Sophia Michaels
Alex Omordia, a journalist, shares his experiences as a member of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in interview with AMARACHI OKEH.
Are you a member of the Synagogue Church of All Nations?
My name is Alex Omordia. I am 64 years old and also a journalist. Yes, I am a member of the Synagogue Church of All Nations.
How long have you been a member?
I have been a member of the church since the year 2000.
Were you attending other churches before you became a member of SCOAN and what led you to the church?
I have attended so many churches. I was a Catholic by birth and while I was in secondary school, I didn’t go to any church. Later in 1992, I joined the Holy Chapel of God Mission, which used to be at Surulere, Lagos. I was there till I joined the Synagogue Church of All Nations. I also attended the Redeemed Christian Church of God at Iyana Ipaja at some point.
Was there any reason why you joined SCOAN or were you just led by the spirit to join the church?
Well, I had a revelation in a dream. Our Lord Jesus Christ directed me to the church. It is a very long story. When He showed me the place and the man (Prophet TB Joshua), I started looking for him because I didn’t know him by then. Then, one of my friends had almost the same revelation and went there first. It was after he went, he then came back and told me there was a need for me to be there. When I went there, I saw what God was doing practically so I had to stay put. Later, my family joined. We have been there since.
You said when you say you saw what God was doing practically in the church, what do you mean?
I saw healing; critical healing. You would see it. It is not a thing somebody will tell you. Cases of all sorts – cancer, mental disorder, HIV, open wounds – things you can see by yourself, mouth cancer, cervical cancer, and the rest of them. But in the real sense of it, it was the kind of message the man was preaching that made me stay put because I never heard that kind of message where somebody would preach love that no matter what happened, he didn’t talk, he didn’t take offence and all that. So, I just saw this one as this is a place I should be.
Is it true that you received a miracle at the church?
Yes, I received healing from a grand mal attack. It is a serious form of epilepsy in which somebody becomes unconscious for fairly long periods. (According to the Mayo Clinic, a tonic-clonic seizure, previously known as a grand mal seizure, causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. It’s the type of seizure most people picture when they think about seizures. Usually, a tonic-clonic seizure is caused by epilepsy. But sometimes, this type of seizure can be triggered by other health problems. Very low blood sugar, a high fever, or a stroke can cause a tonic-clonic seizure. Many people who have a tonic-clonic seizure never have another one and don’t need treatment. But someone who has recurrent seizures may need treatment with daily anti-seizure medicines to control and prevent future tonic-clonic seizures.)
My own started when I was 22 years old in 1981. I was in secondary school. I was writing my WASSCE at Ibuzo in Delta State. So, the day we wrote Biology, I was returning from the examination hall, and before I knew it, every object turned yellow; I fell to the ground and became unconscious. Before then, I never had any issues at all from the time I was born till that day. Coincidentally during that period, I also led a protest in the school. I was then carried inside the CMS churchyard and it was there I regained consciousness.
Then I didn’t consider it as anything until I went to Port Harcourt where I was working as a security guard for a private construction company. After five years, in 1986, that same thing (seizure) occurred again. I fell to the ground and the moment I fell, I didn’t know myself any longer. I could stay for one minute or more before I would be revived. When it happened in Port Harcourt, I went to Silver Valley Clinic at Garrison run by one Dr D. A. D. Allison. He was the one who told me the name of that sickness, that it was a grand mal attack.
At this time, I became afraid and I had to travel back to the then Bendel State, which is now Delta, to meet my father. They took me to a native doctor, they did many things and I left. In 1988 I was at the NIJ (Nigeria Institute of Journalism. It happened again in 1992 at Area ‘C’ Surulere police barracks on December 24. I was admitted to a private hospital at Jibowu; I spent my Christmas there.
The surprising thing was that it was not coming often, but whenever it was approaching four years or five years, I would be afraid. After that attack in 1992, the thing happened again in 1996 when my first son was born. We were just planning for his christening in my house at Iyana Ipaja when I fell and broke the bucket that my wife was to use to bathe our son. That was the last time it happened but I was always expecting that every four or five years it would happen.
So, when I started attending SCOAN, I was in the press group in the church and I told our coordinator then, Emmaus Abraham, what I had been experiencing since 1981. I pleaded with him and they put me in the prayer line. The man (TB Joshua) came and moved around within us. He didn’t touch me; he just gazed at me and I left. The following day, we went for counselling and that was all. Today, this is the 24th year now, and I have never experienced that thing again.
Again, around 2007, I started having piles. It was so serious that I took both orthodox and traditional medicine, but the more I took them the more it increased. It later became dry inside my anus. Anytime I wanted to sit down, I would cry. After going to various hospitals and doing many things, I went to the church. After several attempts, I was added to the prayer line; they prayed for me and today I can eat whatever I like.
If we talk of other things, I have also benefitted from him (Joshua) through financial aid and all that. He was known for that. I was with him at different times of the day; he didn’t sleep much. He could be awake till around 2am to 3am. That is why he used to come out late for service.
Was it only you or did your wife and children also receive healing?
One of my brothers-in-law also got healing from the same grand mal attack in the church. He was falling every day, according to him. But when I took him to the church, he was prayed for and that was the end of it. It was still in the year 2000.
Even one of my friends had a snake bite on a Coaster bus when they were travelling home. It happened that all of a sudden, a snake came out to bite him inside the bus. He was almost dying before they rushed him from Delta State to the church. After he was prayed for, he started urinating until the whole thing cleared.
What do you have to say about the accusations against Prophet Joshua by some of his ex-disciples?
When we say ex-disciples, TB Joshua had so many disciples. It is particularly two of those disciples that are stroking these issues because they are disgruntled. I can tell you that those accusations are fabricated because they could not get what they wanted.
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Source: The PUNCH
