"Resurrection Challenge”: South Africans take to twitter to mock pastor for ‘raising man from the dead’

All across South Africa, people have been talking about a video posted online that allegedly shows celebrity Pastor Alph Lukau resurrecting a dead man in front of thousands of his congregants. The video, filmed during a service on February 24, shows the evangelical pastor chanting and waving his arms over a man lying in a coffin  – who suddenly sits up and looks around, dazed. The scene is so ludicrous that many people have taken to social media to mock the video. Some have even launched a challenge calling for photos and videos imitating the comically dazed man supposedly brought back to life.

Alph Lukau has made plenty of claims about his ability to perform miracles, ranging from helping people in wheelchairs to walk again to curing people with AIDS. But he went to a whole new level last Sunday when he tried to make people believe that he had the power to bring a dead man back to life during a service in his church in Johannesburg.

After a two-hour ceremony, Lukau peered at the man lying inside the coffin, who had his mouth hanging open (and seemed to be breathing).

Lukau tells his congregants that the man has been dead since Friday. He beckons the 'dead' man's widow to join him by the coffin, and calls on Jesus, telling his followers to raise their hands for the Lord. He then commands the man in the coffin to rise up.

The allegedly dead man suddenly sits up, looking dazed, with his mouth hanging open. He was then lifted out of the coffin and wandered around with a dazed expression as the pastor and his associates cheered.

The scene is so hard to believe that, in the days following the release of the video, many people have taken to social media media to post spoof photos under the hashtag #ResurrectionChallenge.

Some people posted videos:

Other people posted photos:

Photo published on Twitter.

Photo published on Twitter.

Photo published on Instagram.

Some people took the incident more seriously and took to social media to demand that Lukau provide proof that the man had indeed died.

Lukau is the founder of Alleluia Ministries International Church, which has spread across several different countries. Close to 900,000 people follow its Facebook page. South African media outlets claim that Lukau is the richest pastor in the world and his luxurious lifestyle often stirs up controversy.

According to the BBC, three different funeral homes have filed complaints against the pastor, saying that they were misled or manipulated into participation in this ruse.