THE UNTOLD STORY OF PROPHET TB JOSHUA , AFRICA’S MOST PHILANTROPIC CLERGY. By Tony Okpe

 

The Synagogue Church of All Nations [SCOAN] has become a Centre for Christian pilgrimage of a sort for Christian visitors all over the world, who come in their millions to seek the face of God and support of all kind. It has become a gathering of people seeking the face of God in their various affairs. This gathering of worshippers can be compared to the annual Hajj pilgrimage held in mecca, Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem in Israel.

 Prophet TB Joshua is undoubtedly a true man of God. No doubt about that. TB Joshua's ministry not only delivers and heals, but also bless those he delivers. He tells you the root cause of your problems and assists you financially. I have watched countless of such through emmanueltv. These I have not seen anywhere in Africa. He is the most humble personality I have ever seen, through his many teachings that inspired me greatly. People should stop persecuting this man of God. Whatever you say against this man of God, look at it in the light of God's word. Some say things against the man of God because they hear others saying so. He demonstrates God's love to all regardless of race, tribe or the colour of your skin.

Temitope Balogun Joshua was born on June 12, 1963, commonly referred to as T. B. Joshua, is a Nigerian prophet and televangelist. He is the leader and founder of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN), a religious organization that runs the Emmanuel TV television station from Lagos, Nigeria.

He has been awarded various accolades, notably receiving the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Nigerian government in 2008 and being voted the Yoruba man of the decade by Pan-Yoruba media outlet Irohin-Odua. He was recognised as one of Africa's 50 most influential people by Pan-African magazines The Africa Report and New African Magazine

Joshua is known for his popularity across Africa and his online presence, with over 2,000,000 fans on Facebook and the most subscribed Christian ministry channel on YouTube which has amassed more than 150 million views.

His humanitarian work

TB Joshua philanthropic dimension is more than any institution; TB Joshua's SCOAN has excelled with many unsurpassed and unprecedented acts of philanthropy and compassion. Long before the establishment of relief efforts by national institutions, TB Joshua's SCOAN and EMMANUEL TV and partners had made life better for internally displaced persons and other victims of the terrorist insurgency. At great risks to their lives, church members scoured the war torn zones in Yobe, Borno, Plateau States and environs to distribute relief items in droves, coming with trailer loads. The mostly Muslim communities have enjoyed this kind gesture over the years, received that someone still cared in the face of institutional neglect. Many people, especially the elderly living in untold squalor have had their lives transformed by Joshua's charity works.

Another ministry is the humanitarian arm of SCOAN. There are media reports that this humanitarian arm has donated money in order to help orphans and the destitute. In 2009 it was reported that one widow received more than 500,000 Naira. In 2012, Joshua sponsored one Nigerian student doing a PhD in Oxford University with Nigerian media reporting the total given amounted to £100,000. There is also a rehabilitation programme for militants from Nigeria’s volatile Niger Delta region and a Forbes blogger estimated that Joshua has spent $20 million on humanitarian activities over a period of three years

SCOAN has also established another NGO in Ghana called Passion For Needy. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Joshua sent a team of medical personnel and humanitarian workers to the affected area, establishing a field hospital called 'Clinique Emmanuel'.In recognition of his humanitarian activities, he was awarded a National Honour by the Nigerian government in 2008 ]as well as receiving a letter of appreciation from the United Nations. He was further honoured as an Ambassador of Peace by the Arewa Youth Forum, a predominantly Muslim organisation, in appreciation of his humanitarian endeavours.

Sports

In 2009, Joshua started a football club, My People FC, as part of efforts to help the youth. Two members of the team played for Nigeria's Golden Eaglets in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Sani Emmanuel, who apparently lived in The SCOAN for several years, was Nigeria's top-scorer and the tournament's MVP. Emmanuel and his colleague OgenyiOnazi long signed professional contracts with SS Lazio, Onazi a key player for the Nigerian Senior Team, the Super Eagles.

WBO International Light Middleweight boxing champion King Davidson Emenogu said that Joshua has financially supported him throughout his career and purportedly prophesied that he would be a world boxing champion.

The Arewa Youth Forum were at the Synagogue Church Of All Nations to present Prophet T.B. Joshua with an Ambassador for Peace award.

National Director of Public Affairs, Arewa Youth Forum, Benue, Nigeria, Bello Abdulhamid, said Joshua deserves the award because of love he has always demonstrated irrespective of barriers of race, religion, creed or ethnicity.

Speaking on behalf of the northern states of Nigeria, he said that Kaduna, Yobe, Plateau, Kano and Jigawa States are all beneficiaries of the trailers of rice that Prophet T.B. Joshua sends.

He said, “Prophet T.B. Joshua is a man with phenomenal vision. He shows a deep sense of compassion and unconditional love. Prophet T.B. Joshua is a blessing not only to us in Nigeria but also the international community. Prophet T.B. Joshua is the very first man of God that we are visiting and honouring. Our independent assessment has shown that The SCOAN has been committed to provide not only for the spiritual but also for the physical well-being of people”.

“Fellow Nigerians, we are here because of the love we see in the life of Prophet T.B. Joshua. We need love to come together as a nation. Where there is love, there is no killing, stealing or destruction. Where there is love, there is no segregation. Love is the solution to our problems in Nigeria”.

The National President of the Arewa Youth Forum, Ibrahim Gambo, said that they have picked T.B. Joshua as a leader to bring back the lost love in Nigeria.

Isa Kurgui, the National Vice President, North-Central, Arewa Youth Forum said that in a society where there is love, you can sleep without locking your door, you can go anywhere without fear. He concluded by saying that from this day henceforth, Prophet T.B. Joshua is the Grand Patron of Northern Nigerian Youths.

The congregation rose to their feet clapping as Prophet T.B. Joshua was presented with the award as Philanthropist Par Excellence Ambassador of Peace.

Standing side by side with them, the Prophet explained to the world his reason for accepting this award during the live service. He said, “I will receive this award in order to join them to bring peace to some troubled spots in our nation, Nigeria”

On Sunday 18th November 2012 at his church, he announced that he had  taken up the responsibility of sponsoring a Nigerian student to complete her PhD programme at the University of Oxford to the tune of £100,000, approximately N26 million at the time.

As reported on the Pastor’s Facebook page, the beneficiary, YinkaOduwole, has been a member of the church for many years. She  is a first-class graduate from the University of Lagos and was sponsored by Prophet T.B. Joshua for her Masters Degree in Broadband Communications at The University College London. She recently graduated with a distinction and was the best graduating student in her class.

She has now been granted a position to study her Doctorate Degree in Engineering Science at the prestigious Oxford University in the United Kingdom, also fully sponsored by Prophet T.B. Joshua. Her Doctorate degree studies will include extensive cancer research.

Yinka explained that after gaining admission to Oxford University, her tuition fees are 100,000 British pounds, which is an equivalent to N26 million. Prophet T.B. Joshua said that he is ready to sponsor her for her PhD in Engineering Science knowing that he is sponsoring a leader of tomorrow.

 Philomena Sunday, a mother of nine, the 18th of August 2004, her husband passed on, and the world literally look down at her children. subsequently, life went progressively from bad to worse, until eventually the lady found herself and all her nine children picking their meals, clothes and all of their livelihood from refuse dumps:

“Even the clothes we wear, we pick them all from the dustbin and wash them,” said Philomena, “sometimes, if we don't make it early to the dust bin, we don't have anything to eat at all. We pick bread, groundnuts, yam, everything we can find to eat.”

For several years, this was the lot of this beleaguered family from Warri, which had lost its breadwinner, as the young family, which includes two teenage mothers, continued to snatch a living from the jaws of death.

Unknown to Philomena and her young children, a strange lady had been watching them daily, at the refuse dump where they picked their meals. The lady didn't stop at that. She decided to find out what the woman and her children were scavenging for at the dump, on a daily basis.

Fired by her curiosity, the anomymous lady approached Philomena, who tearfully narrated her ordeal to the stranger: “She asked what I was doing at the dust bin every day, with these children, picking food, and I answered, 'My sister, things have been very difficult, and even when I went to people to beg, they usually disappointed me.”

Continued the destitute woman as she narrated her encounter with the strange lady, “Even the man I had, whom I thought was going to help me and my children and train them in school, disappointed me, so this is where we get food to eat.”

Moved by her story, the stranger promised to help her. Then she wanted to know if Philomena had ever heard of Prophet TB Joshua and his Synagogue Church of All Nations. When she answered in the negative, she told her to prepare to meet with the prophet, whom she was sure could help the widow and her family, if he heard their story and could confirm it.

Unknown to Philomena, the faceless lady had made a video clip of one of their previous scavenging trips to the refuse dump as she and her children rummaged through mountains of refuse, searching for food, disused clothes, shoes and all, as well as empty cans, which they sold for N50 apiece, to buy food.

The stranger hired a bus to convey the family to Lagos and armed the mother of nine with her video tape which she urged her to make sure Pastor Joshua saw, in order to believe their incredible story and possibly alleviate their suffering.

That Sunday, a capacity-packed cathedral of misty eyed worshippers listened with rapt attention, as the pathetic story of the widow with nine young children was told from the mouths of the victims themselves, backed by the video clips from the unknown stranger.

It was soon time for the eldest of her daughters, Faith Abumere, to speak. She confirmed the story of the family's great suffering earlier narrated by her mother. Then she launched into her own personal experience. Because of the hell her mother and siblings were going through, she decided to find a man to whom she could be betrothed in marriage, in order to help rescue the family from its plight.

Unknown to Faith, the man she found was himself an unemployed person who needed help, equally. She became a teenage mother, bore him two children and increased the cycle of poverty.

“Even the clothes I am putting on now are from the dustbin,” she said tearfully. “But suddenly, my mother came one day to tell us that one woman told her about Synagogue… I know that as we are here now, our story would turn around.”

The story of AnthoniaAbumere, the second daughter of the family was no different. She too got lured into a relationship she thought would blossom into marriage and help rescue the family from their wretched existence. Unfortunately, her liaison turned out to be one with a man who was a lunatic. She too became a teenager mother and the family's problem worsened.

“I did not know that the man had a mental problem which, whenever it occurred, he would be misbehaving outside and people would be running from him,” narrated Anthonia. “ he beats me and my baby and sometimes he would kick us out,” cried Antonia, with a huge scar from a stitch that marked her pretty face,

 As the audience sat glued to their seats, the voice of Prophet Joshua cut them out of their contemplation: “That marriage should be immediately terminated. It's a wrong marriage caused by poverty… your future first, before marriage. Let them face their career and future. If the Lord says the will marry tomorrow, they can marry tomorrow – but that marriage should be stopped for now.”

Turning to the family as he preached to his congregation, Prophet Joshua noticed little Esther, her exquisite little face smudged by hot tears: “Wow! What a beautiful girl,” he exclaimed. “If you don't help this one now, she would turn out to be like her sister who married a mad man,” said the prophet, shaking his head, sadly.

Prophet TB Joshua called on his congregation to help restore the family. He said the family would first undergo deliverance. “We must do whatever we can to restore this family and make them part of our families and counsel them; we must not allow these children to be destroyed.”

Thereafter, he made a cash donation of N500,000 to the family in addition to 10 bags of rice and gift of the Holy Bible, promising further assistance to help educate the children. Other cash gifts and donations started pouring in from the congregation, as well as from watchers of Emmanuel TV, worldwide, who had been following the live telecast of the Synagogue Sunday service.

Donors included a caller, Josephine, from Denmark, who offered clothes and other support for Philomena and her children. Another caller, Mike, from Abuja, offered little Esther scholarship from primary school through secondary school. A regular female worshipper at the church opted to pay for accommodation for the family, as well as an offer of scholarships to four, out of the family's nine children.

From the Ukraine to Haiti and back home in Nigeria - especially in Yobe, Jos,  Adamawa, Borno, victims of war, natural disasters, insurgency and persecution based on religious belief have been given a new lease of life. Joshua has also through his good deeds proved to be a friend of the less privileged. People living in extreme poverty like the Oko Oba beggars, lepers, hopeless urchins, the Almajiris etc have one pleasant story or another to tell about TB Joshua's humanity and unprecedented act of compassion.

Hundreds of indigent kids are in universities at home and abroad today under the auspices of the TB Joshua scholarship largess. Dysfunctional families braking up in the face of financial and other hardships had been reunited and rehabilitated through Joshua's immense financial support. Disabled citizens have received succor from TB Joshua's SCOAN CHARITIES and through many other interventionist initiatives by this man of God. 

Popular Nigerian prophet, TB Joshua,  donated N6 million ($30,000) to over a hundred Nigerian deportees who arrived from Libya on the evening of Thursday, June 16, 2016.

According to media reports, 162 Nigerians were deported from the North African nation with the aid of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Swiss government and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.

However, rather than return home, 107 decided to ‘seek refuge’ at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), the popular Lagos-based church of TB Joshua.

According to a post on official Facebook Page of Prophet TB Joshua, after feeding the dishevelled and frail-looking Nigerians who arrived at the church late in the night, the sum of N50,000 was given to each of them alongside a bag of rice.

“Let me be honest with you, if not for this gift from TB Joshua, I had the plan of joining the militants in the Niger Delta,” admitted Friday, a returnee from Delta State, who fell to his knees in gratitude after receiving the gift.

The deportees explained to this reporter that most of them had been surviving by doing menial jobs in the war-torn nation before being arrested and imprisoned.

“We came back with nothing but the clothes on our backs which were given to us by United Nations officials,” said Michael, an Edo State indigene who had been in Libya for nearly ten months, washing cars for a living while nursing the hope of reaching Europe one day.

Arrested in February for staying illegally, Michael endured several months in a Libyan prison before the insufferable conditions of the prisoners attracted the attention of United Nations officials who procured their eventual release.

“I was thinking of how I was going to start my life again,” he admitted. “Many of us would have ended up in crime if not for this gift.”

Upon arrival, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) provided transportation vehicles for the returnees to their respective states along with a gesture of N10,000 by the Swiss government.

However, the majority chose to seek help from Joshua, who is famed for his extensive humanitarian gestures.

“We decided to come to The SCOAN because we know how Prophet TB Joshua has been helping people around the world,” Michael explained, referring to multiple other occasions where Joshua has rendered assistance to Nigerian deportees.

“I can only thank the man of God. Which other Nigerian could have done this for us at such a time in this country?” he tearfully pondered, decrying the muted response from the Nigerian government to their plight.

According to Collins, the young Nigerian had no intention to traverse Libya. Wild promises from a ‘friend’ of a glamorous life in Europe lured him away from a stable job in Abuja, not knowing that the European dream would lead him to a Libyan dungeon.

The fantasy turned to a nightmare as Libyan police broke into the commune where he was residing with dozens of other Nigerians en-route to a ‘better life’ abroad that never materialised.

“We are not here to blame or accuse the Libyan government,” he stated, recounting the inhumane conditions he endured in prison in which several of his colleagues died.

One of the deportees hobbled to the church on crutches. “I had a serious motor accident shortly after arriving to join my wife in Libya,” he narrated. “I have been in pain ever since but I thank God for using Prophet TB Joshua to wipe our tears away today.”

Joshua, who recently celebrated his 53rd birthday on June 12th 2016, also assisted Nigerian deportees who returned from Libya earlier this year, as well as aiding Nigerians returned from South Africa last two month. - African Custodian Magazine.