Synagogue Victims: TB Joshua Sponsors 42 Family Members To Nigeria For Christmas

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.