In the first weeks of this year, Zimbabwe and neighboring countries like Botswana were in the midst of a strong debate over the ‘miracle money’ performance pioneered by the Pentecostal Prophet Uebert Angel. Here is an overview of what various religious leaders think about the ‘new’ claim of religion promising financial wealth.

Apostle Patrick Zimba of Kairos International Ministries said he is not convinced that it is God who is working through Prophet Uebert Angel to perform miracles.

“I do not think it is the nature of God to recreate money that never existed before. Money is owned by Reserve Banks all around the world and every note has a serial number so the question that comes to mind is what would be the serial number of that note that would have miraculously appeared in someone’s pocket. If the serial number is also a miracle, then that will be fraud.”

“I’m not saying God does not miraculously bless people. But the miracle money I believe is when God raises someone who has money to come and give it to you. To me, that is a miracle,” said Apostle Zimba.

The President of Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) and founder of Word of Life International Ministries, Doctor Goodwill Shana, said miracles must be in line with Biblical principles. “I hate commenting about other men of God because it might sound as if we are fighting them. But our position as EFZ is clear: we believe that miracles must conform to the Biblical model. If it is not in the Bible then people must be very skeptical about it. And in this case, the Bible does not show us such kind of a miracle.

The story when Jesus sent his disciples to go catch a fish and found money in it is a very different story because the money that was found in the fish was meant to pay tax that Jesus was supposed to pay. It was not meant for people to just spend. Moreover, the purpose of performing a miracle must be of expanding the Kingdom of God, not for showing off or to prove how powerful a certain man of God is. So as EFZ, we believe these things must be scrutinized,” said Dr Shana.

Secretary-General of Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference Fr Fredrick Chiromba said, 
“It is the duty of the State to regulate in the financial matters. So it is the responsibility of the State to consider whether the so-called miracle money complies with the financial systems of this country. It’s up to the State to decide what to do.”

Senior Pastor of Spoken Word Ministries, Pastor Godwin Chitsinde said he is convinced that ‘miracle money’ is stage-managed. “There is nothing like ‘miracle money’. It is just a scam. I don’t know why Zimbabweans are bothered about Angel, He is just a conman.”

“God is not in the business of putting money in people’s pockets. Angel has a group of people who put money in people’s pockets. It is also impossible for money to just appear in your bank account without knowing where it came from. All monies in the banks are traceable,” blasted Pastor Chitsinde.

Apostle George Chikohwa, founder of Church On The Rock Ministries International, said people will soon realise that it was false. “Even though Jesus sent Peter to catch fish that he pay tax, there is nowhere in the Bible where you can add another scripture for that miracle alone. Any doctrine without two or three scriptures of confirmation of the Bible becomes heresy of false. People will definitely realise that it was not money. …A prophet must be tested for 15 good years if he is a true man of God. But God will reveal the truth with time,” said Chikohwa.

Baptist Bishop Dr Noah Pashapa commented, “I believe in miracles and a miracle is when results are achieved when natural processes are suspended. However, it doesn’t mean that when a miracle has occurred it has come from God. Satanists and magicians can also perform miracles. In Zimbabwe it’s so sad that whenever a miracle is performed people are so quick to believe every miracle. Miracles must be tested.”

“Miracles that are from God will not cause disorder in human society structures. The Bible shows us that outstanding miracles would only happen when his worship is under threat. Creating money that has a duplicated serial number is going against societal structures and it is criminal to add a serial number on money.”

“Also if miracle money is true, we have to know where the money is coming from because every miracle that occurred in the Bible, the source where the miracle was derived from was revealed. But in this case it is only Uebert Angel who knows where the money is coming from. For example, the story where Jesus sent his disciple to catch the fish, the source of the coin was clear.”

“When Moses changed his stick into a snake, everyone saw the stick changing into a snake and the source of that miracle was the stick but on the miracle money there is no source that shows us where the money is coming from. Because of the secrecy that is on miracle money, I suspect that they are using occult powers to perform these miracles or it’s just purely fraudulent,” he said.

Pastor Vukani Dhladhla of Abiding Hope Ministries said miracle money fit by Prophet Angel was not empowering people to work for themselves but rather make them lazy. “It is not my place to ascertain whether the miracle is from God or not. But my concern is that what they are calling miracle money will not finish all financial problems of believers. It only makes them have an addiction of having things for free thereby making them lazy,” he said.

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