Whether it’s addressing contentious issues on Facebook, prophesying world calamities or witnessing celebrity ‘deliverances’ in his Lagos-based church, the name of controversial Nigerian Pastor T.B. Joshua can’t seem to leave the news of late.
The events of his church service broadcast live via Emmanuel TV on Sunday 23rd March 2014 proved to be no different as The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) witnessed the confession of two lesbians who said ‘demons’ were behind their lifestyle.
Maria Terese George from Delta State, Nigeria explained to the congregation that her poverty-stricken background pushed her to seek help from an older lady. However, she had ulterior motives in promising to help the attractive 19 year old. “She took me to a club where we went drinking,” Maria explained while speaking in the packed church. “She took me to her house and started touching me. Because I was drunk, I responded.”
The day after this drunken encounter, Maria (pictured above) had an
unusual dream. “A half-naked lady came to
me in the dream and fed me with rice, stew and meat.” Upon waking up,
Maria’s affection for men disappeared and she began to admire her fellow
females. “That was how the spirit of
lesbianism entered me. I noticed that whenever I saw a female that was busty
and curvy, I would always admire their features... I became a chronic lesbian,”
she admitted.
The same lady who introduced her to lesbianism brought
her into a local prostitution ring, assuring her that the riches she desired
could easily be attained. “If I needed
money, I would go to meet men who were very rich – politicians and businessmen
– but if I wanted to enjoy sex or feel ‘real’ love, I would go for a woman.”
Prostitution led Maria to a neighbouring African
country where her immoral lifestyle seemed only to worsen. However, resources
disappeared as readily as they arrived. After several years of frustration, she
decided it was time to return to Nigeria.
“When I came back, I called
some of my old partners for connections,” Maria explained. “They
started laughing at me and told me they are now married with kids.” Maria
was perplexed. She never thought it possible for one to leave lesbianism after
tasting it.
“I was confused and asked
them what they meant. All four of them independently told me they went to T.B. Joshua’s
church for deliverance,” much
to the delight of the crowd. “Maybe The
SCOAN doesn’t know that they have delivered a lot of lesbians,” she added.
Making up her mind to visit the church based in
Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, her resolve was immediately followed by a terrible
nightmare. “That half-naked woman came to me in the dream and said, ‘Look – you
think you can leave me! Go and pick up a knife and kill yourself.’ ” Upon
waking, Maria immediately packed her bags and left for The SCOAN that morning.
During the church service on Sunday 16th
March 2014, one of T.B. Joshua’s ‘Wise Men’ prayed for Maria and she
experienced the ‘deliverance’ her friends had spoken of. “I have never experienced that type of thing before! I had gone to
other places for ‘deliverance’ but it didn’t go. That is when I found myself
even craving more for women.” According to her, when prayed for, she began
‘manifesting’ and a strange voice spoke through her.
After the ‘deliverance’, Maria testified to a total
transformation. “I no longer have affection for women. When I see any woman, I don’t
feel it again – I see you as a sister or as my mother. I am seeing myself now
as a woman that will settle with a man.” Advising people, the former
lesbian told the congregation, “This
lesbian spirit is a very stubborn spirit – it takes the grace of God for it to
leave you.”
In his comments, T.B. Joshua said, “Don’t hate the people; hate the act. Jesus
loves the sinner but hates the sin. Now you are delivered, it is time to live
in the Word,” he warned Maria. “Because
of Christ, you are delivered – for the salvation of your soul.”
The story of Nneoma Onyema was not so dissimilar.
Running away from home aged 18 and becoming a hair stylist in Port Harcourt,
Nigeria, a rich lady approached her in the salon one day. After complimenting
her appearance, she gave Nneoma extra money and invited her to a high profile
club. Intoxicating the teen with alcohol, she awoke the next morning in bed
with the lady carousing her. “She changed my name to Jennifer and took me
to a man who put tattoo of love on my back,” she explained to the church.
Immediately after this encounter, Nneoma’s affection and attention turned only to females.
Dancing in a club to make a living, she had no contact
whatsoever with her family who hadn’t heard from her in three years. However, after
being viciously attacked by a girl who claimed she ‘took’ her girlfriend, a
friend advised Nneoma, whose life was clearly in a mess, to visit T.B. Joshua’s
church in Lagos for help.
“When the Wise Man prayed for
me, I felt an electric shock pulsating through my entire body” Nneoma recounted her experience. The
‘demon’ that spoke through the young Nigerian said it was ‘a great lesbian’ and had tormented her life.
In a remarkable twist of fate, Nneoma’s brother Emmanuel
who had not seen her for three years was in The SCOAN congregation that very
day. “I always used to put Nneoma’s
picture on the screen of Emmanuel TV when T.B. Joshua prayed. I was so shocked
to see her in the church that day,” Emmanuel explained, adding that he was
hearing this confession from Nneoma for the very first time. T.B. Joshua
pledged to support Nneoma in her education so as to enable her to start a new
life.
In the wake of Nigeria’s recent anti-gay law, T.B.
Joshua courted controversy in January 2014 when he declared that homosexuals
should not be condemned.
“Judge not, so that you will
not be judged. We should talk to people to be saved and not to die. I mean, we
should talk salvation, not condemnation. The Bible is my standard,” he said in a Facebook post.
“God hates sin, not sinners.
When I say, ‘Do not judge so that you will not be judged’, I mean we should
hate sin, not the sinner because sinners can change. If you have killed a
sinner by judging him, there will be no opportunity for change. Sinners can be
delivered. We should hate the act, not the people because our battle is not
against flesh and blood but against the ‘spirit beings’ that cause all these
acts.”
He clearly distanced himself however from the nation
that he supported a homosexual lifestyle, saying, “If my parents were one, I would not have been given birth to. Those
that are asking this question – if your parents were one, you would not have
been given birth to. You that are reading me – if your parents were one, you would
not be reading this today. God bless the reader and the hearer.”
