Prophet TB Joshua, the founder and general overseer of the
Synagogue Church, Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, has expressed profound shock over the
death of the late president of Ghana, Prof. John Atta Mills, who died on
Monday.
Speaking with
LEADERSHIP exclusively at his Ikotun Synagogue Church yesterday, Pastor Joshua
pointed out that he was indeed very sad at the death of the Ghanaian president,
saying he did not receive any revelation concerning the death, otherwise he
would have intensified more prayers to avert his demise.
The cleric
pointed out that the late Mills was like a spiritual son to him whom he
cherished deeply. He was the one who even predicted Mills victory as the
Ghanaian president and that prophecy came to pass, he stated.
"Mills
was a very committed person in the things of God and also very dedicated. Each
time he was in church , you could see the fervor and hunger and thirst for God
written all over his countenance. He was a very dear son to me and I was his spiritual
godfather.
His death is a
great shock and blow to me personally," said the cleric. "Of course,
I knew he had been ill for sometime now and he had come for special prayers
concerning his health thrice this year, and I and my other ministers had prayed
fervently for him. I was so hopeful he would recover his health completely, but
it is sad and only God knows best why he should die now.
"I know
many persons will be saying how come my fervent prayers did not save his life.
All I can answer such persons is, why did GOD allow Stephen in the New
Testament Bible to be stoned to death. Why did God not save the life of
Stephen, an innocent man, as he was being stoned, dying?
The answer is
simply this: sometimes God allows things to happen for unknown reasons, and
indeed reasons no man can explain, that is why God is Almighty Sovereign God;
who indeed can question Him, who can challenge God?
"When we
humanity eventually see God in the glorious city of Heaven, then, can we have
answers to all our questions. For now, he can only get a 99 percent answer but
never a 100 per cent answer."
Pastor Joshua
pointed out that the late Mills was a very humble and dedicated leader who had
many great plans on how to revolutionise the economy of Ghana for greater
heights.
He said his
death was "indeed a great loss to humanity at large and especially to the
Ghanaian citizenry".
He disclosed
that he had done so much concerted prayers for the late Mills' health and,
aside his prayers, he said, the late Mills had also had frequent visits to the
United States hospitals - three times this year alone - and yet God still
allowed him to die."
Concerning the
ailment that led to Mills' death, he said the late president was suffering from
throat cancer.
The late
president Mills had openly admitted that Prophet TB Joshua played a crucial
role on his ascension to the presidency and even said so publicly in a
thanksgiving service held at the Synagogue Church in March 2009.
According to
the late Mills , the Prophet TB told him that the election would travel to the
third round before he would be declared the winner, which came to pass.
"It, therefore, came as no surprise, when the Synagogue Church of All
Nations was the first church he visited in Nigeria, after the Electoral
Commission had declared him winner of the 2008 election."
One of the
church members of the Synagogue Church who spoke to LEADERSHIP yesterday and
gave his name simply as Bro Stephen said, "I cried when I learnt of the
death of the Ghanaian president. You see, the man was a very wonderful, caring
man who, when he did his thanksgiving in March 2009, did a lot of things for
our church. Also, each time he visited Nigeria, he always came to our church
and his visit was always felt in many ways.
"All of
us members are sad over his death. Our Prophet TB Joshua is even sadder. But
what can we do? God knows best, and I know God will comfort each and every one
of us, especially his immediate family there in Ghana."