He easily passes as one of the most influential young people of 2012 and has built himself a huge empire that is growing to be one of the biggest Christian movements in Zimbabwe. But few anticipated his latest stroke – performing miracles that saw cash being multiplied instantly.
Uebert Angel, a 34-year-old savvy young preacher affectionately known as ‘prophet or papa’ by his followers, has ended the year on virtually everybody’s lips after his Botswana adventures where he astonished many by multiplying money in people’s pockets and bank accounts through what he termed MIRACLE MONEY.
Foe and ally alike agree that such miracles are hard to come by, as the feat courts controversy from both Christians and non-Christians alike. Some religious ministers who spoke to Daily News on Sunday were sceptical about the source of the power though they conceded that ‘God of the Bible’ does perform miracles. Prophet Angel’s supporters say the miracles are a testimony of God’s work.
Bishop of Life and Liberty Churches International, Noah Pashapa said there was need for people to descern and test miracle acts thoroughly as did Jesus when he healed the 10 lepers whom he directed to the priests to check whether they had been healed.
Bishop Pashapa said miracles come in various forms which could be MAGICAL, SATANIC, cultic or shamanic as in the case of Pharoah’s magicians who matches Moses’ miracles almost pound for pound.
“Some miracles are a hoax meant to hoodwink the gullible into believing that it is the God of the Bible at work when they are shamanic powers. Some Preachers go to West Africa to buy magical powers.God’s miracles are not meant to show off one’s spiritual prowess and if God of the Bible is going to perform a miracle that vindicates that one is indeed His messenger, those miracles are performed where there is need,” said Bishop Pashapa, adding that the context in which Angel performed his was different.
“Miracles are not the objective, they are not an end in themselves, they are pointers to the objective (ie) the Lord Jesus Christ. The bread and fish that Angel referred to was meant to address a situation of need. The miracle was not the objective but the need for food and now, here is a gathering of over 60,000 people and one gives money to, say 20 people, was there need?” queried Bishop Pashapa.
While acknowledging the gift of prophecy and the prophetic ministry, Pastor Lindani Dube, a reverend at the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, noted that Jesus and the apostles cautioned the church against FALS PROPHETS and that the Bible exhorts people not to believe every spirit.
Pastor Godwin Chitsinde of the Spoken Word Ministries was more scathing in his assessment of Prophet Angel’s miracle money crusade.
“There is no God who operates like that because these are old Nigerian tactics to rob people of their cash. That was a stage-managed act just like TB Joshua’s. The only difference is that TB Joshua is more sophisticated and smarter,” charged Pastor Chitsinde.
Prophet Angel last month left parishioners dumbfounded when he raised more than 2.4 MILLION Botswana Pula during a miracle money crusade at Gaborone Stadium in Botswana.