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
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.