Congregants fall sick after eating grass

SEVERAL online publications on Friday reported that most members of South Africa's Rabboni Church who last week ate grass following orders from their pastor Daniel Lesego fell sick soon after the incident.

Reporters' TV posted pictures showing church members vomiting in buckets and toilet sinks.

"New images show the aftermath of the grass-eating session as ordered by South African pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre ministries who told them that in order to be closer to God they needed to eat grass to also show that humans can survive on anything," said Reporters' TV.

"After the grass-eating, he then stepped on them with his full weight and big shoe, however, many of them fell seriously ill, clutching their stomachs and throwing up," the media house said.

Daniel is said to have screamed sleep at the grass eaters resulting in some of them falling asleep.

"He ordered other congregants to slap and trample on them, but the sleepers did not wake up until he ordered them to wake up, saying the congregants can leave them to sleep for six months or even make police officers sleep whenever they wanted to arrest them," the online report said.

News about pastors claiming to do strange things is now awash throughout the media and in Zimbabwe there are reports that United Families International Church founder Emmanuel Makandiwa was claiming to possess power to resurrect dead people.