On the occasion of June 5, 2022, one year since our beloved mentor was called Home, it is a time to reflect on the memories of yesterday, the joys of today and the dreams of tomorrow.

 

In this perilous time, perhaps more than ever before, it is what the heart says that counts. Where does true strength come from to run the race till its end? From within. Prophet TB Joshua said we find faith deep within our spirit – faith to believe in God - to trust Him, to wait on Him, to walk towards His vision for our lives.

 

We strongly believe in destiny – God’s unseen Hand. For it was God who brought us to His prophet in the first place, it was God who took him when He did and God who allowed us to be where we are at this very moment. Who then is the principal character in this story? In this unimaginable journey, the principal character has to be God – if not, nothing will ever make sense.

 

Our beloved mentor, it is already June 5th, one year since you departed; this is a time to reflect on the memories of yesterday, the joys of today and the dreams of tomorrow. In Luke 20:38, when asked about the resurrection, Jesus never spoke about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the past tense but in the present tense as if they were still alive. Prophet TB Joshua is no longer in our midst today, but his works outlive him.

 

Therefore, there are no natural words that can express what you mean to us. Daddy, we thank you! We are ever ready to preach Christ’s Word and to continue the work of salvation by His grace. As a mentor, you have played your role in our lives by positioning us for God’s special attention and service. The treasures God has imparted to us through your mentorship and the constant life changing lessons we received from you have prepared us for Christ’s mission.  We shall meet you in Heaven when our earthly assignment has come to an end. The duty you have bestowed upon us to carry on Christ’s mission is now our focus.

 

As Jesus promised in Matthew 10:21,22, none of those who served Jesus Christ, in Spirit and truth, under the mentorship of Prophet TB Joshua will lose the reward of the prophet.

 

What can we say about our mentor, Prophet TB Joshua? Thousands of books cannot contain it. He was a man who taught us that it is possible to live by the Spirit. A man of faith, a visionary, a builder, a mentor and a great leader. He would have never allowed us to say this in his presence because of his humility. What a great loss to the troubled world that we live in. His principle has always been to do what is good to change the bad we see. He taught us that the best investment is to help, the best weapon forgiveness. His mission was to reach out to a troubled world and he never allowed his critics to break his focus on that mission. Persecuted, he loved! Rejected, he loved! Misunderstood, he loved! Hated, he loved most!

 

As Apostle Paul, Prophet TB Joshua has run the race well and kept the faith. He carried out Christ’s mission to the last breath. He loved to the last breath. He cared for others to the last breath. His lifestyle of trusting in God, his humility and self-surrender to God is a challenge to our unbelieving generation. A man who made the name of Jesus popular and caused us to love Jesus more than ever before, The SCOAN became a tourist centre in Lagos, Nigeria. We foreigners have seen the treasure in him that many who were his fellow citizens could not or refused to see. Many of us faced attempts to discourage us from leaving our countries and the warm arms of our family members to come to Nigeria but God gave us the strength and courage to defy all the odds to come and carry our cross under his mentorship. We witnessed the persecution he faced; he never answered his critics but kept them as records for generations yet unborn and surrendered himself to prayer. Time will tell! Heaven will tell. Time for everything.

 

What an amazing grace to have him as a precious father. Humility and wisdom were our daily food when we listened to his words. As disciples the first tool was a piece of paper (which we called disciple paper) and a pen ready to jot every word of wisdom, teaching and revelation that came from him. Every conversation was an opportunity to teach and correct. A wise and keen sense of judgment and a deep prophetic insight salted his words and every word carried weight.

 

We learned from him that character is more important than gifts or talents. He taught us the importance of the articles of the Christian faith: prayer, Bible reading, meditation in the Word of God, standing for what is right, and having an independent mind to stand for Jesus and above all to love our neighbours as ourselves. He warned against holding offense and constantly told us to take care of our heart as it is the communication point for the Holy Spirit. His last message to us was to watch and pray. Only Jesus can assess the depth of what we have received from decades of discipleship under such a man of God. Millions of people all over the world who followed his teaching know that the best way to honour such an exceptional prophet is to honour Jesus with our character by treasuring the Word of God.

 

Human beings often only discover the value of a treasure once they have lost it. When he said it was time to return home after service, he was saying to those who had ears to understand, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”, and he gave us a warning: Watch and pray! His words teach us to measure our lives in the light of eternity. He lived his life as if he needed God more than anyone else. His concern was for us to make Heaven.

 

He taught us that if we are to know a successful life, we must learn to plant our strength, our love, our kindness, our faithfulness, our honesty and our patience, and to see our trials as friends because they create the beauty in our journey to eternity - a journey of righteousness. From him we saw daily that building righteousness is step by step, thought by thought, decision by decision. No shortcut, plans, methods or machinery but simply the Saviour becoming more and we becoming less – a change not of the substance but of the quality of the soul. He showed us the way to the greatest achievement on earth – prayer.

 

Such a life of prayer costs. We saw and witnessed the hours, days and years he spent in the presence of God, getting his heart in tune for prayer - prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit. As he told us himself in a disciple meeting on 7 July 2017, “You are not great in the sight of God because you live in the bush and eat locusts and honey; you are great in the eyes of God because you have no heart for offence.” That is it – that is the secret – a free spirit. Only a free spirit attracts the attention of God. As simple as it may seem, it is a lifetime assignment.

 

As a Christian, our life is a race. How do you run the race? He said the secret is to stay true to Jesus to the very end.  You may be with God now but will you end with Him? As the Apostles of old, he has done the work of his day and generation.  So many times, in disciple meetings he said, “I want to reproduce.” He always told us this training would come to an end one day but we never imagined how that end would be.

 

As Joshua applied the lessons from Moses by his obedience to God, as Elisha walked in the footsteps of his master Elijah, every true disciple of Prophet TB Joshua should walk, with the grace of God, in his footsteps, putting Christ first in their mind and heart as he, Prophet TB Joshua did throughout his lifetime on earth in humility and fear of the Lord.

 

Prophet TB Joshua imparted a seed in all of us, a seed that is capable of reproducing and bearing an incredible harvest. The question we need to ask ourselves is: what soil is that seed planted in?  What is the state of our heart today?

 

We can never forget his words to us: Your future is not on the outside; your future is on the inside. Your vision is not on the outside; your vision is on the inside.

 

Daddy Prophet TB Joshua, thank you for showing us the way to the Kingdom of God within us! We are ever grateful to God for the training received under you. We have learned from you the true meaning of humility, integrity, faith. We have no doubt about the fulfilment of God’s calling in our lives through you.

Your commitment to Christ and the ministry the Lord has bestowed on you have blessed millions of believers and viewers all around the world.

 

You made a difference in your teaching!

You made a difference in the way you handled persecution!

You made a difference in the way you cared for the needy!

 

The little children of a remote community in Ecuador whose school you rebuilt after it was damaged in the earthquake can never ever forget you!

Stranded deportees came in their thousands to their homeland Nigeria and you welcomed them, you fed them and you blessed them. You encouraged them to believe in the future of their country. How can they ever forget you? How can the millions all around the world whose lives have been changed through you ever forget you?  Daddy, you are the one who brought us to the feet of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit – we can never forget you.

 

We salute in you: The mentor, The prophet, The man of God, The father, The philanthropist, The visionary, The determined, The man after God’s own heart.

 

To Mummy Evelyn Joshua, Ruth and I want to thank you for your love and support. It has been a long journey. All those years ago, your home became our home.
 

You opened your home for us - you became a mother of nations. For your strength, grace and dignity - we always have and always will appreciate you.

To Serah, Promise and Heart, thank you for sharing your dad with us.

 

God is sovereign, and no one can question His ways for His ways are not ours as He says in Isaiah 55:9. We should be thankful to God for the life He has given us and treat Him with reverence because only God can determine the beginning and the end of life.

 

Our lives are in God’s hands and He gives to every human being the grace of time and space to live in as allotted by His Providence.

 

Today as we continue to walk towards the direction of God’s calling for our lives, not a day goes by that we don’t commend you to the Word of His grace and pray for you all that out of His glorious riches, God may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, in Jesus Christ’s name (Ephesians 3:16-19).