5 Things You Must Do to Successfully Launch a Business

The effort required to launch a new venture can
seem daunting. Of course, specifics vary based
on the type of business you're establishing;
manufacturers face unique challenges, as do
retailers and consulting firms. But once you have
your concept and your finances in line, there are
some basics that are universal.
We talked with business owners, consultants and
professors to boil down the bare necessities of
getting a startup off the ground into a handful of
manageable steps. Apply these fundamentals to
your own industry, and you'll be ready to tackle
the specifics of creating your successful
business.
1. Validate your idea.
Einas Ibrahim, founder of Talem Advisory, a New
York City startup consultancy, says the biggest
mistake she sees new entrepreneurs make is
starting to work on a business idea before
confirming that there is market demand. If your
startup aims to sell a widget the world has never
seen, make sure the world, in fact, needs your
widget. Perhaps it doesn't exist yet because no
one needs it. If it is needed, then make sure the
world is willing to pay for it.
"Don't work on the business until you've validated
the idea," Ibrahim says. "Make sure there's a
market. Make sure it's what the customer wants.
Sometimes the entrepreneur's vision doesn't
align properly with what customers want."
Market research proves especially critical for
startups with big dreams. If you're aiming to
become a billion-dollar business, take steps to
ensure that the market can satisfy your
aspirations.
"Entrepreneurs find this out after they start
talking to investors," Ibrahim says. "The idea
might be sound, but it might be too small to
become fundable by a professional investor, or by
angels or venture capitalists. If the whole market
is less than $500 million, it's not going to be
worthwhile for a venture capitalist to fund you."
2. Shore up your plan and budget.
Even the best business plans go awry.
Successful startups will expect the unexpected--
and have an answer ready for it.
"Have a plan for how the business will be run,"
says Leonard Green, founder and chairman of The
Green Group, a New Jersey-based accounting,
consulting and tax firm, and entrepreneurship
professor at Babson College. "It's a form of
making decisions before you have to make
decisions."
Those decisions should range from your startup's
mission to its business structure (LLC, sole
proprietorship, S Corporation) and compensation
policy.
When budgeting startup cash needs, assume your
business will generate zero revenue for the first
year, Green says. "Many times when you have
sales, you don't have collections for a few
months," he adds. "You still have to cover rent,
utilities, inventory, salaries and promotion."
Image credit: Jesse Dittmar
3. Build the right team.
Perhaps the most critical step in the evolution of
your startup is assembling a team that works well
together and can deliver the goods. "Many good
entrepreneurs are by nature connectors of
people, so they have strong networks, which puts
them at an immediate advantage," notes Mark
Coopersmith, a longtime tech entrepreneur and
senior fellow at the University of California,
Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Your teammates need to share your ideas about
how the business should be run. "The crucial
element here is that entrepreneurship is a team
sport," Cooper-smith says. "Build the team early,
and build it around shared values. Because if you
bring on employees and partners and you agree
upon common values, you can use those values
to come to decisions."
Coopersmith invokes the late Peter Drucker, the
management guru who 60 years ago wrote that
corporations have only two core functions:
marketing and innovation. In other words,
businesses exist to build and sell product. "I
would ensure my team comprises those two skill
sets," he says.
Additionally, you need a team that's pragmatic
and able to work together when times get tough.
Sit down with critical team members and plan for
all contingencies. "What happens if your partner
becomes disabled? Sick? Divorced?" Green asks.
"Or suddenly the business does poorly, and now
we have to go to a bank? You've got to decide
those things beforehand, so that it's not you or
me, but it's us."
4. Establish a support system.
The entrepreneur's journey can seem like a
solitary quest. But before you embark on such a
voyage, you need to make sure your loved ones
have your back. In fact, it's essential to your
emotional health--and to the health of your
company.
"I always say it takes a village to raise a startup,"
says Margaux Guerard, co-founder and CMO of
Memi, a firm touting wearable technology
designed for women. "As an entrepreneur, you
just can't do this alone. You need the mental and
emotional support of your friends and family to
help you weather the storm."
Guerard left her job as director of marketing at
Diane von Furstenberg to start Memi with her
business partner, Leslie Pierson, in 2012. Her first
entrepreneurial venture has been an around-the-
clock whirlwind--exciting, frustrating, rewarding
and upsetting, sometimes all in the same day.
She relies on her loved ones to help keep her on
track.
"I see myself as being the cheerleader for the
company," Guerard says. "When everyone is
saying 'no,' I'm putting my pompoms on and
saying 'yes, yes, yes' at the top of my lungs.
When I'm feeling frustrated and sad and beat up,
some days I need help doing that. Who do I count
on? My family, my friends, my husband."
5. Respond to feedback and refine
your model.
When Bayard Winthrop conceived his notion to
manufacture an American-made hoodie, he
outfitted hundreds of potential customers in
prototypes and asked them what they thought.
How did the fabric feel? Was it too rough? Too
soft? Too clingy?
Without soliciting such detailed feedback from
your most likely customers, says Winthrop,
founder and president of San Francisco-based
American Giant, you'll never know if your idea is
a good one. "We did everything from putting
imagery up on the website to making 100
sweatshirts and getting them into people's
hands," he says.
American Giant, which launched in 2012, has
been credited with rethinking every inch of the
ubiquitous hoodie. Before the company launched,
Winthrop asked customers their thoughts about
all aspects of the garment: the cuffs, the fit, the
hood, even the zipper. The fabric alone took six
months to fine-tune.
"In our particular, narrow world of sweatshirts,
getting that right is like cooking a great meal,"
Winthrop says. "That required getting it onto
backs and asking people what they would pay for
it."
Feedback led physician Mitesh Patel, co-founder
of Docphin, to tweak his technology. He designed
his platform to help healthcare professionals get
fast access to research articles published in
medical journals. The emphasis was on fast.
But the site's initial registration process proved
cumbersome, leading many frustrated users to
log off. Docphin scaled back, asked fewer
questions of first-time users and reduced the
average sign-up time to two minutes. Users
returned in droves. Today Docphin serves 500
hospitals nationwide.
"For us," Patel says, "it was all about finding out
what is the value of the end user, and how can
you get them to achieve that value as quickly as
possible. What we found was the real value was
speed."
For startup entrepreneurs, the need to constantly
tinker with the business never ends. "You have
always got to be thinking about how you can
tweak whatever you have to make it even better,"
says David Rush, co-founder and CEO of Earshot,
a Chicago-based company that helps businesses
acquire new customers through social media.
Rush's initial venture was an app called Evzdrop
that allowed strangers in the same location to
communicate with one another. Customers told
Rush they wanted to be able to access more
widely used social networks. Seeing a better
business opportunity, he pivoted, and in October
2013, Evzdrop became Earshot.
"You have to be acutely aware of what the data
are telling you and what you are able to learn
about either your competitive landscape or the
market you're trying to serve or the problems
you're trying to solve," Rush says. "It's a
continuous product. You're never satisfied."

25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

Regardless of your definition of success, there
are, oddly enough, a great number of common
characteristics that are shared by successful
businesspeople. You can place a check beside
each characteristic that you feel that you
possess. This way, you can see how you stack
up. Even if you don't have all of these
characteristics, don't fret. Most can be learned
with practice and by developing a winning
attitude, especially if you set goals and apply
yourself, through strategic planning, to reach
those goals in incremental and measurable
stages.
The Home Business Musts
Like any activity you pursue, there are certain
musts that are required to be successful in a
chosen activity. To legally operate a vehicle on
public roadways, one must have a driver's
license; to excel in sports, one must train and
practice; to retire comfortably, one must become
an informed investor and actively invest for
retirement. If your goal is success in business,
then the formula is no different. There are certain
musts that have to be fully developed,
implemented and managed for your business to
succeed. There are many business musts, but
this article contains I believe to be some of the
more important musts that are required to start,
operate and grow a profitable home business .
1. Do what you enjoy.
What you get out of your business in the form of
personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and
enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into
your business. So if you don't enjoy what you're
doing, in all likelihood it's safe to assume that will
be reflected in the success of your business--or
subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don't
enjoy what you're doing, chances are you won't
succeed.
2. Take what you do seriously.
You cannot expect to be effective and successful
in business unless you truly believe in your
business and in the goods and services that you
sell. Far too many home business owners fail to
take their own businesses seriously enough,
getting easily sidetracked and not staying
motivated and keeping their noses to the
grindstone. They also fall prey to naysayers who
don't take them seriously because they don't
work from an office building, office park,
storefront, or factory. Little do these skeptics,
who rain on the home business owner's parade,
know is that the number of people working from
home, and making very good annual incomes,
has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.
3. Plan everything.
Planning every aspect of your home business is
not only a must, but also builds habits that every
home business owner should develop, implement,
and maintain. The act of business planning is so
important because it requires you to analyze each
business situation, research and compile data,
and make conclusions based mainly on the facts
as revealed through the research. Business
planning also serves a second function, which is
having your goals and how you will achieve them,
on paper. You can use the plan that you create
both as map to take you from point A to Z and as
a yardstick to measure the success of each
individual plan or segment within the plan.
4. Manage money wisely.
The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash
flow. You need it to buy inventory, pay for
services, promote and market your business,
repair and replace tools and equipment, and pay
yourself so that you can continue to work.
Therefore, all home business owners must
become wise money managers to ensure that the
cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid. There
are two aspects to wise money management.
1. The money you receive from clients
in exchange for your goods and
services you provide (income)
2. The money you spend on inventory,
supplies, wages and other items
required to keep your business
operating. (expenses)
5. Ask for the sale.
A home business entrepreneur must always
remember that marketing, advertising, or
promotional activities are completely worthless,
regardless of how clever, expensive, or perfectly
targeted they are, unless one simple thing is
accomplished--ask for the sale. This is not to
say that being a great salesperson, advertising
copywriting whiz or a public relations specialist
isn't a tremendous asset to your business.
However, all of these skills will be for naught if
you do not actively ask people to buy what you
are selling.
6. Remember it's all about the
customer.
Your home business is not about the products or
services that you sell. Your home business is not
about the prices that you charge for your goods
and services. Your home business is not about
your competition and how to beat them. Your
business is all about your customers, or clients,
period. After all, your customers are the people
that will ultimately decide if your business goes
boom or bust. Everything you do in business must
be customer focused, including your policies,
warranties, payment options, operating hours,
presentations, advertising and promotional
campaigns and website. In addition, you must
know who your customers are inside out and
upside down.
Related: Keeping Your Customers Satisfied -- It's
All in the Details
7. Become a shameless self-
promoter (without becoming
obnoxious).
One of the greatest myths about personal or
business success is that eventually your
business, personal abilities, products or services
will get discovered and be embraced by the
masses that will beat a path to your door to buy
what you are selling. But how can this happen if
no one knows who you are, what you sell and
why they should be buying?
Self-promotion is one of the most beneficial, yet
most underutilized, marketing tools that the
majority of home business owners have at their
immediate disposal.
8. Project a positive business
image.
You have but a passing moment to make a
positive and memorable impression on people
with whom you intend to do business. Home
business owners must go out of their way and
make a conscious effort to always project the
most professional business image possible. The
majority of home business owners do not have
the advantage of elaborate offices or elegant
storefronts and showrooms to wow prospects
and impress customers. Instead, they must rely
on imagination, creativity and attention to the
smallest detail when creating and maintaining a
professional image for their home business.
9. Get to know your customers.
One of the biggest features and often the most
significant competitive edge the home based
entrepreneur has over the larger competitors is
the he can offer personalized attention. Call it
high-tech backlash if you will, but customers are
sick and tired of hearing that their information is
somewhere in the computer and must be
retrieved, or told to push a dozen digits to finally
get to the right department only to end up with
voice mail--from which they never receive a
return phone call.
The home business owner can actually answer
phone calls, get to know customers, provide
personal attention and win over repeat business
by doing so. It's a researched fact that most
business (80 percent) will come from repeat
customers rather than new customers. Therefore,
along with trying to draw newcomers, the more
you can do to woo your regular customers, the
better off you will be in the long run and
personalized attention is very much appreciated
and remembered in the modern high tech world.
Related: Why You Should Never Prejudge a Sales
Prospect
10. Level the playing field with
technology.
You should avoid getting overly caught up in the
high-tech world, but you should also know how to
take advantage of using it. One of the most
amazing aspects of the internet is that a one or
two person business operating from a basement
can have a superior website to a $50 million
company, and nobody knows the difference.
Make sure you're keeping up with the high-tech
world as it suits your needs.. The best technology
is that which helps you, not that which impresses
your neighbors.
11. Build a top-notch business
team.
No one person can build a successful business
alone. It's a task that requires a team that is as
committed as you to the business and its
success. Your business team may include family
members, friends, suppliers, business alliances,
employees, sub-contractors, industry and
business associations, local government and the
community. Of course the most important team
members will be your customers or clients. Any
or all may have a say in how your business will
function and a stake in your business future.
Related: Why Teamwork Should Be Your No. 1
Sales Tool
12. Become known as an expert.
When you have a problem that needs to be
solved, do you seek just anyone's advice or do
you seek an expert in the field to help solve your
particular problem? Obviously, you want the most
accurate information and assistance that you can
get. You naturally seek an expert to help solve
your problem. You call a plumber when the hot
water tank leaks, a real estate agent when it's
time to sell your home or a dentist when you have
a toothache. Therefore, it only stands to reason
that the more you become known for your
expertise in your business, the more people will
seek you out to tap into your expertise, creating
more selling and referral opportunities. In effect,
becoming known as an expert is another style of
prospecting for new business, just in reverse.
Instead of finding new and qualified people to sell
to, these people seek you out for your expertise.
13. Create a competitive advantage.
A home business must have a clearly defined
unique selling proposition. This is nothing more
than a fancy way of asking the vital question,
"Why will people choose to do business with you
or purchase your product or service instead of
doing business with a competitor and buying his
product or service?" In other words, what one
aspect or combination of aspects is going to
separate your business from your competition?
Will it be better service, a longer warranty, better
selection, longer business hours, more flexible
payment options, lowest price, personalized
service, better customer service, better return
and exchange policies or a combination of several
of these?
14. Invest in yourself.
Top entrepreneurs buy and read business and
marketing books, magazines, reports, journals,
newsletters, websites and industry publications,
knowing that these resources will improve their
understanding of business and marketing
functions and skills. They join business
associations and clubs, and they network with
other skilled business people to learn their
secrets of success and help define their own
goals and objectives. Top entrepreneurs attend
business and marketing seminars, workshops
and training courses, even if they have already
mastered the subject matter of the event. They do
this because they know that education is an
ongoing process. There are usually ways to do
things better, in less time, with less effort. In
short, top entrepreneurs never stop investing in
the most powerful, effective and best business
and marketing tool at their immediate disposal--
themselves.
15. Be accessible.
We're living in a time when we all expect our fast
food lunch at the drive-thru window to be ready in
mere minutes, our dry cleaning to be ready for
pick-up on the same day, our money to be
available at the cash machine and our pizza
delivered in 30 minutes or it's free. You see the
pattern developing--you must make it as easy as
you can for people to do business with you,
regardless of the home business you operate.
You must remain cognizant of the fact that few
people will work hard, go out of their way, or be
inconvenienced just for the privilege of giving you
their hard-earned money. The shoe is always on
the other foot. Making it easy for people to do
business with you means that you must be
accessible and knowledgeable about your
products and services. You must be able to
provide customers with what they want, when
they want it.
16. Build a rock-solid reputation.
A good reputation is unquestionably one of the
home business owner's most tangible and
marketable assets. You can't simply buy a good
reputation; it's something that you earn by
honoring your promises. If you promise to have
the merchandise in the customer's hands by
Wednesday, you have no excuse not to have it
there. If you offer to repair something, you need
to make good on your offer. Consistency in what
you offer is the other key factor. If you cannot
come through with the same level of service (and
products) for clients on a regular basis, they have
no reason to trust you . . . and without trust, you
won't have a good reputation.
17. Sell benefits.
Pushing product features is for inexperienced or
wannabe entrepreneurs. Selling the benefits
associated with owning and using the products
and services you carry is what sales
professionals worldwide focus on to create buying
excitement and to sell, sell more, and sell more
frequently to their customers. Your advertising,
sales presentations, printed marketing materials,
product packaging, website, newsletters, trade
show exhibit and signage are vital. Every time and
every medium used to communicate with your
target audience must always be selling the
benefits associated with owning your product or
using your service.
18. Get involved.
Always go out of your way to get involved in the
community that supports your business. You can
do this in many ways, such as pitching in to help
local charities or the food bank, becoming
involved in organizing community events, and
getting involved in local politics. You can join
associations and clubs that concentrate on
programs and policies designed to improve the
local community. It's a fact that people like to do
business with people they know, like and respect,
and with people who do things to help them as
members of the community.
19. Grab attention.
Small-business owners cannot waste time,
money and energy on promotional activities
aimed at building awareness solely through long-
term, repeated exposure. If you do, chances are
you will go broke long before this goal is
accomplished. Instead, every promotional activity
you engage in, must put money back in your
pocket so that you can continue to grab more
attention and grow your business.
20. Master the art of negotiations.
The ability to negotiate effectively is
unquestionably a skill that every home business
owner must make every effort to master. It's
perhaps second in importance only to asking for
the sale in terms of home business musts. In
business, negotiation skills are used daily.
Always remember that mastering the art of
negotiation means that your skills are so finely
tuned that you can always orchestrate a win-win
situation. These win-win arrangements mean that
everyone involved feels they have won, which is
really the basis for building long-term and
profitable business relationships.
21. Design Your workspace for
success.
Carefully plan and design your home office
workspace to ensure maximum personal
performance and productivity and, if necessary,
to project professionalism for visiting clients. If at
all possible, resist the temptation to turn a corner
of the living room or your bedroom into your
office. Ideally, you'll want a separate room with a
door that closes to keep business activities in and
family members out, at least during prime
business and revenue generating hours of the
day. A den, spare bedroom, basement or
converted garage are all ideal candidates for your
new home office. If this is not possible, you'll
have to find a means of converting a room with a
partition or simply find hours to do the bulk of your
work when nobody else is home.
22. Get and stay organized.
The key to staying organized is not about which
type of file you have or whether you keep a stack
or two of papers on your desk, but it's about
managing your business. It's about having
systems in place to do things. Therefore, you wan
to establish a routine by which you can
accomplish as much as possible in a given
workday, whether that's three hours for a part-
time business or seven or nine hours as a full-
timer. In fact, you should develop systems and
routines for just about every single business
activity. Small things such as creating a to-do list
at the end of each business day, or for the week,
will help keep you on top of important tasks to
tackle. Creating a single calendar to work from,
not multiple sets for individual tasks or jobs, will
also ensure that jobs are completed on schedule
and appointments kept. Incorporating family and
personal activities into your work calendar is also
critical so that you work and plan from a single
calendar.
23. Take time off.
The temptation to work around the clock is very
real for some home business owners. After all,
you don't have a manager telling you it's time to
go home because they can't afford the overtime
pay. Every person working from home must take
time to establish a regular work schedule that
includes time to stretch your legs and take lunch
breaks, plus some days off and scheduled
vacations. Create the schedule as soon as you
have made the commitment to start a home
business. Of course, your schedule will have to
be flexible. You should, therefore, not fill every
possible hour in the day. Give yourself a backup
hour or two. All work and no play makes you burn
out very fast and grumpy customer service is not
what people want.
24. Limit the number of hats you
wear.
It's difficult for most business owners not to take
a hands-on approach. They try to do as much as
possible and tackle as many tasks as possible in
their business. The ability to multitask, in fact, is a
common trait shared by successful
entrepreneurs. However, once in a while you
have to stand back and look beyond today to
determine what's in the best interest of your
business and yourself over the long run. Most
highly successful entrepreneurs will tell you that
from the time they started out, they knew what
they were good at and what tasks to delegate to
others.
25. Follow-up constantly.
Constant contact, follow-up, and follow-through
with customers, prospects, and business
alliances should be the mantra of every home
business owner, new or established. Constant and
consistent follow-up enables you to turn
prospects into customers, increase the value of
each sale and buying frequency from existing
customers, and build stronger business
relationships with suppliers and your core
business team. Follow-up is especially important
with your existing customer base, as the real
work begins after the sale. It's easy to sell one
product or service, but it takes work to retain
customers and keep them coming back.
James Stephenson is an experienced home
based consultant with more than 15 years of
business and marketing experience.

Career opportunities for young Africans at the World Bank

Through targeted programs and internships, the
World Bank benefits from investing in the talent of
young African professionals, and has much to gain
by investing in more. Below is a list of career
opportunities available for young Africans who are
interested in working at the World Bank. The jobs
are stationed both at the headquarters in
Washington, DC and the Africa country offices. All
of these opportunities are paid and require fluency
in English. However, fluency in at least one other
Bank language (French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic,
Portuguese, or Chinese) is an advantage. As a
young African,
and
pass them along to interested peers:
1) Africa Fellowship Program
Description
Fellows will spend a minimum of 6 months getting
hands-on experience at World Bank headquarters
in Washington D.C. to work on economic policy,
technical assistance to countries, and lending for
eliminating poverty and increasing shared
prosperity.
Who can apply?
Doctoral students of African descent within one or
two years of completing a Ph.D. program in the
following fields: Economics, Demography, Applied
Statistics and Econometrics, Impact Evaluation,
Education, Health, Energy, Agriculture, and
Infrastructure. Applicants must be 32 years of age
or below.
Learn more and APPLY here .
2) Internship Program
Description
This Internship typically seeks candidates in the
following fields: Economics, Finance, Human
Development (public health, education, nutrition,
population), Social Science (anthropology,
sociology), Agriculture, Environment, Private
Sector Development, as well as other related
fields.
Who can apply?
Candidates must possess an undergraduate
degree and already be enrolled in a full-time
graduate study program (pursuing a Master's
degree or PhD with plans to return to school in a
full-time capacity).
Learn more and APPLY here .
3) Junior Professionals Associates Program
Description
This is a two-year, entry-level program designed
for those skilled in areas such as Economics,
Finance, Human Resources Development (public
health, education, nutrition, population), Social
Sciences (anthropology, sociology), Agriculture,
Environment, Private Sector Development, as well
as other related fields.
Who can apply?
Applicants 28 years of age or below, holding the
equivalent of a Bachelor's degree, with some
relevant job experience.
Learn more and APPLY here .
4) MIGA Professional Program
Description
Candidates will be assigned to one of MIGA’s
department to work in underwriting, financial
accounting and reporting, as well as economics
and risk management (including environmental and
social risk mitigation).
Who can apply?
Applicants under 35 years of age with an advanced
degree and a minimum of 5 years working
experience in the relevant field.
Learn more and APPLY here.
5) Young Professionals Program
Description
This is a two-year, entry-level program  designed
for those skilled in areas such as Economics,
Finance, Education, Public Health, Social Sciences,
Engineering, Urban Planning, and Natural Resource
Management.
Who can apply?
This program is open to applicants under 32 years
of age with an advanced degree and a minimum of
3 years working experience in the relevant field.
Learn more and APPLY here .
To join the discussion on youth in Africa, follow
@WorldBankAfrica on Twitter, and use the hashtag
#AfricasYouth.

How other men of God see TB Joshua

BY AYO ONIKOYI
Prophet TB Joshua of Synagogue Church of All
Nations is no stranger to controversies and
condemnations. Since his emergence as a man of
God to whom many run for deliverance, salvation
and miracles, the supposed man of God has had to
fight off other men of God who see him as nothing
but fake.
Perhaps, the most antagonistic among them all is
Reverend Chris Okotie of the Household of God who
once described the Prophet as the vicar of the devil
on earth. Okotie has no mixed feelings about T.B
Joshua. To him, the so-called man of God at
Synagogue Church of All Nations shouldn’t be
associated with because, according to him, he is in
partnership with Satan to subjugate the church to
the will of the devil.
Pastor Chris Okotie made a number of public
comments to Nigerian newspapers and other media
sources expressing displeasure that the respected
Pastor Chris Oyakilhome started fraternising with
TB Joshua.
In one of his media comments, Okotie alleged that
T.B. Joshua was a practitioner of an occult science
called Docetic Gnosticism and Cerinthian heresy.
Docetic Gnosticism, according to Wikipaedia was an
ancient Greek spiritual belief system during A.D. 70
through A.D. 100.This particular group asserted that
Jesus Christ did not rise physically from the grave
as foretold by the Old Testament prophets, eye-
witnessed by the apostles and recorded in
scripture. This teaching is the biblical definition of
false prophecy – the teaching that Christ did not
rise physically from the grave.
Cerinthus was a Greek heretic (A.D. 100) who
denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. According to
Cerinthus, Jesus Christ was not born of a virgin as
scripture plainly declares. Cerinthus also believed
that during the future millennial reign of Christ
inhabitants of the earth would be in bondage to
certain lust.
Okotie has also ascribed the acclaimed healing
power of TB Joshua to the practice of an ancient
Asian yoga-like sorcery called Shamanism, a
practice, according to Wikipeadia, that involves a
practitioner reaching altered states of
consciousness in order to encounter and interact
with the spirit world and channel these
transcendental energies into this world. A shaman
is a person regarded as having access to, and
influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent
spirits, who typically enters into a trance state
during a ritual, and practices divination and healing.
Evidences abound that worshipers at Synagogue
revere and and adulate the name of T.B Joshua by
calling him ‘Emmanuel’ (God with us). To this, Chris
Okotie stated emphatically: “‘He (T.B Joshua) has
three symbols of mysticism. The first is called “The
Head of Jesus Christ” or “Christ”. This is a
reference to the source of his power. That power is
invoked or acknowledged by the word, “Emmanuel.”
When “Emmanuel” is chanted, it energizes’ the
power. The scriptures say that the head of Christ is
God. So when Joshua ‘refers to that head, he is
speaking of himself as God Incarnate.’
At the height of the Joshua-Okotie-Oyakhilome
imbroglio, other Pentecostal pastors warned T.B
Joshua not to parade himself as a Pentecostal
preacher.
“He is an occultist,” says Anselm Modubuku, pastor
of the Revival Assembly Church in Lagos. “Joshua
claims he was born again in his mother’s womb. It
is tragic that Spirit-filled people are led astray by
him.”
“It is puzzling why Americans are drawn to him,”
said Ayo Oritsejafor, pastor of Word of Life Bible
Church in Warri and now President of Christian
Association of God, CAN. “Where and when did he
get saved? Who is his pastor? That is what I would
like to know.”
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, headed by
Bishop Mike Okonkwo, denounced Joshua as an
imposter in a statement. It said the group had for
years warned of “the dangers of infiltrators who
have modernized cultism by injecting the name of
Jesus Christ into their largely unbiblical practices. It
is necessary that we reiterate this position that the
Synagogue (of All Nations) falls into this category.”
All that notwithstanding, hundreds of thousands still
revere him. To those thousands who seek T.B
Joshua for spiritual help, the Okoties and Mike
Okonkwos of this world are entitled to their
opinions. To them, the man TB Joshua is a king
who is not recognised in his place. He is a true man
of God who heals the sick, delivers people from
spiritual attacks and is ever generous to the
indigent. His healing power is largely responsible
for the thousands who flock into his church
especially from abroad. Hence Joshua is more
recognised outside than in Nigeria.
My experience at Synagogue – Jacques
Pauw,South African journalist
A renowned South African investigative journalist,
Jacques Pauw writes on his experience at
Synagogue.
I was making a TV documentary and my challenge
to Joshua was straightforward: allow me to film
how you heal Basson (a 25 year old Springbok
rugby player who was dying of liver cancer and
went to Prophet T.B Joshua for healing). If you
succeed, I promise I will show it to the world.
When we arrived at Joshua’s compound, the TV
team and I were in effect incarcerated. For two
weeks, we were forbidden to leave the grounds.
We were told we could not drink or smoke, and had
to attend services and events with the pilgrims.
While I stayed in a dormitory with other pilgrims,
Basson and his mother set up camp in a private
room.
The church took away the young man’s morphine
and pain pills.
During our first interview, a softly spoken, affable
Joshua said it would be easy to heal Wium because
he had nothing but a “little sore” on his liver.
At Sunday sermons, the afflicted lined up with
placards stating what condition they needed healed.
There were lines of people seeking a cure for HIV/
Aids, cancer and heart conditions, business
failures, wandering spouses and dull brains.
A festive, almost joyous atmosphere filled the
compound as churchgoers sang, clapped and
danced. Evil spirits were cast out and those set
free by the Prophet writhed in the dirt while
vomiting out the demons. Joshua prayed for every
person in the line and declared them all healed. He
ordered them to stop using any medication and
trust in God. Among the pilgrims was Capetonian
John Rindel, who was suffering from full-blown
AIDS and already had dementia.
He had arrived at the church several weeks before
we did, was prayed for by Joshua and declared
completely healed.
He had stopped taking his medicine and showed
remarkable improvement.
Scientists refer to this as the “placebo effect” of
faith healing. A patient can experience genuine pain
relief and other symptomatic alleviation after being
prayed for. The relief is short-lived and the patient
soon returns to his original condition.
On my request, Rindel agreed to go for two
independent HIV/Aids tests when he returned to
South Africa. Both showed he was still positive. He
died a short while later.
The BBC recently investigated the London branch of
the church and reported that three women had died
after being “healed” and told to stop taking their
HIV/Aids medication.
I challenged the pilgrims to provide me with medical
proof that they had been healed. None did. Ruben
Kruger died in 2010 just before his 40th birthday.
TB Joshua is a true man of God, not an ordinary
person  —Journalist
Mr Oye Ogunwale worked in Vanguard as a sub
editor for more than a decade before he moved on.
He was very close to T.B Joshua and had this to
say about the man:
T.B Joshua is authentic. He is real. I can assure
you of that. He is a true man of God. Don’t mind
what Nigerians say about him. He performs
miracles. I know that some people claim that he is
not genuine because they were not healed by the
man.
It all depends on faith. Again, it also depends on the
sins the miracle seekers committed. Who knows
what they have done against humanity that God
may want them to go through more penance.
Joshua heals people, I can tell you authoritatively.
He heals HIV.
I know about 20 HIV victims that he has healed. If
you go there you will know that he heals about ten
of them in a week. I know of a top man in
government whom he delivered from HIV infection.
The man returned with a car as gift. T.B Joshua
asked him to take back the car, that he didn’t want
it. He only asked him to go, and sin no more. T.B
Joshua is like Obafemi Awolowo who was not
generally recognised as a great leader until he died.
Awo was never given his real value until he died.
Nigeria is like that. Look at Zik. He is another great
example. I was close to T.B Joshua for more than
10 years and I can attest to his genuineness as a
man of God. If he is not real foreigners will not be
going there. Many of his disciples are foreigners.
He heals people at the church there or he visits
them in their homes to heal them.”
The reporter, at this juncture cuts in to ask “so T.B
Joshua visits people in their homes to heal them?”
Oye Ogunwale responds this way: “Yes, he visits
them spiritually. He goes to their houses in spirit
and heals them.”
How would a sick man in his house know that TB
Joshua was the one that healed him”, the reporter
asked.
“He would know,” Ogunwale insists, his voice
rising. “He will see the man in his dream. And if it’s
surgery, for example, he may see spots of blood on
his bed or signs that healing has been done. The
sick person will know that healing has taken place.
T.B Joshua visits people spiritually and heals them.
The patient will see him in a dream. T.B Joshua is
not an ordinary man. He can also transfer power to
an ordinary person and that person will perform
healing. During healing hours, he may touch any
person in the congregation and tell that person to
come up and heal this man or that man and healing
will actually take place when that ordinary person
acts as he directs. It is amazing. Heads of States
go there.
The former President of Zambia who was always
going there said that Africa didn’t know what they
have in Joshua and that if T.B Joshua were a white
man the whole world will recognise him. He could
not believe his eyes when he saw how people were
being healed. T.B Joshua is not an ordinary man.
The only thing is that when you go there it may take
you days to see him. This, I attribute to the Nigerian
factor. When I was in Vanguard, one of the gate
men approached me one day and told me that his
wife was sick and everything indicated she had
cancer. He wanted me to help him with some
money.
I told him I didn’t have money but that I could take
him and his wife to a man who could help cure his
wife. They agreed and I took them to TB Joshua
and the woman was healed. An Army General from
Ghana once came on wheelchair and on the day of
healing he told him to get up and walk. The man got
up and staggered and the man of God touched him
with his leg and the he stood. Few seconds later he
was firm and even ran.
There was applause. The was paralysed from the
waist but he walked after T.B Joshu’s touch. T.B
Joshua is too much but Nigerians blackmail him a
lot. I’m a direct witness to all these things. During
service, he would ask witches and wizards to step
out and will ask them to reveal their powers. You
can’t believe the revelations that come from them
and the things that they have done in the past.
Unbelievable.
Then you will see him deliver them. He is a
powerful man. For a man of God to call somebody
from the audience, touch him and transfer power to
him and ask him to heal another person and it
happens, you should know that such a man is not
an ordinary man. And he is very generous. He heals
people and still gives them alms. Can you beat that?
That’s what I can tell you about T.B Joshua and
you can quote me.”

Shocking! Dead Woman Wakes Screaming From Inside Coffin After Being Buried Alive

Cemetery workers raced to a newly-dug grave
after they heard banging and muffled shouting
an hour after a 45-year-old woman was buried.
As they grabbed tools and anything they could
find, they rushed to dig the grave up again
after the woman woke up to find herself
buried alive in a coffin.
But tragically, the un-named woman died
before her would-be rescuers could reach her
inside the plot at a cemetery near Greece’s
Thessaloniki.
Now police are probing why the woman was
pronounced dead by doctors treating her for
cancer, only to be found alive.
Her grieving family arranged her funeral at the
graveyard in Peraia, a small town 16 miles south
of Thessaloniki, Greece’s main city in the north.
Shortly after the last relatives left the cemetery on
Thursday, residents and a group of children playing
outside reportedly heard a female voice shouting
for help from inside the grave.
They called the police, and began digging up the
grave to save her but she had suffocated to death
inside the coffin, it was reported.
However, a doctor who was at the scene and
examined the woman’s body, said she had been
dead for hours and could not have been revived.
Dr Chrissi Matsikoudi told Greek TV channel
MEGA: "I just don’t believe it. We did several tests
including one for heart failure on the body. It would
have been impossible for someone in a state of
rigor mortis to have been shouting and hitting the
coffin like that.”
A coroner is expected to examine the body.
Meanwhile, relatives of the dead woman say they
are considering filing a complaint against the
doctors responsible for her treatment at the cancer
clinic.