Prophet T.B.Joshua & The Synagogue  

By Jerrell Miller/Remnant Editor

LAGOS, NIGERIA -- It was a first for both the Synagogue Church and me. I was the first reporter from the United States to sit in on a service and observe Prophet T.B. Joshua as he ministered to his church and to the people who had come to be healed. It would be an all day affair, yet it was so interesting it seemed as if it was over too soon.
       We were awakened at 5:45 AM to begin a full day at the church in Lagos. As our hosts took us to the main gate, you could see about 400 people waiting to come in. Who were these people? They were people with every type of illness imaginable. When they started walking in, the people in charge at the church organized them into groups. All of the cancer patients were directed to one area and the AIDS patients and the HIV positive were directed to another. (By the way - they do not allow a person to sit in a service with HIV or active AIDS unless they present a medical slip from a government hospital saying they have the virus. People are turned away without this documentation). The third group contains every other type illness or affliction (they must also show documented proof of what their illness is). The crippled and emphysema victims are among those found in this group.
        It was a little early in the morning for us to be up, but it was worth the loss of sleep to see the process that this church goes through. These church workers are a dedicated and compassionate group - to work so closely with all of these terribly ill people, moving from person to person, writing their diseases on a poster board for use during the service. (One man was in so much pain that he couldn’t sit down. He had cancer of the rectum and had to be laid out on a mat to give him comfort.) The church is careful to document every illness for later testimony. Each illness is recorded in a daily log to keep track of what goes through the church.
         All of this really made me wonder if some who have described this church as a cult really know what they are talking about. Is this church Biblical? The Synagogue Church thrives on Scripture! Everywhere you look throughout the massive crowd of people, you can see the Word of God in their hands. People have made the statement that records of healings and documentations of diagnosis are false - but every document I looked at was signed by a medical doctor who either worked at the University Hospital in Lagos or at a national government clinic. The people who came were not all from Nigeria either, as Botswana and many other African countries were represented among the HIV cases and other illnesses.
       At about 7:00AM, we went back to our rooms at the church to prepare ourselves for the 8:30AM service. The church has a smooth dirt floor with hundreds of high-backed, homemade pews throughout - each holding four or more people. Nigeria is on the equator, so I thought it would be extremely hot, but the whole time we were at the church it was overcast and pleasantly mild. The day I was there, the temperature was a mild 83 degrees outside - but inside, hundreds of roof fans kept the faithful cool. It was the middle of summer and the beginning of the rainy season, but it was comfortable. There was much activity in the house, as a general Sunday school was being conducted for the more than 3,000 people who came that day. African drums could be heard coming from the choir as the leader led them in a shrill chant. They played river songs, but the place really rocks with the rhythms of their native tradition. The mood is a festive one as people — some in suits, some in native dress — begin to sway back and forth as the Glory comes down. Women are fully covered in bright native cloths that reach to the floor, their heads adorned with brilliant headdresses of greens, reds, and golds.
         A short break is taken just before 12 noon and then the pastor arrives. I heard T.B. Joshua preaching and looked up at the closed circuit television to see him walking up and down with a hand held microphone, preaching on the far side of the church where the AIDS, cancer, and other patients were. He was teaching about persecution in the church and the power of forgiveness. I thought to myself, "Boy, does he know something about that subject." As I met him later and looked into his eyes, I found out the secret of his great strength. T.B. Joshua knows how to forgive the people who want to destroy him. In a teaching later that week he spoke about having teeth to strike back at the enemy and about how God comes to him and gives him great strength during times of persecution. Joshua continued preaching and the afternoon stretched toward 1:30 PM - but not a single person had left the church. Joshua was waiting for the waters to be troubled. His assistant then came to me and told me to walk into the area where the sick were seated to witness what was going to happen.
Never in my life have I seen a man minister like Joshua. Walking up and down the large gallery of sick people (approximately 600), he began ministering to the cancer patients and then moved on to the other illnesses. He looks straight into a person’s eyes. It seems as if when he fixes his eyes on the person, something begins to happen. Joshua staggers around the person, sometimes grabbing the poster board sign and throwing it to the ground. He says, "You’re healed, go in Jesus’ name and sin no more." Believe me, he is a pastor who deals with sin in his church. He teaches that sickness and sin are in the same boat. Everything that Joshua deals with in the service deals with the presence of sin in a person’s life and the great need for God. The power is a light touch and you can sense a Supreme Presence around this man when he prays for people. I could sense the Presence of the Holy Spirit and I saw within that service a process of holiness being directed.
             I do not know many Pentecostal ministers who have an anointing to heal in the area of HIV and AIDS. Saving these cases until the very last, Joshua prayed for the HIV and AIDS people who are there for hope. He began to pray, but before they were touched, he asked them to renounce sin and to name their sins before the congregation. The very act of repentance starts the process as Joshua raises his hands and goes from side to side and then all of a sudden Joshua says, "You’re healed, go now and sin no more."
When T.B. Joshua prays, you can see a power pull of the Holy Spirit as he moves people back and forth just with a wave of his hands. His methods are unusual, but the test results reveal the Power of God at work. There are signs and wonders in this church but a greater process is going on at the Synagogue Church - salvation is brought to the people that are healed. The condition of the soul is dealt with before the prayer goes forth over that individual.
          I believe that what Joshua is teaching and the format of his services will be a blueprint for the entire Christian Church to follow. He deals with sin and then he moves in healing. Many Charismatic and Full Gospel people, for years, have felt tremendous Presence in their situations around the world - but with no results. It’s great to sense and feel the Presence of God through worship in the great meetings around the world, but if all that happens is a feeling then we have missed the point of why Jesus came to the world. I listened to Joshua teach on the Holy Spirit and His purpose in the world. His teachings dealt with sin and the preparation for the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. He used the Gospel of John to teach on the purpose for the Spirit Baptism. In my opinion, anyone who would make the statement that Joshua is a cult figure must have never actually come to his church.
On Sunday night, Joshua operated in the prophetic as he called people forth who were bound in witchcraft and sin. This is Africa, and the people who come to these services are very often possessed by demons. I watched his congregation as he taught about sin and the power to destroy a person - tormenting spirits began to manifest in people. Those who were being dealt with for sin came forward and those who were demonically possessed were brought to the front of the church. (After a powerful display, the demon- possessed fall to the ground where their feet are crossed and they cannot move. One by one they are brought to the front of the church where Joshua prays over them.) Sometimes the demon talks back, but as Joshua casts the demon out; he leads that person to Christ. "Will you serve the Lord Jesus all the days of your life? The person in question agrees with Joshua and their feet become uncrossed. Joshua says to them, "Go now and sin no more." Make no mistake about it; the Power of God is moving in this congregation.
       This country is on the edge of great epidemics of disease, but the answers are not coming forth from the established local Pentecostal Churches or the hospitals. The local Pentecostal Association has chosen to attack and destroy Joshua’s ministry with rumors. I admit I read quite a lot about it before I actually came to the church and to be honest, a certain fear came into me about going there. The real story about Prophet T.B. Joshua, however, is that what is going on here is not happening in other places in Africa, or for that matter, the entire world. Two days after the service, I sat in a room with FORMER AIDS/HIV positive patients who proved that what was said about the false documentation of their healings is nothing but a rumor and a lie to destroy the witness of this great church. I personally examined each one of their documentation - case by case - and saw the before and after. One doctor and his wife, who came and were healed, were open to anyone who wanted to contact him at the hospital where he worked in Gaborone, Botswana. It was a hospital funded by the United States and the doctor’s name was Dr. Geoffrey Tirelo.
     The charge has been made that Joshua will not submit his ministry to a governing body of a structured denomination. There were others who came before Joshua who had this problem, however. In fact, when the Azusa Street Revival came forward under William J. Seymour, no one would have anything to do with him. They said the same things about him as they are saying about Joshua. Prophet Joshua has had to be a loner. There were Doctors of the Law in the Temple who asked Jesus, "By what authority do you do these works?" Can you see Jesus submitting himself to the religious leaders of the day to do what they wanted Him to do? Fear has come out of many mouths to accuse this work, but the evidence is too strong in the T.B. Joshua case. Can a demon cast out a demon? Jesus told his critics, "If you don’t believe Me for who I say I am, then believe on the evidence of My work." There are other churches the people could go to in Lagos, but they are coming to the Synagogue Church because they want results— they are coming because they are dying and they have no hope.
Rodney Howard-Browne has very often spoken about his trusted servant Richard Moore; Richard was having miracle services without miracles. Today Richard Moore walks in Power. That is the very thing that Pentecostal people are tired of, miracle services without miracles. When the miracles show up, that’s when the religious crowd begins to point fingers and say, "He’s a devil." Over and over again when God shows up in a man and the supernatural begins to happen, the finger pointers show up and say all manner of lies about an individual to bring that person down.
         I followed Joshua as he moved through his church after he preached - the Power of God is on him. If you have sin in your life and come in to this church, you cannot hide from the man of God. On Monday night in an evening service, T. B. Joshua said, "There is a man among the visitors to the church who is a homosexual. Will you come forward?" One of the Hollanders who flew in from Europe stepped out and went toward the front to receive deliverance! It doesn’t matter who you are - if you come into the service, the Holy Spirit is like a searchlight that goes through the congregation.
         What more can be said about the Synagogue Church and its pastor, Prophet T.B. Joshua? This move of God is going to touch the world. The events and the healings happening at this church have never been seen on this measure. For all that has been said against the church, its people, and its leader, something must be going right here. It’s just a matter of time before he comes to the United States. Until that time, men of God and those in need of a healing in Africa and around the world will come to the doors of this church seeking the Healer. Prophet T.B. Joshua will tell you who He is - He is Jesus, EMMANUEL.