'A voice told me to raise the dead woman!'

AS it is written in the book of John Jesus told doubters that he would awake Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was dead for four days.

Jesus said: "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"

. . . John 11 verses 40-44: So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

Basing on a series of similar events, a new self-proclaimed prophet from Bulawayo has claimed to have raised a woman from the dead. Emmanuel Kaitano (34) who is the founder of Covenant Revival International Ministries, which operates in Kumalo suburb, claims to have performed a miracle, where he raised a woman who had been dead for at least a day.

His claim, a subject that has been a matter of debate even before this, dating back centuries has befuddled the world, from the time of Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days.

Not so recently, in rural Ntabazinduna area, a villager's death and apparent resurrection from the dead by a self-proclaimed prophet has fuelled a rumour of a man of God sent to heal the world of ailment.

Kaitano, speaking to Sunday Life said he heard a voice tell him to resurrect a woman, who had fallen into the devil's clutches.

"When I got to the funeral, I was shown where her body lay. I asked those that had gathered to join me in prayer to resurrect her but there where doubters. That didn't dampen my faith, as I lay my hand on her stomach and began praying. I prayed for about 30 minutes and her life was restored.

She took deep breaths as she awoke like she was in a breathless dimension. She was confused and struggling, as if she was under attack," said Kaitano.

He added that he had to pray for her to regain her conscious as she seemed lost.

"It's all about faith and believing that God works wonders," he said.

He challenged those that didn't believe to attend his first all-night prayer to be held at his headquarters in Kumalo.

"For those suffering from cancer, needing spiritual guidance and deliverance, diabetes and all sorts of ailments, I urge you to come and witness the power of the Lord our God."

The resurrected woman, one Memory Moyo, who claims to have succumbed to a spiritual ailment, said her life was saved by this miraculous man of God.

"When I awoke I didn't know what was going on, I was shocked to see people had gathered to pay their last respects to me . . . I was suffering from a spiritually induced ailment. I was constantly vomiting, and would feel sharp stabbing pains in my stomach. I often felt like there was something moving around in my stomach. Doctors failed to find anything; it was then that my family decided to seek the aid of a man of God. My mother was told of a prophet in Cementside, who came and prayed for me. After my first encounter with him, I began to feel better. It was after a while that I got serious and well, died," she said.

Moyo said she remembered seeing herself crossing through a different realm and seeing strange people, some who even attacked her.

"The other side is quite scary but I don't really remember much about it," she said.