As the world grapples to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus, Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua has declared that showers of rain would fall to ‘wipe away’ the deadly virus.
On Saturday 29th February 2020, Joshua declared that “showers of rain that will wipe away the fear of the unknown” would fall as a sign the days of the disease were numbered.
In the days that followed, rain surprisingly fell in cities around the world, including in Wuhan, China – the epicentre of the disease and location of most of its fatalities.
For many communities in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, the rain that fell was the first of 2020, prompting celebration and relief from residents.
Some of Joshua’s followers on social media even testified that they received ‘healing’ after entering the showers of rain.
“Immediately, my menstruation that had stopped for seven months started to flow – it’s a miracle,” wrote Mary Morris from Bayelsa State, Nigeria on Facebook.
“I had a terrible flu,” wrote Janet Machiya from Zambia. “As it started showering around midnight, I woke up with my children and we went outside to have a touch from the rain and boom – I was healed instantly!”
In France, rain fell throughout the nation – a rare occurrence in March. Additionally, there were reports of rainfall in Italy, South Korea and Japan – three of the countries most affected by the outbreak.
In recent days, the number of reported cases of coronavirus has significantly dropped in China, with residents once in ‘lockdown’ starting to return to their normal lives.
The outbreak of the disease commonly known as coronavirus or COVID-19 – which started in Wuhan, China but has since spread to 82 nations – sparked worldwide panic and resulted in severe economic decline.
After the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed in Nigeria last week, fear was rife that Sub-Saharan Africa would struggle to cope if the disease were to spread.
However, Joshua called for calm and ‘prophetically declared’ that the end of the disease was in sight.
“By the end of this month – whether we like it or not – it will go the way it came,” Joshua declared on Sunday 1st March 2020 during his sermon aired live on Emmanuel TV.
This corroborated his message on January 4th 2020 – before the virus came to public attention – when the cleric declared that the fearful events of 2019 would end in March 2020 according to “God’s timetable”.
“The reason why I am here today is to clear the air, to let you know calmness has returned. So, there is no cause of alarm,” he counselled congregants in only his second public appearance during a Sunday service in 2020.
Within his much-publicised ‘prophecy for the year’, Joshua had termed 2020 a “year of humility”, adding that there would be a worldwide “economic backlash” – a declaration that has already been proven accurate in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak.