Practices and Narratives of Breakthrough: Pentecostal Representations, the Quest for Success, and Liberation from Bondage

Abstract

Instant healing, performance of miracles, public exorcism, supply of blessed objects for protection, and prophetic abilities are major religious practices that account for the popularity of certain Pentecostal leaders in contemporary Africa. Prophet T.B. Joshua, a renowned Nigerian televangelist, is one of them. Through his Emmanuel tv channel, he informs ‘viewers all over the world’ that invisible but influential evil forces are responsible for their daily challenges and that people can enjoy prosperity when they are purged of malevolent spirits. This article describes the practices and narratives of liberation from unknown bondage by Cameroonians who draw inspiration from T.B. Joshua’s prophetic messages and displays. The aspects covered include the desire to embark on a pilgrimage to T.B. Joshua’s church in Nigeria and actors’ use of his blessed religious objects to neutralise, destroy, or fight off invisible evil forces suspected of halting their socioeconomic progress.

Of Polluted Spirits and Compromised Identity: Pentecostal Depictions of Causality and the Repositioning of Human Agency in Cameroon

“…In fact, in May 2012 he was banned from entering Cameroon. He was described by Cameroon’s minister of foreign affairs as the ‘son of the devil’ who presents himself as ‘a man of God’ (Tazanu, 2016: 66). The minister advised Cameroonians not to visit the Synagogue.…”

“…During my fieldwork, it was common to find followers of TBJ who said they only watched Emmanuel TV. There were participants who purportedly turned the channel on all night to protect themselves and their property from malevolent forces (Tazanu, 2016: 56-58). The channel is accessible both as a satellite TV channel, and through livestreaming on the Internet.…”

“…This coordinated effort by the church establishment to convey the right sensory effects to the audience also involves the Synagogue workers tucking microphones as close as possible to the mouth of the demon-possessed to amplify noises on the loudspeakers. There are also the muscle wo/men who minimize the impact of collapsing individuals by catching and placing them gently on the floor (see also Tazanu, 2016:33).…”

“…Once acquired, the wicked spirit directs the victim’s agency in ways that they may not even be aware of. It was partly for this reason that participants believed it would be relieving if an evil force was detected in them within the space of the Synagogue, a space some of TBJ’s followers described as the ‘source’ (Tazanu, 2016: 41-46). Just as in the context of Ghana where Asamoah-Gyadu (2007b: 456) observes that people visiting prophets strongly believe their destinies are alterable, the participants in Cameroon, including a 23-year-old Mirabel, a university student in Buea, were convinced TBJ could change their futures by purging them of destructive spirits:“[I] would be very happy [if an evil spirit is detected in me].…”

“…It is hard to ‘see’ when someone repents, as it is a purely individual decision, unlike the instantly-mediated deliverances that are visible in public form. This means that anyone, irrespective of whether they are Pentecostal or not, can potentially participate in the TV deliverances when the Holy Spirit is invoked to act now (Meyer et al, 2014: 107; see also Asamoah-Gyadu, 2007b: 457; Newell, 2007: 485; Tazanu, 2016). As such, polluted human spirits and the inability of the body to act ‘correctly’ are mediatized phenomena that might acquire their meaning and interpretative power through being made public on television.…”