Critics have dragged a clergyman who is selling a small bottle of oil and a piece of red yarm as ‘protection kits against coronavirus,’ with many accusing him of exploitation of followers of the church.
The faith healer identified as Bishop Climate Wiseman, head of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, South London, is selling the items as a “plague protection kit” for £91.
In a blog post, Bishop Wiseman claimed his concoction of cedarwood, hyssop and scarlet yarn acts as “an invisible barrier to the powers of darkness”. He wrote:
“It is by faith that you can be saved from the coronavirus pandemic by covering yourself with the divine plague protection oil and wearing the scarlet yarn on your body. That is why I want to encourage you, if you haven’t done so already, to get your divine plague protection kit today!
According to the Word of God, I am healed. And I consider not my own body. I consider not symptoms in my own body, but only that which God has promised. Only that what the Word has said. And by His stripes, I was healed. And by His stripes, I am healed now. I am not the sick trying to get healed. I am the healed, and the Devil is trying to give me the flu!… Or whatever else kind of thing he’s trying,” he declared.
He said that the remedy was based on a passage from chapter 14 of the Old Testament Book of Leviticus.
“This is based on the Bible – I’m a Christian and there is a way that the Bible says to protect us from plagues.”
Bishop Wiseman told the PA news agency the church had sold more than 1,000 of the kits, although he insists that the church is not selling the kits and that the price tag was just to cover the cost of the ingredients, yarn and postage and packaging.
Elsewhere, on March 11, televangelist Kenneth Copeland cured coronavirus during a live stream. He held out his hand, asked viewers to touch their screens to meet it, and said that the coronavirus was no longer a thing. It’s gone now, you’re healed, he said. Just like that.
In another bizarre case, a New Zealand cleric and Destiny Church Pastor Brian Tamaki offered an explanation of the coronaviruses that had not been heard before. He delivered a sermon on Sunday, March 1 in which he blamed the virus on “airborne demons” before claiming that accepting Jesus was the best way to inoculate us against it.
Interpreting Ephesians 2:2, which refers to “the prince of the power of the air,” Tamaki said some evil spirits invaded human bodies.
“Satanic spirits control invisibility on a certain level where they can energise.”
He suggested some born-again Christians could have special protection from the deadly disease.
“Satan has control of atmospheres unless you’re a born-again, Jesus-loving, bible-believing, Holy Ghost-filled, tithe-paying believer,” Bishop Tamaki said on Sunday morning.
Apostle Guillermo Maldonado of King Jesus International Ministry in South Florida, the United States, in yet another occurrence, warned his parishioners on Sunday, March 15 that fears of exposure to COVID-19 were a “demonic spirit,” and he encouraged his parishioners to show up to worship and not heed warnings from officials to socially distance.
“Do you believe God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus? Of course not. This service is usually packed. So now they’re home in a cave afraid of the virus, that you want to transmit the virus. If we die, we die for Christ. If we live, we live for Christ, so what do you lose? Fear is a demonic spirit. That’s what the bible says,” said Maldonado to a venue that appeared half empty, as some churchgoers left seats between them.
The pastor’s comments on Sunday followed statements in a now-deleted Facebook video that was broadcast to millions of Maldonado’s followers, downplaying fears of exposure and advising parishioners who were thinking of skipping the Sunday service who might feel sick.
“You have two choices. Come in and receive your healing, or stay home and miss out,” he warned in the video.
In a final word to his congregation during the two-and-a-half-hour service, Maldonado said regular influenza had a higher rate of infection than that of the coronavirus, even if experts have pointed out the comparisons are not legitimate.
“Do you mean you call me irresponsible for bringing the people of God to the House of God where the power and the presence of God is? Coronavirus, 5,984 people infected in the world and there’s 2 percent death. See what fear makes you see?” Maldonado said.
How it turns out, the demonisation of the coronavirus knows no continental boundaries. South African clergy with an unprintable name (which we will print anyway), Pastor Paseka “Mb*ro” Motsoeneng offered to go to hell and fight the demon responsible for the pandemic.
Motsoeneng, who is quite notorious for uttering outlandish comments, reportedly said he needed the sum of $100,000 to cover his transport logistics to embark on the dangerous journey and save mankind
“I am ready to save mankind. I have seen a vision of how the Coronavirus demon looks like and I will defeat it,” he said.
The pastor also stated that there was no need to waste money on research as the real cause of the disease is a demon in hell which he has volunteered to kill.
“There is no need for worry and expensive research; the real problem is the demon causing this disease and I am ready to kill it once and for all,” Pastor Motsoeneng said.
The pastor gave an ultimatum saying the money should come no later than the second week in April.
In like manner, there has also surfaced video clips online in which Enlightened Christian Gathering church leader Shepherd Bushiri says the coronavirus was a “demonic” virus targeting only certain people and will disappear once it has done its job.
“You see, this thing, the coronavirus, there are people who it is targeting. You must know it’s a very demonic thing. When those people who are being targeted are over, it will disappear,” the Malawian-born cleric said.
In another clip, Bushiri said God had instructed him to rebuke the “demon” that could only disappear if the church prayed. He further told his followers they were protected from the virus.
He said:
“Before we begin to pray, the Holy Spirit has led me to rebuke a certain demon. I want you to know you and your families, Africa, the whole world, God said I should rebuke the demon of coronavirus. You spirit, wherever this demon is, it can only stop if the church, servants of God, can stand up and pray and coronavirus will disappear. I stand up and command this demon to come out! You will disappear in the name of Jesus…I protect you from this virus.”
In another clip, Bushiri said the virus was a sign of the end of times and that it would never end. According to him, it would only change from one tragedy to another.
“You see, this sickness, people are always asking when will it end. The answer is simple, this is a sign of end times. It will never end, it can only change from one name to another. The moment you say it must end you mean the signs of the end of times to end. They will never end, it will just change from one tragedy to another,”
he said.
Watch the video:
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