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Claim: In a bid to bear a child, the pastor made a heterosexual couple have sexual intercourse in front of the congregation.
Verdict: The claim is misleading. The individuals involved were both females and were only sleeping on each other. The act is a form of healing common at the Alianç Restaurada, a church based in Brazil.
Full Text
An image of a couple allegedly having sex on a church altar during a service has made the rounds on social media. The picture shows two people lying on each other, covered with red clothes, while the congregation stretches their hands in prayer.
As posted on a Facebook group, the claimant, Future Ezekiel, said that the pastor ordered the couple to do so to make them conceive.
The caption attached to the claim reads,
“Pastor Ask Childless Couples To Have Sex, in front Of Church Members. This life self.”
The post has led to an outrage on Facebook, with some calling for an immediate arrest of the said pastor.
“Those people are native doctors in suits. Agent of the devil,” a commentator, John Ide, said.
“If this is true, then something is highly wrong with the person who ordered them to perform such stupidity. That is not what the word of God says. The absence of God’s spirit makes some preachers act so foolish,” Raymond Bokizibe said.
Contrary to popular opinion, Tonbra Honest thought the picture had been doctored.
“Pure edition. This is edited, but I know most of you won’t see that aspect of it,” he wrote.
DUBAWA decided to conduct this fact-check to ascertain the truth of the incident.
Verification
We conducted a reverse image search on the picture, which shows that the image has been on the internet since 2022. We also found a report by “KanyiDaily” where the church Alianç Restaurada dismissed the circulating claim.
The Brazil-based church stated that the individuals lying on the altar were female.
They added that a woman had arrived at the church feeling unwell and had unexpectedly fainted during the proceedings. In response, their pastor had asked a female minister to lay on top of the woman as a part of a prophetic healing ritual.
The church backed their action by referencing a biblical event in 2 Kings Chapter 4, verse 31, where Elijah laid on a deceased boy, who was miraculously revived.
Additionally, DUBAWA examined the church’s Facebook page and discovered that its ministers engage in “prophetic” healing and deliverance using various methods. Furthermore, we identified similar images to the one circulating, implying that this is a regular practice among such believers.
Conclusion
The caption attached to this viral picture is misleading. Sleeping on top of one another as a form of “prophetic healing” is a common practice within Alianç Restaurada, a church based in Brazil.
