God Almighty Continues To Reveal Himself As Healer

GOD ALMIGHTY CONTINUES TO REVEAL HIMSELF AS HEALER, DELIVERER AND RESTORER. He is who He says He is. He has what He says He has and He can do what He says He can do. This month in The Synagogue, Jesus Christ has demonstrated that He is able, more than able to do more than we could ever dream. A key event has been the unfolding story of Mr. Dickson, whose case has attracted both local and international attention. This month, during the live Sunday Services at The SCOAN, T.B. Joshua opened the eyes of many to the cause of their problems and to where their present suffering and difficulties stem from. Unknown to many, the struggles they are passing through now are as a result of false accusations they have made in the past. Few really know or recognize the full repercussions of careless words. Calling someone a witch or wizard or a similar name when they are not, is a sin against God, and as T.B. Joshua said, „calling the nature of God the nature of Satan‟. This is what is holding many in bondage until they confess their sin and receive deliverance in the power of the Holy Spirit. It started when Ngozi, a newcomer to the church confessed to have beaten her own mother and blinded her eyes, because she believed her mother was a witch who had caused her whole family‟s suffering. Ngozi confessed this publicly in The SCOAN, narrating that she now lived a life of suffering, torment and setback. The man of God, T.B. Joshua spoke forth the truth that her mother was not a witch as they had supposed, invited her to the church and ministered reconciliation to the broken family. Though many in the congregation were shocked hearing of how Ngozi had treated her own mother, when T.B. Joshua gave the invitation for those with similar cases to come forward, hundreds came, all with similar tales. Among those who came out to confess was Theresa Dickson, although her own story was different. Clearly troubled in spirit, she spoke of her ordeal and confessed Ngozi pleading for forgiveness regrets of past hastiness and quick temper. She narrated how her husband had accused her of being a witch, during a time of friction and suspicion in the marriage. Out of anger and frustration, Mrs. Dickson consulted a friend who took her to a witch doctor to obtain a charm to hurt her husband. The witch doctor gave her a charm and told her that whatever she spoke to the charm would come to pass. Upon returning home, she had another heated argument with her husband, Mr. Dickson a well-established marketing manager of a big construction company. The argument resulted in Mrs. Dickson uttering some words which she would later deeply regret; she spoke to the charm that her husband should go mental. Not long after this, her words started to take their toll, as Mr. Dickson, began losing concentration, control and interest in life. He was a brilliant and articulate man who had studied in Europe and returned to be a successful marketing manager in Strabag construction company,

overseeing many projects, with hundreds working under him. He had his own fleet of cars, houses of his own, both in Lagos and in his village. His children were going to one of the best schools and every day were driven there by a personal driver. As later recalled by one of his daughters, Mr. Dickson stopped going to work and would sit at home doing nothing, his moods unpredictable and words cutting. They took Mr. Dickson from one place to another in Lagos in frantic search of remedy. When all efforts proved abortive, they decided to take him to his family in the village in Edo state, in the mid-western part of Nigeria. In continuation of their search for solution, they took him to various places in the village, but all to no avail. His family became the subject of much mockery and discrimination as they watched their much-loved father and husband degrade himself to the level of a less-than-nobody in the society. He did not stay in one place and was often seen in the market place, holding a cutlass and wandering aimlessly without any real sense of direction. What a tragedy. He had become mental. This sickness was not an ordinary sickness. It was as a result of a curse placed on him by his wife. Mrs. Dickson, having lost all hope left her husband in that helpless state in the village. His family also, after exhaustively seeking an antidote, continued life as before and lost connection with and track of Mr. Dickson. Mr. Dickson entering the church in his tattered clothes Upon returning to Lagos, this was when their suffering truly began. Their comfortable lifestyle had come to a harsh end, with the departure of Mr. Dickson. With no income flow and no fixed residence, the children stopped going to school and were forced to move around, struggling to get money just to eat and clothe themselves. Mrs. Dickson tried to establish herself in business but always met with greater challenges than she could handle. Each new venture encountered setback and frustration. This turmoil lasted for 14 long years, from 1994 till 2008. Mr. Dickson‟s first two daughters had involved themselves in relationships and both had children while his two younger children, a girl and a boy forwent their education. They had no recollection of their father in his normal state. They grew up living with the stigma that their father was somewhere in the village, mental. The pressure and pain that was building in the life and heart of Mrs. Dickson had almost become too much for her, thinking, wondering, regretting in bitterness and shame. Little did she imagine that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that she was close to an encounter with Jesus Christ, the Restorer and Repairer. It was not an accident that she was in The SCOAN on that day that the call was given for all those who had made false accusations to come out. Upon hearing T.B. Joshua giving the call, in desperation, Theresa Dickson rushed forward and confessed publicly how it all happened, the details of which she had carefully concealed from anyone for the past 14 years. The cause of her husband‟s mental disorder had up till now

remained a mystery to all who knew him. Her shocking confession attracted much attention as all thoughts went to Mr. Dickson. Where was he? Was he still alive? Was he still mental?

Moved by the pitiable case and directed by the Spirit of God, T.B. Joshua proceeded to send Mrs. Dickson with evangelists from the Emmanuel TV Team to the village, to locate Mr. Dickson and by the grace of God, bring him back to Lagos. The man of God gave them specific instructions on what to do and say upon encountering Mr. Dickson, who had been mad for 14 years. When they reached the village, the villagers could not tell exactly where he was. Some said, Mr. Dickson's wife and children in anguish seeing the dishevelled state in the marketplace while others said the bush or of their husband and father and his belongings an uncompleted building; his own, which he had been unable to complete before the problem came. So, the team began a search assisted by a young boy who claimed to know Mr. Dickson‟s movements. They searched the whole day but were unable to locate him. The next morning, as they prepared to continue their search, it was discovered that that morning, he had been seen going into the bush, so they set out towards that direction continuing their search. As they were walking, in the distance, they spotted a man coming towards them carrying fire wood on his head. Closer inspection revealed him to be Mr. Dickson wielding a cutlass. Unshaven for years, with tattered clothes and a vacant expression, it was clear that Mr. Dickson had become a mere shadow of his original self. In anguish, his wife rushed towards him trying to grab him. He resisted and shouted out. But when one of the evangelists approached him in the name of Jesus Christ and prayed this prayer, “Lord, manifest Your strength in our weakness”. God demonstrated His mighty power, as Mr. Dickson silently handed over the cutlass and became calm and then proceeded to follow them. He gathered his torn and shredded belongings in a large plastic bag and entered the vehicle bound for Lagos, The SCOAN and the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua.

With tears and loud cries, Mr. Dickson‟s youngest children met their father for the first time in 14 years upon his arrival at The SCOAN. Their grief and anguish was clearly evident - someone who was supposed to be their support and advisor, dirty, tattered and in a totally unstable state of mind. Mr. Dickson, unmoved, was not even able to recognise his own children. Their tears however were marked with hope, as they knew that as he had come to the Synagogue, he had come to Jesus, and Jesus is the ultimate answer to every fundamental issue of life. Mr. Dickson testifies of his freedom after prayer from T.B. Joshua

Later T.B. Joshua went to see Mr. Dickson in his room and prayed for him. After the prayer, there was a change and the change was too obvious to ignore or to disregard. One of The SCOAN evangelists asked him questions, and he answered each one correctly, at the end, expressing his desire to bath and shave for the first time in many years – glaring evidence of his restored state of mind. The following Sunday, 17th August 2008, Mr. Dickson appeared before the congregation in The SCOAN and viewers worldwide, in his tattered and dirty clothes. The prophet explained that Mr. Dickson had been prayed for when he was brought and his sanity was restored, but still remained in this state so that all could see his condition when he came. After he had introduced himself and having expressed his desire to go and clean up, he was sent to go and bath and change. To the great delight of all those present and viewers, some time later, he emerged as a transformed man, on the outside as well as the inside. Clean-shaven and garbed in a beautiful white suit, he was ushered into the church. During the week that followed, T.B. Joshua held an interview with Mr. Dickson, where he explained to the letter his ordeals, that to him, then, he thought it was normal to wear tattered clothes, to eat from the dust bin and sleep in the market places, but now, watching the clips of how he came to The Synagogue, he could see how he had lived a life of insanity and he wished never to live such a life again. The following Sunday, 24th August, Mr. And Mrs. Dickson with their children in the same TB. Joshua congratulates a transformed Mr. Dickson attire, provided by them by the man of God came out to testify. Mrs. Dickson spoke out, retelling the story and pleaded with her husband for forgiveness. In deep reflection, Mr. Dickson responded, saying that he had forgiven her from the bottom of his heart. Hence God Almighty has used the man of God, to not only restore his sanity, but to bring peace and reconciliation to the home. Mr. Dickson gave his testimony of how his life had been transformed from insanity to sanity. While this was going on, some of the prayer warriors holding the phone lines, received calls from people who said they knew Mr. Dickson as a marketing manager of Strabag in the past. They explained that when he had got sick, stopped coming to work and never returned, it was a

great loss to the company. They were excited to see Mr. Dickson alive and well, as some had thought that he had died.

Members of the congregation embrace Mr. Dickson, celebrating his incredible deliverance

Mrs. Dickson and the children, full of emotion, rejoiced with Mr. Dickson and thanked God for His mercy and grace upon their lives. All in the church that day then joined Mr. Dickson and his family to dance and celebrate this incredible deliverance. Mr. Dickson reintroduced himself to the congregation and explained all he had suffered, that he was a marketing manager in Strabag construction company living comfortably before the problem started,

but thanked God for giving him a new life. T.B. Joshua instructed that for the time being, Mr. Dickson and family should remain on the church premises. As each day passed, he remembered more, as his health was being completely restored. A few weeks later while chatting with the people, he mentioned that as a marketing manager, he had several cars then and so he would like to drive around again. A professional driver was asked to sit beside him as he drove around. All those present watched with great joy as he entered the vehicle, started the engine and drove down the road – what he had not done for the past 14 years. The following Sunday, the man of God spoke of re-establishing Mr. Dickson and family. His family had gone from being one of the high and mighty in society to nobody with next-tonothing. T.B. Joshua knew this and his gift for re-establishment reflected it. He handed over a check of N500,000 and the keys of a brandnew Toyota car, as a gift. Mr. Dickson, brimming with joy, thanked God for delivering him, saving his life and for the kindness shown to him by T.B. Joshua and the Emmanuel TV Team, for giving him another opportunity to make a difference in his own world. He thanked God for his deliverance and Christians all over the world for their prayers and support. His story has truly been a testimony that will remain in the hearts of so many all over the world, a proof that Jesus Christ is alive and still works extraordinary miracles today.

The Dickson family resplendent in new attire

The family of Mr. Dickson who had not known that he had been taken to Lagos and still thought he was mental somewhere, if still alive, were shocked when they read the story of Mr. Dickson‟s

deliverance in The SCOAN in a local newspaper. In excitement, a large number of them rushed to The Synagogue to confirm the news. They were overjoyed to see their much loved relation now fully restored and in a sound state of mind. They narrated their own side of the story and all those present listened intrigued. Although the way has been long, full of stress, anxieties and troubles, God Almighty has indeed demonstrated that He can turn frustration to fulfilment and heartache to happiness. Mr. Dickson and his family will continue to walk in the light of their testimony for the rest of their lives, to the glory of God Almighty.

Seated together, the Dickson family are completely reconciled. Glory be to God!