel, the man of God was full of joy as he shared his experience with congregants and people all over the world. His visit to meet with Religious Leaders from the Holy Land was also a God-inspired mission to add value to the lives of the needy.

Citing some Scriptures, the man of God highlighted the place of love in the world, adding that without it, nothing works. He went further to describe love as an attribute of God Himself who sacrificed His only Son for our sake. “Failure to walk in love can almost shut down one’s spiritual walk with the Lord,” he added. Urging congregants to LET LOVE LEAD, Prophet T.B. Joshua revealed that while he was touring Jerusalem, he was inspired to do the will of God through an act of love. After a meeting with the mayor of Bethlehem, she explained to him about the need for help in the areas of medical treatment and job employment. After visiting the largest General Hospital in Bethlehem together with the mayor, the prophet was moved with compassion upon seeing the need for medical equipment especially for kidney patients and donated essential kidney dialysis machines. The machines which cost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars were presented to the appropriate authorities. “Love looks around to see who is crying, lamenting,” Prophet T.B. Joshua said, adding that he should be addressed as LOVE and not as Prophet, General Overseer or Bishop. He urged people to use whatever they have to help others and change the world to a better place.

Earlier, Evangelist Yetunde, in her message – A CONTENTED LIFE, urged Christians to hold onto God even in the face of the most disheartening situations of life. Lamenting about our situations as Christians is satan’s way of distracting us from the plan of God: “No matter the situation you may be going through, you must have room in your heart to bless God. In other words, weeping must not hinder sowing or worshipping God. Remember, getting you to look at life, its storms and adversities from the human point of view is a trap of satan.” She added that there cannot be real contentment without God: “Oftentimes, we are unsatisfied and seek more for what we don’t have. It is not our mere wishful thinking that brings about a contented life. And it is not the work of righteousness which we have done that brings about a contented life. No one can be content without God.”

TESTIMONIES

THE DAY I LOCATED MY DESTINY THROUGH PROPHECY

He had held tightly onto his human opinion, thinking that he was destined to succeed abroad. As at 2013, he had spent over twenty years in the United Kingdom, insisting that his fortunes lay there. Dr Pius Apere had visited The SCOAN in 2007. Then, he had received a prophecy about his career failure, in spite of all the self-efforts he had made to sponsor himself through school at the highest level. Two years later, while on another visit to The SCOAN, he had received yet another prophecy about the appearance of a skeleton in his dreams. According to him, whenever he had that dream involving a skeleton, every good plan and expectation would come to nought. Matters became so bad that anytime he had these nightmares, things would inexplicably fall apart. He would fail at job interviews and would be left confused.

Those bizarre occurrences coupled with his endless struggles to make it big in life instigated in him a concentric mind-set never to come back home to Nigeria since it appeared that his problems emanated from his ancestry. In March 2013, he had another opportunity to meet with the man of God. During their meeting, Prophet T.B. Joshua had told him to return home, adding that his destiny lay in Nigeria. But in his usual mind-set, he had viewed the prophetic directive as a misnomer of sort. For him, it was like coming back to roost in a habitation of vipers where his very existence was not guaranteed any chance of survival.

Six months after his encounter with the man of God, an opportunity came in one of Nigeria’s foremost insurance firms. The position of Deputy Managing Director was vacant and needed to be filled. Though he was roundly qualified for the role, his misgivings about coming back home held him back from making a passionate move. Even when he applied for the job, it took a discouraging one and a half months for him to get a response. Amidst those misgivings, he reluctantly took the offer after friends prevailed on him to do so. He wondered why he should leave the greener pastures of London only to take up an offer shrouded in uncertainty. To make matters worse, he had no place to lay his head and so the possibility of being stranded was one of his greatest fears.

To his utmost surprise, everything he needed was provided as soon as he took up the offer. His doubts were dealt a big blow by prophetic hindsight. As he would later recall, the prophetic counsel given to him by Prophet T.B. Joshua had just started actualising. At that juncture, he realised that homecoming was actually a huge blessing in disguise. Despite all the trials that presented themselves along the way, he was able to see and experience that glorious light at the end of the tunnel. In May, 2016, he visited The SCOAN once again and received yet another prophecy from the man of God. According to Prophet T.B. Joshua, Dr Apere’s career was epileptic and unstable but that he saw him coming home to excel. By November, 2016, the Managing Director retired and he was nominated as replacement.

His nomination raised a lot of dust as the regulatory body of insurance in Nigeria refused to ratify his nomination, citing that he was not qualified for the position and leaked this to the press. During that period, most of his friends deserted him, leaving him to carry his cross all alone. As part of what was essentially a smear campaign, his CV was also leaked to the press but this inadvertently showed the world that he was even more than qualified and competent.

On seeing his CV, the regulatory body came under serious bombardment by stakeholders who knew that his rejection was unjustifiable. Like a stump under pressure, they had no other choice than to yield to popular demand after reviewing his cumulative experience in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria. He was given the opportunity to defend himself orally. Before he did that, he had ministered the Morning Water and had even visited The SCOAN that week. After speaking at the panel, everyone was marvelled to the extent that they referred to him as a professor. After a couple of days, a letter ratifying his nomination and accepting him as the Managing Director/CEO of the insurance firm was written and forwarded to him by the regulatory body with apologetic alacrity.

During his testimony, he revealed that his position came with great benefits, including a multi-million-naira official car.  “It was like a bitter pill to swallow when the message was given to me to come back to Nigeria,” he said as he recalled the prophecy given to him by the man of God. But today, he is a living witness to the veracity and actualisation of that prophecy. “If I had not obeyed, this testimony would not have happened and I would still be struggling,” he added. He advised people all over the world to listen to whatever the man of God tells them, adding that obedience is better than sacrifice. He also urged them to seek the face of God continuously.

FREED FROM THE GRIP OF “A FALLEN ANGEL”´  

Mr Onwuesi Chukwuka Cletus’s problem started when he came across a post on social media titled ´The Fallen Angel´. According to him, the post deliberated on the manner in which the angels that were chased out of Heaven fell and scattered unto different parts of the earth. However, after reading that post, he felt that something strange had entered his body. He suddenly found himself indulging in all sorts of ignoble acts such as alcohol-drinking and mingling with bad gangs. Though he always felt he was on the wrong track, he lacked the will power to retrace his steps. It was obvious that some evil forces beyond his power controlled his affairs.

Dream-wise, he was a total spiritual mess. He always found himself swimming with a particular woman with whom he also had intercourse. His capacity to pray started to die gradually until he lost it all. He virtually lost focus and interest in the things of God. He eventually dropped out of school because his mind was affixed more to those evil fancies. Somehow, his mother noticed the changes in his life but there was nothing she could do on her own. The young man himself had even gone to different prayer houses to seek deliverance when it dawned on him that he was in chains but all his efforts amounted to nothing.

During a visit to an aunt, Mr Cletus confided in her about the challenges he was facing. After her efforts to help him failed, she advised him to visit The SCOAN where she believed God would surely locate and deliver him. Last Sunday, the young man heeded his aunt’s advice by worshipping with the ministry. As the man of God was ministering prayer, he became anxious and edgy as a voice told him to leave the auditorium. Before he could fathom what was going on around him, the man of God was already near him. The last thing he could remember was a touch on his head by Prophet T.B. Joshua.

During his deliverance, the evil spirit that had entered him actually spoke and revealed its mission in the young man’s life, adding that it was responsible for his dropping out of school. It also linked itself to his ancestry. Brought to the ground by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mr Cletus rose up to feel very light. As he told congregants during his testimony, he felt that a heavy burden had been taken out of his body. “I now read my Bible and my interest in the things of God has increased,” he added, just as he advised people all over the world, especially youths, to be wary of the things they read on social media.

QUEST FOR POWER IS VANITY WITHOUT JESUS

Penultimate Sunday, Mr Jabulani Buthelezi received a prophecy from Prophet T.B. Joshua about his link with marine spirits. He narrated the horrible story of his life to congregants. The South African, in quest for political power, fame and influence, had consulted his aunt who advised him to appease his ancestors. He was introduced to a native doctor from Mozambique and because he did not know God, he agreed and made money available for the procurement of some livestock with which the sacrifice would be done. Sheep were slaughtered while their blood and entrails were presented to him to have a bath with. After bathing with the blood and entrails of the slaughtered sheep, the native doctor took him to the graveyard where his forefathers were buried and bathed him with sand from there. They also took some of the sand home.

The native doctor also gave him some snuff and told him to return to the graveyard and request whatever he wanted by sitting on the grave of his ancestors for at least two hours. Mr Buthelezi ended up sleeping on the grave all in his desperate bid to attain power and influence. Weeks later, the native doctor took him to an area in a thick bush were he had lit candles and told him to relax there after which he would appease the spirit of the bush. After that ritual, he was taken to a river and was asked to go naked. He tried to protest but the native doctor wouldn’t even spare his underwear. He was thereafter asked to go into the middle of the river. Mr Buthelezi became the centre of attention as women washing clothes in the river kept looking at him. At that point, the politician was overtaken by shame.

While in the river, the native doctor cut into all parts of his body, including his manhood. As the incisions lasted, he watched as his blood dripped into the flowing river. As the blood dripped, he was told to start swimming. He had no choice but to heed the advice of the native doctor lest his quest for power be truncated by his own refusal to obey commands. He was handed a 1.5 litre empty bottle and was asked to scoop water from the river and take it home. He was instructed to drink the water from time to time. He was also told to add drops of that water into his bathing water and bath in it at midnight. The native doctor also instructed his younger sister to disperse a concoction around his compound whenever he was having his special bath upstairs and she had to do it naked.

During that time, he started having unnecessary quarrels with the woman he was living with. Each time he wanted to get intimate with her, he lacked affection. But whenever he woke from sleep, he would discover that his semen had wet the bedsheets. He soon realised that he was having intercourse with a spirit wife. He also encountered strange women with whom he made love whenever he offered them a ride. Sometimes, he would drive into a bush with them only to find himself having sex in his car. Whenever he arrived at his office, he would feel as if he had not slept with any woman. His appetite for sex became voracious as he would sleep with four women in his office before close of work.

Very rich, Mr Buthelezi bought cars and houses but there was no peace in his home. Because he had entered into a blood covenant, he never enjoyed normal sexual relations. Most of the women he loved to sleep with were those who were menstruating. He always felt great whenever he saw blood during sexual intercourse. Because of the presence of diabolic spirits that were haunting his house, one of his former wives was always scared to move around alone. She would always want him to accompany her to any part of the house. He had thought she was getting insane. That marriage eventually hit the rocks.

The turning point came for him after he was imprisoned for certain crimes he was said to have committed many years back. It was in prison that he started thinking about Christ and redemption. It was in that same prison that he married his current wife. She was an old friend in whom he had lost interest. After leaving prison, for four years, he could not get intimate with her because of an excrutiating pain in his manhood. His frustrations inspired him to visit The SCOAN after he had been introduced to Emmanuel TV by a friend. He had even vowed to commit suicide should his problems persist after visiting The SCOAN.

The man of God ministered prophecy and deliverance to him in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. After his deliverance, he confessed that his problems are no more. Testifying in company of his wife, he advised people, especially men, to stop craving for unnecessary power that would only lead them to more troubles and destruction, adding that he was lucky not to have contracted a venereal infection.

FULL EMPLOYMENT INSPIRED BY FAITH

For five years, he had been a United Nations volunteer in Ethiopia, praying to be fully employed by the international agency. As a volunteer, he only received allowances which were too meagre and could not take care of the huge responsibilities on his shoulders. He needed a full employment, knowing that it would come with improved pay and allowances. Mr Johansen Kase-Nene was introduced to Emmanuel TV by an acquaintance and since that moment, he started watching and witnessing the great testimonies of different people whom God had touched in many wonderful ways. Convinced that God would also touch him through the anointed channel, he started praying along with the man of God on the channel. While the man of God was praying for viewers sometime last year, Mr Kase-Nene keyed into one of the prayer points – WHATEVER YOU HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR ALL THESE YEARS, THIS YEAR YOU ARE GOING TO GET IT.

After praying that prayer point vigorously, the mighty hand of God swung into action. Two months later, the Tanzanian resident in Ethiopia was offered a full employment by the International Refugee Committee which recruits and sends staff to the United Nations High Commission of Refugees. He was subsequently posted to serve in Botswana as an Associate Protection Officer.

When he arrived in Botswana, he received another employment as an United Nations staff with an improved remuneration as well as other benefits, including educational grants for his children and an opportunity for his family to join him. During his testimony, he expressed gratitude to God for answering his prayer. He advised people all over the world to hold onto God through any anointed medium, adding that distance is not a barrier.

GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE ISSUE OF BLOOD

Mrs Maggie Thokomnisi was suffering from severe bleeding and stomach pains to the extent that she had to be taken repeatedly to the hospital by an ambulance. She was referred to gynaecologists who checked her and later referred her to surgeons. At the end, she was given some medication and discharged when nothing was found wrong with her. She was told to return after five days if the pains and bleeding continued. After five days and having taken all the medication without any sign of the bleeding and pain subsiding, she returned to the hospital as advised. This time, she returned in an ambulance because she was too weak. Taken to the theatre, nothing was found once again and she was discharged.

Her aunt had muted the idea of visiting a sangoma whom she believed would put an end to the bleeding. For Mrs Thokomnisi, though she was troubled, she wouldn’t run after other gods. Instead, she decided to seek the face of the mighty and living God. She believed that as soon as she stepped her feet into The SCOAN, God would heal her. She just believed!

Her husband was worried because he was not sure she could embark on that journey alone without help because she was very weak. When she eventually arrived at The SCOAN, she attended a Sunday service. That day as Prophet T.B. Joshua was ministering prayer to congregants, he came to her side and laid his anointed right hand on her head. According to her, she fell to the ground under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Rising, she rushed to the toilet only to discover that her persistent bleeding had stopped.

Since that moment till now, she has not experienced the bleeding anymore. After her healing, she has been very strong, happy and full of life. Her appetite is back now. She even ‘demolished’ many Nigerian dishes. “There is no sickness that Jesus cannot heal and no disease that he cannot cure,” she told congregants as she thanked God for the miracle.

 

HOW JESUS RESCUED ME FROM THE TROUBLES OF LIFE

She was only two and half years when she lost her mother in a suicidal fire incident. At that tender age of innocence, it was most devastating for her to lose her mother in a most gory manner. Left with her father and younger sister, life took a turn for the worst. Her father remarried barely six months after her mother died. Young Lucy and her younger sister were ushered into an unfriendly vista of life where warmth and affection were displaced by hate and rejection. The   family treated them with disdain as though they were responsible for their mother’s death. When she clocked eight years, she absconded from home and took refuge at a seminary where she worked as a dish washer just to survive.

Two years after she fled home, another sad episode played out. Her younger sister whom she had left behind in her father’s house, died. It was as if life had lost its sunshine and had been overtaken by dark clouds. She developed an addiction for cigarette smoking. She would smoke as many as forty sticks of cigarettes in a day. Her father did not show any concern about her wellbeing. She was called all sorts of horrible names – a thief, a killer and the ugliest girl in the world. She suffered depression and migraines and received heavy doses of medication. With the level of rejection she experienced, she grew up with a mind-set to work hard and tread through the vicissitudes of life with an optimistic inclination. Lucy recalled how she was raped several times as a child and how she kept the abominable experiences to herself.

At sixteen, she was already a single parent of three. Her travails continued until her aunt’s husband came into the picture. The man, based in Norway decided to adopt her as his daughter. She was taken to Norway to start a new life. Norway brought a new lease of life as she was enrolled in school and also had job opportunities. She was able to raise pocket money through the little jobs she did while going to school. But that blaze of hope was short-lived when her adopted parents decided to go their separate ways. The boat of their marriage was rocked by irreconcilable differences and so, divorce was inevitable.

Lucy decided to go with her aunt, thinking that things would be better with her. But life with her aunt turned out to be worse than what she had passed through in her biological father’s house. Her aunt used her to make money by ordering her to sleep with all sorts of men against her will. It was exploitation all through. But among the men who were coming with the intention to sleep with her, there was one whose conscience was alive. Noticing that she was going through a lot of emotional pains, he promised to help her. That man kept his promise by getting her an apartment and paying her rent for two years. After she moved into her new home, she continued her education and combined it with a job in order to make ends meet.

Lucy would later meet her husband, a Norwegian, in the house of a Danish neighbour. Initially, their relationship was somewhat casual but after one year, it became serious. After their marriage which was blessed with a girl, Lucy was still haunted by her problems. Many a time, she would nurse the urge to run away from her matrimonial home. She had suicidal thoughts and was not happy. At a time, she fell ill and almost went crazy. Her husband did all he could yet her condition remained the same. It was then she told her husband that she was not interested in the material things of life but that she wanted to be free from the worries that had trailed her life since childhood.

One day while scanning through YouTube, she came across Prophet T.B. Joshua on Emmanuel TV and concluded that he was the only one who would deliver her from her problems. Since that day, she continued to watch Emmanuel TV. Lucy had made up her mind to visit The SCOAN and nothing would stop her.

As time for her journey to Nigeria approached, she faced a lot of difficulties. Undeterred, she was able to surmount those difficulties and made her way to the Arena of Liberty with her husband’s support. He had asked her to choose between a mansion he would build for her in her native Uganda and coming to The SCOAN and she chose the latter. Penultimate Sunday, during the church service, she was located by the Holy Spirit as the man of God ministered prayer and deliverance to congregants.

The demons behind her travails manifested: “We turned her to a dog. No respect – nobody likes her. Nobody respects her. They use her. From her childhood, she has been raped many times. We use her – that is our happiness…” Mrs Lucy Atim Hansen received her deliverance in the mighty name of Jesus. During her testimony last Sunday, she thanked God for freeing her from an age-long predicament that almost destroyed her life. According to her, after her deliverance, something came out of her. Her urge for smoking also came to an end. “If you see a child looking for your shoulder to rest on, please take that child as yours,” she advised.

MOTHER OF MIRACLES FOR TRINIDADIAN COUPLE

Mr Keston Brown from Trinidad and Tobego stepped foot in The SCOAN for the second time to testify of the Lord’s never failing faithfulness. The first time, he came with his wife to testify of how God had delivered him from pornography and masturbation through praying along with the man of God on Emmanuel TV. Happily married with his beautiful wife, they were looking for the fruit of the womb, something they believed would come naturally after 1 year or 2 years but when 5 years passed and no sign of pregnancy emerged, the couple began to worry.

Before returning to The SCOAN another time, they had exhausted all tricks in the book to try and conceive a child. The doctors had diagnosed stubborn multiple fibroids that refused to leave her despite treatment and medication. However, as the man of God says, ¨When you run out of rope, you should hold onto faith¨, they travelled to The SCOAN and received prayer from Prophet T.B. Joshua, in Jesus’ name along with the Morning Water.
On their return to Trinidad and Tobago, fueled with faith, they went straight back to the doctor’s office but despite the absence of the pain, the fibroids were still there. Although his wife was devastated at the news of the fibroids’ presence, he encouraged her to continue ministering the Morning Water and to stay in faith.

After four months of trusting in God and ministering the Morning Water, they met as husband and wife and to the joy of the couple, she conceived. Unable to keep quiet at God’s miracle, Mr Keston travelled to The SCOAN to testify on behalf of his wife. Beaming and proudly showing photographs of his wife, now heavily pregnant, Mr Keston advised everyone that truly God is alive.