AMI Claims Innocence
AMI has maintained that it was not dishonest in the matter of the supposed resurrection and that it does not orchestrate fake miracles. Busi Gaca, a spokesperson for AMI, told SABC1, “So anybody to then allege that the miracles we see, whether it’s in the church or on the street, are either staged or people are paid for, I think that’s ridiculous.” If they were staged, she says, then people would be praying to a powerless God.
AMI has posted images on its Facebook page of documents from its attorneys stating that SABC1 did not give the church a fair opportunity to appear on the report or to defend itself. The church apparently urged the news channel to pull the program. In the comments on the post, many criticized Lukau, but many also defended him. One woman wrote, “If people believe that My Father Alph Lukau bought some people to fake miracles, then they should also believe that some people can be bought to lie about Pastor Alpha. Plz leave Pastor Alph alone, we didn’t force people to became member of AMI or follow Pastor Alph. WE LOVE U PAPA.”
In the report, one church member says he is so convinced that the miracle occurred he would stake his life on it: “If that wasn’t real, I am not real.”
‘Competition of Gimmicks’
Bishop Malusi Mpumiwana, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, says that fraudulent miracles are happening more and more often in the country and that it’s almost like there is a “competition of gimmicks” going on.
Bishop Musa Sono of Grace Bible Church says that while resurrection is possible, churches like AMI are taking advantage of people: “It affects people’s beliefs in what is authentically God’s word, and people end up not being sure, even when they see authentic things.”
