Earlier this year, a South African-based preacher and founder of Alleluia Ministries International Pastor Alph Lukau made headlines after a video clip of a ‘dead’ man brought ‘back to life’ from inside a coffin during a church service torched the virality button on social media.
Unforeseen by the involved parties, the seemingly life-saving wonder would turn into an embarrassing and brand-tarnishing stride for the church and its leader as people across the world took turns to mock the bizarre and “rather poorly choreographed stunt”, which many believe was a mere attention-seeking act.
There were calls for the church to be closed.
Caught up in the hot waters and finding it unbearably hard to swim as funeral parlours that “were apparently duped into taking part in the miracle stunt” took a legal course, the church soon backtracked from its “resurrection miracle”.
They said the “dead man” – Thabiso Proud Mlanje but initially identified as Elliot Moyo – was actually “already alive” when his “body” got to the church premises, adding that Pastor Lukau only “completed a miracle that God had already started”.
A story of the year indeed, it is not astounding to note that the resurrection miracle had far-reaching consequences, not only to the church and its leader but also to his immediate family.
Breaking her silence for the first time since the incident, Celeste Lukau‚ wife to pastor Lukau‚ opened up how their five children were made to pay for the “sins of their father” at school. She said they had been mocked and traumatised at school since the embarrassing fake-resurrection scandal.
Celeste‚ who runs the administration of the church from its Sandton headquarters‚ likened her husband to Jesus‚ saying he has been crucified for helping to heal others and said the “hatred and judgment” from the people had been “very painful” for the family.
“It’s been a hard time for the family and the kids at school as they were mocked by others. They would come home crying and ask us what was happening. Their father had to sit them down one by one and explain. Jesus was crucified for doing the best things; we are suffering the same,” she told DispatchLIVE.
She would not give the ages of her children.
Celeste said that while attacks on social media had left the family emotional‚ the support they had received from their million congregations around the world had strengthened them.
“We are where we are today because of the support we got from all the people in the country and abroad,” she said.
She said it was hard to explain the truth about the “resurrection” but insisted her husband was not a scammer.
“He’s not a fake prophet‚ not at all. There are between 17‚000 to 20‚000 people who come to our church every Sunday to worship. Many people have testified about my husband’s prophecies and healing gift.
Yes‚ the resurrection happened and people have spoken out about this‚ calling us unpleasant names. But my husband is not shaken. He’s been praying hard‚ he’s a person who always looks at the positive side of things.”
According to her, the family is in talks with lawyers to see if they could take action against those who had spread rumours that her husband was a false prophet because this “nearly damaged his reputation”.
“Regarding the resurrection incident‚ we are in talks with our lawyers. It was reported negatively by people who never understood what was happening. I can’t talk about that now,” she said.
Apart from the resurrection miracle, Pastor Lukau is no stranger to controversy as has also been accused of being a womaniser before among other things.
Celeste, however, said she stood by her husband despite allegations that he was a womaniser who slept with young congregants of their church.
“I really sleep [well] at night. I am not worried about anything my husband is accused of doing. I trust my husband. He’s the best person and a good father to the children and the family. When these things happen‚ I believe him when he says they are not true.”
Celeste Lukau was born in Namibia and came to SA at a young age. She met the cleric at one of the church home cells in nineteen years ago and they married in 2002.
Lukau has declined interviews with any media outlet. Undeterred by his consistency attempts to clear his name of the resurrection miracle scandal, a South Africa based investigative journalist Mxolisi Ncube revealed last month that “Elliot” was paid R50,000 by Pastor Alph Lukau’s church Alleluia Ministries International.
Writing on his blog African Voice Global, Ncube said,
“He (Elliot) was promised R150,000 for his role in the act, but only got R50,000, which he shared with his sister-in-law at a ratio he did not disclose.”
Ncube who claims that he interviewed Elliot in Johannesburg before he died says Elliot confessed to having been part of a broader plan which is being orchestrated by Lukau to deceive Christians.
B-Metro reported that Elliot Moyo allegedly died on April 3 in Zimbabwe from suspect food poisoning and was buried in Dandanda village.
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