Streets of Twitter still howling with resurrection-themed memes

A pastor in South Africa who claimed to have performed a resurrection has sparked a social media craze as users took to the web mockingly mimicking his miraculous powers.

A video of Alleluia Ministries International pastor Alph Lukau “reviving” a supposedly dead man emerged over the weekend and quickly went viral.

It showed Lukau laying his hands on a body dressed in a white suit and lying in a coffin which suddenly came to life and jumped to his feet.

Within hours the hashtag #ResurrectionChallenge was trending on Twitter as users posted wry images of their own dramatic “revivals” alongside screen shots of Lukau’s supposed miracle.

User Just Jusca pictured himself with a look of surprise sitting up in the bath under the caption “My alarm just resurrect me to wake up“.

Dikano Sino posted a video of a class of schoolchildren being magically reanimated by a teacher. But Lukau’s supposed resurrection prompted a backlash from the funeral home, “hired” to make the arrangements for the “dead” man.

“As Kings and Queens Funeral Services, we would like to distance ourselves from the supposed resurrection,” the company wrote in a statement.

“We are in the process of taking legal action for this malicious damage to our image.” By Tuesday the Allelulia church had distanced itself from the incident, telling local media that “it was not a resurrection miracle”.

The church has declined to comment on criticism that it deceived worshippers, the Sowetan said.

And South African travel blogger and environmental activist Ulrich Janse van Vuuren has also taken to the streets of Twitter to distance himself from Lukau’s “resurrection”.

Janse van Vuuren on Monday cleared his name after he was mistaken for the white man standing in shock while the pastor brought the “dead” man back to life.

In a tweet that has been shared more than 2‚000 times‚ Janse van Vuuren said: “To the people who have been asking and speculating that it’s me standing at the back there‚ I plead innocence!”

He even received an offer to join the mean streets of Black Twitter as an honorary member. –