Promised land for TB Joshua
SOUTH African followers of Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua will soon have to dig deep into their pockets to get to a service with the minister, following his decision to relocate his ministry to Israel.
Two weeks ago Joshua, 53, told congregants in his Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, Nigeria, that he had met with the Israeli mayors of Jerusalem, Tiberias and the Jordan Valley, and had been offered different facilities in an area around the biblical site of the Sea of Galilee.
He said this was after they had noted his humanitarian work around the country and his recent donation of 30 dialysis machines to a hospital in Bethlehem.
Church spokesman Bernard Mulder said Joshua was being led by the Holy Spirit and that they had people in Israel negotiating with hotels and airlines for the move.
The church in Lagos has more than 20 000 international visitors a month, with 8 000 requests from South Africans, who pay between R20 000 and R25 000 for a week’s stay to attend his sermons.
The church made headlines three years ago when its guesthouse building collapsed and 116 people died.
Joshua’s trial on charges of criminal negligence has been repeatedly delayed.