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Daniel Ekechukwu Resurrection Hoax
Daniel Ekuchukwu allegedly documented as having been
dead for 42 hours and then revived miraculously. Account of his visit to
hell designed to instill fear and control.
Daniel Ekushukwu
Lynn,
This is an interesting account, but I don't believe it for one reason, and that
is not because I don't believe in miracles, for I am inclined to believe that
anything is possible, including a person coming back from the dead after as long
a period as is described for this person.
The reason I don't buy the story is because his account of hell v. heaven. I do
not believe the standard concept of hell as taught in the Christian world which
includes the following two premises:
1) We only have one lifetime to live, and
2) The choices we make now will be stuck with us for ever and ever and ever and
ever, with no end and no remedy hereafter.
That is not an enlightened doctrine at all.
Yes, I do believe we will suffer for mistakes we make, but not endlessly as
portrayed in Christian dogma.
That would be like a child hitting their sibling and being sent to "time
out" for the rest of their life; and yet that analogy doesn't even last as
long as forever.
In that analogy, who is the worst sinner? The child, or the unforgiving parent
that does not give the child another chance but instead bestows a punishment an
infinite many times more severe than the original offense. And the analogy is
not even as severe as the retribution portrayed by the Christian dogma.
No, I do not buy that kind of God. Not at all.
Hence, for that reason, I am inclined to believe that the "back from the
dead" story is a hoax, drummed up by some control freak ministers in the
scam capital of the world -- Nigeria. If bet they are not hurting for donations;
and ironically, the magnitude of such a scam is a far greater sin than most of
the sins named in the Bible, because it messes with people's minds and
spirituality, robbing them of a fullness of joy because they are so full of
fear.
I heartily agree with the "message" of this man's return, namely that
we need to forgive one another. Paradoxically, the hell they describe is
the very quintessential antithesis of forgiveness.
While I would love to believe that a miracle such as this
42-hours-dead-then-revived has occurred in our day, I would expect that such a
fantastic miracle would likewise be accompanied with fantastic revelation.
Instead, the revelation is good on surface but rotten underneath. Thus, I
must assume the account is a hoax.
Sterling D. Allan
May 21, 2005
p.s. My birthday, Nov. 30, is the same day of the year as this man's alleged
death day. My wedding anniversary is tomorrow.
----- Original Message -----
From: "ridenhourlynn"
To: <davids_outcasts@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 2:34 PM
Subject: [888] Man dead and embalmed, comes back to life
Below is a detailed account of a Nigerian pastor who died in a car crash, was
embalmed by the mortician, was clinically dead for 42 hours, and came back to
life. I had heard of the account, but did not know the exact details.
Lynn
"The RESURRECTION of DANIEL EKECHUKWU"
-by David [Servant].
Soon after it occurred in December of 2001, I heard the report of
Nigerian pastor Daniel Ekechukwu's resurrection. Reinhard Bonnke had
been preaching at the church where Ekechukwu was resurrected a short
time before it occurred. I also watched the video documentary of
that miracle. I wanted to learn more. Since I was scheduled to spend
the first two weeks of September, 2002 in Nigeria, I told [my
friend] David Aboderin that if it would be possible, I would like to
meet pastor Ekechukwu, and I prayed that the Lord would make it
possible.
We eventually learned that pastor Ekechukwu was temporarily staying
at a hotel just five minutes from where I would be lodging during my
final three days in Nigeria. So in a country of 130 million people,
and in a city of 12 million, the man I wanted to meet was lodging
just five minutes away from me! I was given the favor of personally
meeting with Daniel Ekechukwu twice during those three days and also
talking with several people on his ministry staff who were very
familiar with his story.
The following report has been compiled from several sources: (1)
from pastor Daniel Ekechukwu himself by means of personal
discussions I had with him from September 12-14, 2002, (2) from his
personal written testimony contained in his own self-published
booklet which he gave me, titled Miracle of the 21st Century, (3)
from listening to his public testimony on September 13th at The
Chapel of Glory, Lagos, Nigeria, (4) from the documentary video
produced and sold by the ministry of Christ for all Nations, which
includes the testi- monies of pastor Daniel, the doctor who
pronounced him dead, Daniel's wife, Daniel's father, the mortician
who embalmed Daniel, and several pastors who were present at his
resurrection, and (5) from a personal discussion with Ede Samuel, a
long-time friend and personal assistant to Daniel, who also was an
eye-witness of many of the events surrounding Daniel's death and
resurrection. The events described in the following report are
factual to the best of my knowledge and memory.
I am persuaded that due to complications from an automobile
accident, Nigerian pastor Daniel Ekechukwu physically died in the
late evening of Friday, November 30th, 2001, was dead for at least
42 hours, visited heaven and hell during the time of his physical
death, and was raised from the dead between 3:50pm and 5:15pm on
Sunday, Dec 2, 2001 in the basement of the Grace of God Mission,
located in Onitsha, Nigeria. Pastor Ekechukwu's resur- rection is
the greatest modern miracle of which I've heard.
The Account:
On Thursday, November 29th, 2001, pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his
wife, Nneka, had a misunderstanding that degenerated into an
argument that ended in her slapping him. He was very offended by
this incident, to the point of not even acknowledging her attempt to
reconcile the next morning. Pastor Daniel admitted that through- out
the day of November 30th, he angrily thought about how he would put
his wife in her place when he returned home. He would not, however,
make it home that Friday.
As he was driving home that evening, the brakes on his 20-year old
Mercedes 230E failed as he was heading down a steep hill, and his
car crashed into a concrete pillar that was built to prevent cars
from going over a steep embankment. He was not wearing a seat belt
(few Nigerians did in 2001, but that changed in 2003, when wearing a
seat-belt become a national law), and his chest hit very forcibly
against the steering wheel and its knob, apparently doing damage to
his internal organs, as he was soon vomiting up blood and having
difficulty breathing (not to mention that he soon lost all signs of
life). Daniel was not able to remove himself from his car, but
frantic on- lookers pulled him out. One bystander volunteered her
car while another offered to drive him to St. Charles Borromeo
Hospital, not far away on the outskirts of Onitsha.
Within minutes of their arrival at the hospital, a doctor began
admin- istering emergency treatment, but Daniel knew his body was
not responding to it. He began praying the prayer of a man who knows
he is going to die, asking God to forgive him of all his sins so
that he would be ready to stand before the Lord. He also sent for
his wife, Nneka, with whom he had refused to speak when he left his
home earlier that day. She fainted upon hearing the news of her
husband's accident and condition, but when revived was taken by a
Christian neighbor to the hospital. Daniel's friend, Ede Samuel
(whom I interviewed at length) was with her and essentially
witnessed everything that transpired over the next three days.
When she arrived at St. Charles hospital, Daniel's wife burst into
tears, begging her husband not to die and leave her. The doctor
admitted that there was nothing he could do to save Daniel's life
(keep in mind this was a Third World hospital), and so Daniel
requested that he be transferred by ambulance to Umezuruike
Hospital, 80 km away. It was on the way to Umezuruike that Daniel
died.
Daniel was lying in the back of the ambulance while his wife was in
the front passenger seat. He began to feel that he was not going to
survive, so he called for his wife to come to him. He began to say
goodbye, give her instructions about certain church and personal
documents, and admonished her to take care of their sons and his
church. She began sobbing greatly and amidst her tears strongly
rebuked him for such negative statements. He was a man of God and
should have faith, and not be speaking of dying!
As she was speaking, Daniel saw two large angels (they were so large
that he later wondered how they fit inside the ambulance - one was
as big as the ambulance) who were completely white (even the pupils
of their eyes). Daniel tried to speak to the angels, but one held
his finger to his lips, motioning for his silence. The angels lifted
him on either side, and Daniel realized that there were now two of
himself. The angels were holding him under each arm of his spirit
man (which was perfectly whole), while his broken body was lying
below. Once they left the ambulance, Daniel became oblivious to the
natural world.
When the ambulance arrived at Umezuruike Hospital with Daniel's
body, it was now late at night (Friday, November 30th), and Daniel's
doctor was not there. A member of the medical staff, however,
examined his body and sadly told Nneka that her husband was dead and
there was nothing that could be done. Nneka refused to believe the
bad report.
So they drove to the Federal Medical Center in Owerri, but found no
doctor there either. Finally they drove to the Eunice Clinic, and
there Daniel was confirmed to be dead by Doctor Jossy Anuebunwa.
There was no breathing, no heartbeat or pulse, and Daniel's pupils
were dilated and fixed. The doctor said that there was nothing he
could do. A death certificate was issued at 11:30 P.M., Nov 30,
2001.
They then drove Daniel's corpse to his father's house in a nearby
village, and naturally Daniel's father and other family members were
heartbroken at the sight of Daniel's dead body, weeping profusely.
Daniel's father instructed them to take his body to Ikeduru General
Hospital Mortuary not far away. They arrived there around 1:00 am on
Saturday morning. The resident mortician, Mr. Darlington Manu,
received the corpse and the family members departed.
The primitive Nigerian mortuary where Daniel's body was taken had no
cold storage facilities, and so the mortician injected embalming
chemicals into Daniel's fingers and into his feet. He then prepared
to fully embalm Daniel's body by cutting Daniel's inner thigh in
order to insert a tube by which he could inject more embalming
fluid. As he did this, he experienced a shock that pushed him away
from the corpse. This did not surprise him, as he had experienced
similar forces before and attributed them to occult powers. (Such
things are widely practiced in Africa and highly respected by all
African pastors whom I know. Africans never understand the
skepticism of Americans regarding the reality of occult power.)
After a second attempt and a second shock that somewhat paralyzed
his right arm, he concluded that Daniel must have been a member of a
powerful secret society. He assumed, however, that after some occult
sacrifices and incantations the powers in the corpse would subside,
and he could then complete his work. (This mortician, of course, was
not a Christian, but converted after Daniel's resurrection.)
So he instructed an assistant to lay Daniel's body in the rear of
the mortuary where many other corpses were already laid.
(Incidentally, Daniel said that people could smell the embalming
chemicals coming out of his body for two weeks after his
resurrection. They would hug him and hold their noses.)
Around 2:00 A.M. Saturday morning, the mortician, who lived very
close to the mortuary, was disturbed by songs of worship coming from
inside his mortuary, which stopped as soon as approached the
mortuary doorway. This occurred twice. Upon searching for the
music's source, he noticed some kind of light emanating from the
face of Daniel's corpse. This completely unnerved him.
The mortician was so disturbed over what was happing that he located
Daniel's father on Saturday morning to inform him of what had been
happening and to request that he remove Daniel's corpse from his
mortuary. Then, on Saturday night, while she was sleeping, Daniel's
wife experienced a dream in which she saw the face of her husband,
and he was asking her why they had left him in the mortuary. He
stated that he was not dead and that she should take him to Onitsha
where German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke was preaching. She
determined to do so, even though her family thought she was out of
her mind. Daniel had been dead for more than 28 hours. The family
finally yielded, but purchased a casket and brought funeral clothing
for the mortician to dress Daniel. Rigor mortis had fully set in by
this time. An ambulance was hired on Sunday morning, December 2nd,
and the casket that contained Daniel's body was taken to Grace of
God Mission (a large church) in Onitsha, about one and half hours
away, where evangelist Reinhard Bonnke was preach- ing at an
afternoon service. They arrived at the church around 1:00pm.
The church grounds were being protected by swarms of federal, state
and local security guards for the sake of Reinhard Bonnke, who has
received many death threats, and who is hated by Muslims all over
Africa. (Not to mention the fact that the World Trade Center had
been destroyed by Muslim hijackers just weeks before.) For this
reason, the security guards would not allow the casket to be brought
onto church grounds, thinking it might actually contain explosives.
Daniel's wife loudly pleaded with them, and opened the casket to
show them her dead husband, which resulted in their mocking and even
flogging her because of her persistence to gain entrance. She caused
such a disturbance that the senior pastor was notified, and his son
instructed that Daniel's wife be permitted to bring his body to the
church without the casket, and that it be placed in the base- ment.
Daniel's body was laid there on two tables pushed together in a
Sunday School room.
Some believers gathered around Daniel's body and prayed while
Reinhard Bonnke, who knew nothing of the dead body in the base- ment,
preached and prayed. Eventually, it was noticed that Daniel's corpse
twitched, and then irregular breathing started. (By this time,
Reinhard Bonnke had left the premises entirely.) The attendant
believers began praying fervently, and because his body was stiff
and cold, they began massaging his neck, arms and legs. When those
in the sanctuary got word that a dead man below was coming back to
life, the basement room was soon jammed with people. Suddenly Daniel
sneezed and arose with a jump. It was somewhere between 3:50 and
5:15 PM on Sunday afternoon. Daniel had died Friday night around
10:00 PM. He slowly became fully coherent over the next few hours.
Do you doubt this account? A report on the web site of Christ for
all Nations declares: Here are some hard facts that won't go away.
For two days Daniel did not breathe, his heart had stopped beating.
It was in a hot climate, not suspended animation in an ice chamber.
He had been injected with a harsh chemical to keep back mortifi-
cation. As a corpse he was carted around for hours, pulled about,
and lay in an airless narrow coffin for hours. He should have had
severe brain damage, but he is alive now without any ill effects.
This is no unsupported claim of bringing someone to life privately,
as in a house. Here was a public event, an open demonstration of
revival from death. If anyone has to be named, it is Nneka. Her
incurable faith alone prevented Daniel's burial simply to bring him
where she was convinced God could bring him back to life. She
regarded Reinhard Bonnke as a man of God and that in the atmo-
sphere of faith where he ministered this miracle was possible. The
faith of Nneka dictated the whole event and her faith was honored.
By whom? Who honored her faith? If not God, who else?
I would add to this defense that if the incident was a hoax, I doubt
that pastor Ekechukwu would have invented the story of what happened
to him when he was escorted to hell, which I will relate next.
Pastor Daniel's message is now one of repentance to the church, to
prepare the church to stand before Jesus, and many have indeed
repented after hearing his testimony. If his story is all a hoax,
the result of this hoax is real holiness. Finally, the ministry of
Reinhard Bonnke certainly needs no promotional hoax, as his Nigerian
crusades are already attended by millions. He in fact states that he
had nothing to do with the miracle, and wasn't aware of the dead
body in the basement of the church where he was preaching.
As amazing as the story of his death and resurrection is, what
Daniel experienced after his death is even more amazing. To him,
what he experienced between his death and resurrection could have
taken only fifteen minutes, even though he was physically dead for
almost two days. After he was lifted from his body by the two angels
in the ambulance, he soon found himself momentarily alone, but was
soon joined by a different angel. Daniel stated that if he was
confused about something that he saw or experienced, or if he had a
question in his mind, this angel immediately gave him the answer.
This angel first told him that they were going to Paradise. There
was no time expended in getting anywhere the angel took him. As soon
as the angel said they were going to Paradise, they were there.
Daniel stood with the angel and watched a multitude of worshipping
people who were dressed in sparkling white garments. He immed-
iately thought they were angels, but the escorting angel told him
that they were human beings who, "while they lived on earth,
served God and had their faith focused on Christ Jesus and lived
righteously."
None appeared to be young or middle-aged or elderly, and none had
any racial distinctives in their appearance. All were focused on a
very bright light above them, and all worshipped in perfect unison.
They would all lift their hands at once and bow at once.
Daniel did notice one man who looked elderly among the multitude,
and the thought occurred to him that perhaps that man was God, but
the escorting angel immediately corrected him. The man was father
Abraham. (Read Luke 16:19-31 for a story Jesus told that speaks of
Abraham in the afterlife.) Daniel longed to join the worshippers,
but the angel told him that there were other things Daniel needed to
see. He told Daniel they would next go to see Jesus' promise to His
followers, the mansion He had prepared for those whom "He would
find righteous on the last day." Immediately they were there.
Daniel said there is no earthly way to describe what he saw. The
mansion had no apparent end to its height or width. It continually
moved, and each room also revolved in some manner. It was made of
something that was transparent like glass, and the floors appear to
be made of light. Daniel didn't see anybody in the great mansion,
but heard beautiful singing. The angel told Daniel, "The
mansion is ready but the saints of God are not. Jesus is being
delayed because Christians in the church are not ready yet."
Next, the angel took Daniel to hell, and they stood at the gate.
When the angel lifted his hand and let it fall again, the gate
opened, and Daniel could immediately hear the awful sounds of people
screaming and weeping, but everything in hell was in total
blackness. Then a bright light shone from the angel, and Daniel
could see many groups of people in anguish. He told me of several
specific groups that went through endless cycles of torment, held
captive to the same sins they practiced on earth. One group
consisted of people who would eat their own flesh and then vomit it
out onto the ground, at which time the vomit would fly back onto
their bodies and turn back into flesh that they would eat again. The
angel told Daniel these people were those who had eaten human flesh
as an occult practice. (Such things occur in Africa all the time.)
Another group, who had stolen land from others while on earth,
endlessly dug rock-hard ground with their bare hands.
As I heard Daniel relate this scene, I couldn't help but thinking of
how many times Scripture declares that God will repay every person
according to his or her deeds, and also promises that everyone will
reap precisely what they have sown. I remembered the story Jesus
told of Lazarus and the rich man. In the afterlife, their roles were
exactly reversed. The rich man longed for a drip of water from
Lazarus just as Lazarus had previously longed for a crumb from the
rich man's table.
Pastor Daniel also saw the former military dictator of Nigeria. He
saw a Christian who had dabbled in occult practices and fallen away
from the Lord, and a pastor who had embezzled money from his own
church and also lied about it. The former pastor pleaded that he
would return the money if Daniel could help him escape hell.
Although there were different kinds of tortures, all of the people
in hell writhed in agony under an unseen force that would wrench
them repeatedly. All of them were shouting, wailing and gnashing
their teeth. Daniel told me that if every Christian could see what
he saw, there would be no need to preach the gospel, as every
Christian would become the gospel.
The most surprising thing is what happened next. The escorting angel
told pastor Daniel, "If your record is to be called here, you
will in no doubt be thrown into hell." Pastor Daniel
immediately defended himself saying, "I am a man of God! I
serve Him with all my heart!" But a Bible appeared in the
angel's hand, and it was opened to Matthew 5 where Jesus warned that
if one calls his brother a fool he is guilty enough to go into the
hell of fire.
Daniel knew he was guilty for the angry words he had spoken to his
wife. The angel also reminded him that Jesus promised that God will
not forgive our sins if we do not forgive others (Matt. 6:14-15),
because we will reap what we have sown. Only those who are merciful
will obtain mercy (Matt 5:7). The angel told Daniel that the prayers
he prayed as he was dying in the hospital were of no effect, because
he refused to forgive his wife even when she attempted to reconcile
on the morning of his fatal accident.
Pastor Daniel wept at this revelation, but the angel told him not to
cry, because God was going to send him back to the earth to grant
the rich man's request (see Luke 16:27-30). A man would come back
from the dead and warn people of hell. The angel said that Daniel's
resurrection would serve as a sign and be the last warning for this
generation.
Finally, pastor Daniel was led to the top of a mountain, at which
there was a large hole full of darkness. There the escorting angel
handed Daniel to a man standing there whom he did not recognize at
first, but soon realized it was German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.
The angel told Daniel that man would help him spread the gospel of
salvation.
Both Daniel and Rev. Bonnke fell into the hole, and that is when
Daniel jumped up from the table where he lay at the Grace of God
mission. He was back in his body after having been dead for at least
42 hours, almost two full days.
As you may imagine, pastor Daniel greatly emphasizes in his
preaching the need to forgive those who have wronged us, lest any-
one suffer the fate he almost suffered. How important it is that we
obey Jesus' commandments regarding forgiveness and walking in love
toward each other, as well as all the rest of His commandments. It
is indeed time for the church to repent and "pursue peace with
all men, and the holiness without which no one will see the
Lord" (Heb 12:14). Do not listen to false teachers who say that
holiness is not essential to ultimately gain eternal life. Jesus
warned that only those who do the will of His Father will enter the
kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21). Do not listen to teachers who say
that if you are once saved you are guaranteed that you will always
be saved. Jesus warned His closest disciples of the possibility of
their not being ready when He returned and being cast into hell
(Matt 24-25).
If we expect God to forgive us, we must forgive others. That is what
Jesus solemnly promised. Are you ready to stand before Jesus,
sincere and blameless?
----------------------------------------------
-By David [Servant].
[For more on this incident, see http://www.shepherdserve.org/special_reports/daniel2.htm] |
|
Related Sites
See also
 | Nigerian 419 Scam
- Promise of millions of dollars, when intent is to rob. (I get probably ten
of these solicitations a day by email.) |
| Romancing
the Stone Scam - Fraud entails a brief courtship via Internet
through a dating service, with prospects of of marriage, a request for a
"small loan," then gone. Also based out of Nigeria. |
Page posted by Sterling D.
Allan May 21, 2005
Last updated June 20, 2007
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