Faith healer draws bumper crowds

A controversial pastor is attracting thousands of followers in Harare's working class suburb Glen View every week, with his critics accusing him of building a cult.

Self declared "Prophet T. Freddy", though, disputes claims by his critics saying God is at work.

His miracle services are drawing unprecedented crowds.

Every Wednesday between 5 and 8:30 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm, thousands of local and foreign pilgrims are packed into a huge marquee opposite Glen View Clinic.

Many visit him seeking to solve riddles in their lives, seeking prayer for guidance, marriage counselling, financial blessing or pregnancy.

His critics, including prominent local pastors, won't deny that he heals people.

But they say he draws his power from indigenous African occultism -- not from the Holy Spirit.

"We run a prophetic ministry," he told the Daily News in an exclusive interview this week.

"God is working. We normally use spiritual spectacles."

The increasingly popular preacher, who has claimed to perform miracles, including recovering stolen goods and exposing cheating husbands, has anchored his ministry on so-called "spiritual spectacles."

Born to a poor family in 1983, he was schooled in Glen View, is wealthy, influential and highly revered for the office he holds and also a gospel musician. People come from around the country to his Goodness and Mercy Ministries in Glen View to seek healing and to witness prophecies.

The testimonies include stories about financial prosperity, inexplicable recoveries from illness and even a woman who recovered 12 stolen cattle.

"We pray for someone so that that person begins to see the spiritual realm, to see the past, the present and the future in the same manner that Prophet Elisha did in 2nd Kings Chapter 6 verse 17," he said.

Due to reports of miraculous signs and wonders that occur every week, thousands are patronising the church, saying they are coming to see a "message from God".

He has stirred controversy by his ability to expose cheating husbands, but denies he is a home wrecker.

"I am not a marriage wrecker but I build marriages, for the Bible says God hates divorce, but the truth can set you free," he told the Daily News.

Formed in 2005, his church is making waves only now, harvesting many charismatic Christians, who are now firm believers of Prophet T. Freddy. He denies his church was in hibernation over the past decade.

"It is God time. The time is now," he said. "People are being delivered from evil spirits, marine spirits."

Asked who his spiritual father is, he retorted curtly: "I don't have a spiritual father because God has not instructed me to have one."

Nicknamed 'Spiritual Spectacles Special' because of his "prophetic gift" and ability to pray for the sick, he runs the humanitarian arm of Goodness and Mercy Ministries, with projects catering to the needs of widows, the elderly, physically challenged, orphans and the destitute.