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“Why should any of you consider it incredible
that God raises the dead?”
Acts 26:8
From
Rigor Mortis Corpse to Resurrection Man
The
Story of Daniel Ekechukwu
Reported
by field correspondents Robert Murphree and George Canty
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Daniel
Edechukwu
“Within
minutes of being lifted into the ambulance Daniel
felt himself dying."
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The
following banner headline appeared in the Nigerian
newspaper,
The Post Express.
“BONNKE RAISES
MAN FROM DEATH IN ONITSHA”.
Was it true,
a divine miracle, or sensationalist press exaggeration?
Jesus did say, “Though one rose from the dead
they would not believe.” Judge for yourself.
The evidence and facts are here without embroidery
but on the very spot they stunned critical journalists
and left them speechless.
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Crossing
Death's Path
In the morning of November 30th 2001, Daniel Ekechukwu,
the pastor of the Power Chapel Evangelical Church
in Onitsha, with his friend Kingsley Iruka took a
Christmas present of a goat to his father in a village
near the town of Owerri. Daniel drove his 20-year-old
Mercedes 230. On the way back home, traveling down
a steep road, the Mercedes brakes failed. Daniel could
do nothing. Gathering speed the vehicle hurtled downhill
unstoppable. Its career, and Daniel’s, ended as it
smashed into a stone pillar.
Without a seat belt Daniel was catapulted violently
forward. His head hit the windscreen and the steering
wheel and knob punched into his body. Daniel’s friend
Kingsley Iruka, shocked though not badly hurt, turned
to Daniel, hoping all was well. But the sight appalled
him. Blood was pouring from Daniel’s nose from a head
injury, and then he began vomiting blood from heavy
internal hemorrhage.
Rescue presently came. Marvelously Daniel held up
until he was placed in the local hospital’s intensive
care, or the Nigerian best equivalent of it. His wife,
Nneka was sent for. She found Daniel still alive but
only just. He hung on to life to ask her to have him
taken to his family doctor’s hospital in Owerri –
a very serious mistake. It meant anything but a smooth
ride of one and a half hours.
Within minutes of being lifted into the ambulance
Daniel felt himself dying. He tried to whisper his
last words and instructions to Nneka. Especially he
begged her to see the work of their church continued.
He also tried to inform her about one or two church
situations she ought to be aware of, but his speech
slurred, became incoherent and stopped as he drifted
into unconsciousness.
The ambulance driver pushed on however, at full speed,
warning sirens blaring. Reaching the Owerri Regional
Hospital they ran in shouting “Emergency! Emergency.”
Daniel’s doctor, however, was not on duty. Instead
a member of the medical staff took charge and checked
Daniel’s now limp form. He turned to them with a sad
face. He could only certify that Daniel was already
dead.
His wife Nneka naturally was shocked. But a Bible
verse had been ringing in her mind from Hebrews 11
“Women received their dead raised to life again.”
An irrational conviction seized her. This meant her.
She would see Daniel alive and well again. In what
follows Nneka was the key figure.
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Daniel
Edechukwu's
death certificate
“He
could only confirm death had taken place."
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Evidence
of things Hoped For
The
text in Nneka’s head made it impossible for her to
accept the plain evidence that Daniel had gone or
allow him to be buried. Her agitation dictated that
something must be done. They hurried to see Daniel’s
uncle, Okoronkwo Emmanuel living near the hospital
and asked if he knew where their own family doctor
was. He did not know, but led them to see his own
doctor, Dr. Jossy Anuebunisa at the St. Eunice Clinic.
Daniel was taken there and seeing Nneka’s determination
again the doctor checked. He could only confirm death
had taken place. The time registered was 11.30 p.m.
of the day of the car accident.
The doctor then wrote out his report on the decease
of his patient and asked if they wished to have Daniel
laid in the clinic’s mortuary. They declined. Instead
they again moved the body to Daniel’s father in the
village near Owerri and from there to the Ikeduru
General Hospital Mortuary, not far away. The resident
mortician, Mr. Barlington R. Manu, also carried out
the normal checks and by then it was after midnight,
one o’clock Saturday morning.
The mortuary having no cold storage facilities, the
mortician administered the usual chemical injection
and prepared the body for embalming on the following
morning. With a staff member he laid the body out
on a mortuary slab between two other dead people.
Everyone then retired for the night.
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Daniel
& Nneka Edechukwu
“Daniel’s
wife convinced her husband would live again,..."
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Faith: The Turning Point
Meanwhile Daniel’s wife convinced her husband would
live again, wanted his body taken to the church in Onitsha
where Reinhard Bonnke was to speak at a dedication ceremony
of the Grace of God Ministries. Daniel’s father, however,
was a Mormon and declared he would decide. He said he
would go and “hit him with the Bible seven times”, and
if Daniel did not rise, then Nneka must accept the fact
that he was not going to rise from the dead, and that
must close the matter. He did go and struck the corpse
as he said seven times, with no result whatever.
Nneka, being a Christian, considered a Mormon would
not understand. His performance meant nothing except
to put her off. She would not give up. She pestered
her father-in-law. Daniel must be taken to the Bonnke
meeting. Realizing that if he refused this favor, she
would remember all her life he had denied her request
on behalf of her husband. Eventually he relented.
On the next day, Sunday, December 2, they went to take
the body from the mortuary. But the mortician was worried
about their intentions. To hide the fact that a body
was being taken away as it was, with a one and half
hours drive to Onitsha, as a pretext he dressed the
body as for the funeral, placed it in a coffin and shut
the lid. They took Daniel in his coffin and set off.
Arriving at the Onitsha church compound, the State security
officer and the ushers saw them entering with a coffin
and ordered them to turn round and leave immediately.
Nneka however was determined. She pleaded and persisted
not only for the coffin to be allowed in the church
compound but brought into the church itself. Seeing
her agitation, the State security office checked that
the coffin did contain a body and was not a terrorist
trick to plant a bomb. Finding only a pallid corpse
he allowed them to proceed. However the idea of bringing
a coffin or a dead body into a crowded church brought
consternation and upheaval. Finally the Head Bishop’s
son Pastor Paul Jr. sought his father’s permission to
get the body into the building, but it would have to
be only into the children’s department. The children
were ushered into the lower hall, and the corpse brought
in the upper room and laid out on a table. The Bishop’s
son, Paul, and another pastor on the church staff, Bathcomery
Nkwando, attended to this and found rigor mortis had
stiffened the limbs. |
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The
empty coffin!
“Daniel opened his eyes, sat up and leaned on Pastor
Lawrence."
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Life
Returns!
Two other staff pastors, Lawrence Onyeka and Luke Ibekwe
joined them to guard the body. Meanwhile Reinhard Bonnke
knew nothing of this and was preaching and praying upstairs
in the main auditorium. After a while the pastors noticed
a slight twitching of the stomach of the corpse.
Then the corpse drew a breath, and presently irregular
breathing took place in “short bursts” as they reported.
Encouraged, the pastors threw themselves into powerful
petitionary prayer, stripped the body of the mortuary
gloves, socks and shirt and began massage from head
to foot, Daniel being as said “as stiff as an iron rod”.
They asked for fans to be brought in to give Daniel
more air to breathe. As this news broke out in the sanctuary
above it created hysterical pandemonium. Then, said
Pastor Lawrence, at 5:15 on the Sunday afternoon, nearly
two days after death had taken place, Daniel opened
his eyes, sat up and leaned on Pastor Lawrence.
People began crowding into the hall to see this resurrection
man. Pastor Lawrence was worried Daniel would not have
enough oxygen, so he lifted and carried him into the
church sanctuary. Daniel spoke for the first time “Water.
Water.” They gave him sips and then warm tea. To give
him a clear space they seated him on a chair on the
platform, where hundreds of people saw him slowly recovering.
He had not yet collected his thoughts and for a while
could not recognize anyone, not even his own son who
came up to see his dad. However, he progressed, and
within only hours, during the evening, he had full consciousness
and coherence.
He became a wonder, and crowds besieged his home, so
he was taken away to a secret location for two days
of physical re-strengthening. The once-dead man not
only rose from his coffin but the serious injuries,
which had brought about his death, were also healed
without the slightest trace.
Reinhard Bonnke meanwhile had left the immediate scene
to board a planned plane flight. Any doubts? 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 mortification. 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 atmosphere 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?
Report by Robert Murphree and George Canty |
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His
resurrection was recorded on camera while actually happening and
the video
can be ordered online (directly from Reinhard Bonnke's ministry).
On this video Pastor Daniel shares his awesome experiences of
the indescribable glories of heaven and of an angel who escorted
him to the gates of hell. One of many details he heard from hell
that deeply shocked him, were the screams of torment from a man
as burning, "I am a Pastor, I stole money from the church,
I want to give it back, help me to give it back!" he shouted
to Pastor Daniel. The angel told Pastor Daniel that he is the
answer to the 'rich mans cry' (see Luke 16:27-30 below) to give
this FINAL WARNING to the HEEDLESS of this LAST GENERATION before
the imminent second coming of Jesus and eternal judgement of God.
Read
more of Daniel Ekechukwu's "experiences
in the hereafter". This is an amazing documented article
about the heaven, hell and paradise.
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