One of the battles we face here in Africa is the poor reputation that Christian pastors have as a result of some charlatans who are using the faith as a way of making money. They call themselves Bishops and Major Prophets and they are always casting out demons, selling oils, demanding money for prayer, and generally exploiting the people. The latest fiasco was a pastor who attempted to film himself raising a man from the dead. The video went viral and the whole thing was debunked as a fake in short order for two reasons. The guys acting in the video was terrible and obviously breathing and blinking faking dead ahead of time. The funeral company confirmed they never received the body before the funeral and confirmation of death was not made by anyone.
Very quickly, the pastor started to back pedal and claim that he didn't raise the man from the dead, but the family tricked him into believing the man was dead. Soon after that, it was discovered that the “risen man” had recently deposited a large some of money into his account.
The video was so fake, that it was partly funny to watch and has now resulted in a rash of comedy driven copy cats. It's called the Resurrection Challenge and people are trying to recreate the ridiculousness of the original video. The first link is the video of the actual false resurrection and the second is some of the examples of the Challenge satire versions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6URvBzxXcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c7kGYgPDys This whole situation is both funny, and very terrible at the same time. The Lord's reputation is being dragged through the mud by these charlatans and we the faithful, are the one's who pay the price. People often don't believe me when I say I'm just there to pray for them and to speak to them about Christ. They are looking for how I'm making money off them. This is also part of the reason it is so difficult for us every time we renew our residence permits. The government is starting to recognize the problem and even those with honest motives are feeling the effects. This is especially true with our attempts to open playgroups/preschools which have been met with a lot of resistance. It is difficult for those in positions of authority to believe that our motives are pure and that we are not trying to take advantage of, or make money off the people because of the wrong actions of a few. Please pray for a renewal of the fear of the Lord, Holy respect, and a deep reverence for His Name throughout Africa.
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