'Yes We Eat Grass and We're Proud of It,' Say Congregants Who Were Convinced by 'Miracle' Working Preacher
Despite growing outrage over a popular "miracle" working South African pastor who convinced members of his church to eat grass, members who have followed his command say the grass has given them strength and healing.
"Yes, we eat grass and we're proud of it because it demonstrates that, with God's power, we can do anything," said 21-year-old law student Rosemary Phetha and member of Pastor Lesego Daniel's Rabboni Centre Ministries in South Africa in a Times Live report.
Phetha said for more than a year she struggled with a sore throat that only healed after Daniel "turned me into a sheep and instructed me to eat grass."
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Another member, 27-year-old Doreen Kgatle, who suffered a stroke two years ago that left her unable to walk said the grass made her walk again.
"I could not walk but soon after eating the grass, as the pastor had ordered, I started gaining strength and an hour later I could walk again," said Kgatle.
Pastor Daniel, dubbed the "miracle man," has been attracting people from all over South Africa to his 1,000-member church by unleashing spellbind acts like commanding people to sleep and awake at will.
"Sleep," he reportedly screamed at six people in his church who quickly fell asleep. He then told other congregants to slap and trample the bodies of the sleeping members to prove the depth of their slumber.
He then simply told them "wake up" and their eyes opened again.
"You can leave them like this for six months. I love this, I don't want to be bored," he boasted. "You can even make police go to sleep when they come to arrest you," he added.
While Daniel has been attracting new fans to his Facebook page, many others have also been criticizing his ministry there, saying it is making a mockery of God.
"The world must really be coming 2 an end, when churches like these mislead ppl into eating grass in the name of Jesus! How dumb can ppl really be?? Or maybe it's all a fulfillment to the prophecy about misleading prophecies and preachers who will mislead ppl and make them delusional! Human beings eating grass is such a stupid belief!!" wrote Tholumusa Madela.
"Seriously? This is crazy... came in the Belgian news today ...Wow you guys are mad? How can you step on people and let them eat grass? "asked Ani Ta.
Others, however, were a bit measured with their questions.
"You cannot fight a man you don't know what God told, but please explain the eating of the grass, I'm not criticizing the man of God, but I just wanted to find out what prompted the move of grass eating?? Let's not criticize let's first understand the motive," wrote Mandla Champ Lepitla.
