Nigerian
Preacher TB Joshua is flying the families of the victims of his church’s
collapse to Lagos to spend Christmas and the new year with him, the Synagogue
Church of All Nations said on Monday. “The prophet has invited the families of
the deceased to come and spend time out there at the synagogue with the other
church members for Christmas and very importantly… the end of the year
candlelight services,” said church spokesperson Kirsten Nematandani.
Forty-four
family members who had accepted the offer would fly out on Christmas day and
return on January 2.It is believed 85 people from South Africa were among those
killed when a multi-storey
guesthouse attached to the church collapsed in Lagos
on September 12.”The purpose is to spend time with the families. As we know the
families are going through a difficult time… this is part of the process the
church is undergoing,” he said.
The
church would offer the bereaved families spiritual and emotional support and
they would have a chance to interact with Joshua. He would fund the entire trip
including all transport, accommodation, meals and visa applications.
Nematandani said Joshua had always been open about the incident and that he
would “walk this journey with the families… and continuously support them”.
Those
families who were unable to visit the church because they did not have
documentation or already had other plans were invited to come to the church at
a later stage, Nematandani said.The families visiting the church would spend
their time attending services and programmes run by “evangelists and wise
men”.”They will have time to go to the prayer mountain to have quality time as
an individual and talking to God.”
Nematandani
expressed condolences on behalf of the church for the families of the 11
victims whose bodies had not yet been returned to South Africa.”We want to
express messages of sympathy and condolences to those families and hoping that
the time will come when those bodies will come home.”He said Joshua would not
rest until the bodies were sent home.Members of the church would spend time
with those families over the festive period to support them.”The church will be
on the ground with them, sending them love and support from TB Joshua, even
though it could be seen as a black Christmas,” he said.
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