Daniel Ekechukwu
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Raised from the Dead
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| Daniel, a pastor in Nigeria, died in a car accident and was taken to heaven and hell by two large angels. This testimony is important because it highlights the importance of forgiveness. Had God not given him mercy, Daniel would have had to stay in hell because he did not forgive his wife prior to death. | ||||||||||
by David Servant
Pastor Ekechukwu was from a city called
Onitsha (Nigeria), where he was the pastor of Power Chapel Evangelical
Church. 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 3:50 P.M. and 5:15 P.M. on
Sunday, December 2nd, 2001 in the basement of the Grace of God
Mission, located in Onitsha, Nigeria. Although some of what happened
to pastor Ekechukwu is certainly extra-biblical, none of it is
unbiblical. Indeed, neither the story of pastor Ekechukwu’s
resurrection nor the story of your salvation is found in the Bible,
making them both extra-biblical, but neither should be discounted on
that basis!
The Account On Thursday, December 29th, 2001, Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu and his wife, Nneka, had a misunderstanding that degenerated into an argument that resulted in her slapping him. He was greatly offended by this incident, to the point of not acknowledging her greeting the next morning, which was, according to what pastor Daniel said to me, an attempt on her part to begin to reconcile. Pastor Daniel admitted that throughout 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 do), 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 bystander 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 administering 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. Upon seeing Daniel in critical condition when she arrived at St. Charles Borromeo 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 at Owerri, where his family doctor practiced. The Umezuruike hospital was 80 km away. His wife arranged for the ambulance, and it was on the way to Umezuruike Hospital 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, and 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 son 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 Umezurike Hospital with Daniel’s body, it was now late at night (Friday, November 30th), and Daniel’s family 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. 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 Josse Annebunwa. There was no breathing, no heartbeat or pulse, and Daniel’s pupils were fixed. The doctor said that there was nothing he could do. A death certificate was issued at 11:30 P.M., November 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 A.M. on Saturday morning. The resident
mortician, Mr. Barlington Manu, received the corpse. The primitive
Nigerian mortuary where Daniel’s body was taken had no cold storage
facilities, and so the mortician injected embalming chemicals between
Daniel ’s fingers and into his feet. The full embalming would be
administered in the morning. With the help of a staff member he laid
Daniel’s body on a mortuary slab between two other corpses.
The next morning, when the mortician
attempted to cut Daniel’s inner thigh in order to insert a tube by which
he could inject more embalming fluid, he experienced a strange
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 most African pastors whom I know). After a
second attempt and a second shock, 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.) 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 next to the
mortuary, was disturbed by songs of worship coming from inside his
mortuary, which stopped as soon as approached the mortuary doorway.
Upon searching for the music’s source in his mortuary, he noticed light
emanating from the face of Daniel’s corpse. This completely unnerved
him. Later on Saturday, he again attempted to cut Daniel’s inner
thigh in order to insert an injection tube, and met with the same
resistance as before. That night the sounds of worship again emanated
from the mortuary.(Don’t assume that Daniel’s body would have been
buried the day after his death. Nigerians often bury their dead
weeks after death has taken place.) All of this so disturbed the
mortician that he located Daniel’s father to inform him of what had
been happening and to request that he remove Daniel’s corpse from
his mortuary. Just before the mortician’s arrival, 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. It was
now Saturday evening, and Daniel had been dead for 24 hours. The
family finally yielded, but purchased a casket and brought funeral
clothing for the mortician to dress Daniel. The mortician, however,
had to cut the clothing in order to clothe Daniel because his body
was as stiff as a board. 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 1½ hours
away, where evangelist Reinhard Bonnke was preaching at an afternoon
church dedication service. They arrived at the church around 1:00
P.M. The church grounds were being protected by swarms of federal
and state 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. 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 basement.
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 basement, 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 of 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
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? I would add to this defense
that if the incident was a hoax, I doubt that pastor Ekechukwa
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 pastor 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 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 immediately 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." These people were all
ageless and raceless. That is, 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, and all
worshipped in perfect unison. They would all lift their hands at
once and bow at once "as if a sort of electronic device was
activating them." (This same phenomena was described to my wife by
an elderly Haitian pastor who died for a short time, but was sent back
to earth to finish his work.) 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. 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. Wondering where the
music was coming from, the angel immediately pointed him to the many
flowers around the mansion. When Daniel looked at them more
closely, they were moving and swaying and singing praise to God! 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." (This is entirely scriptural; see 2 Peter 3:12.) 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 three specific groups that went
through endless cycles of torment, forever reaping in hell what they
had sown 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. Another
group, who had stolen land from others while on earth, endlessly dug
rock-hard ground with their bare hands. Another group, former
fornicators and adulterers, endlessly mutilated their sexual organs,
which after being destroyed, would be regenerated only to be
mutilated again. As I heard Daniel relate this scene, I couldn’t
help but thinking of how many times scr1pture 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. Pastor 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 immediately 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 (see Matt.
5:21-22). Pastor Daniel knew he was guilty for theangry words 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 (see 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 didn't 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 pastor 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 anyone 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 (see Matt.
7:11). 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 (see Matt. 24:1-3) of the possibility of their not
being ready when He returned and being cast into hell (see Matt.
24:42-25:46). Keep in mind that pastor Ekechukwu did not stand
condemned just because of his one sin of unforgiveness. There were
other sins he was confessing in the hospital as he was dying, but his
unforgiveness annulled his prayers in which he was asking for
forgiveness. If we expect God to forgive us, we must forgive others.
That is what Jesus said. Are you ready to stand before Jesus,
sincere and blameless?
See corroborating evidence here (follow up investigation):
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Raised from the Dead
by Daniel Ekechukwu | ||||||||||
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
testimony
http://www.freecdtracts.com/testimony/daniel_ekechukwu.htm
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