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New Links Formed Between Nigeria and Israel

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Nigeria recently woke up to a shock announcement. Namely, their favorite pastor, Prophet TB Joshua, announced that he would leave the country to a new location in Israel. He revealed this during a Sunday church service, soon after returning from a personal pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While here, he met the mayors of Jordan Valley, Tiberias, and Jerusalem and they have offered him a venue from which to continue his services.

TB Joshua will be sad to leave his home country. However, since receiving his calling at a young age, he always knew that he would go wherever the Lord told him to go. When the mayors offered him the opportunity to take over a piece of land with suitable facilities near the Sea of Galilee, a very important spiritual site, he knew the Lord had acted again. Here, he will be able to provide his divine intervention while people complete their own pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

TB Joshua explained that, at the new facility, pilgrims will be able to come for healing and receive blessing and deliverance. After this, they will be given the opportunity to further solidify their faith by visiting the various holy sites there.

His followers in Nigeria have been upset by the news, but they are understanding. They know that the contributions the Prophet has made to their country and its economy have been huge, but that it is now time for them to find their own way. Thanks to his guidance, the country as a whole now has a more positive image, and it is up to the people to keep this going.

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The Prophet has been an inspiration to everybody. He came from such humble beginnings himself, and he has built his life around giving other people the deliverance and salvation they need. To ensure everyone is able to access his guidance, he also founded Emmanuel TV, which he will continue to run. This will give people in Nigeria the opportunity to continue to experience his sermons, albeit not in person.

For TB Joshua, the Lord has told him to travel to the Holy Land, and he has listened. He knows God works in mysterious ways and it is not for him to question. However, he believes that the move will give more people the opportunity to find spirituality, as they will be more likely to complete pilgrimage themselves. Joshua will always show love, regardless of the adversity he faces, something that is also in his African nature. He faces any challenge head on, knowing that things will be better once he completes it.

Indeed, it is this positive attitude and dedication to the Lord’s word, that attracted the Israeli officials. They have observed the Prophet and his SCOAN church for many years, and seized the opportunity to speak to him when they found he was on pilgrimage in their country. They feel that, together, they will be able to attract far greater followers to the Lord and find salvation.

Abu Dhabi Dune Bashing

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1_Desert_Safari_Dune_BashingIf you’re in Abu Dhabi and you’re not a menial labourer from the subcontinent then you’re in the oil business and, likely, bored out of your mind.

Abu Dhabi has a nice harbourfront and some beaches, some very posh hotels with maybe slightly too fancy restaurants and a very few licensed bars and clubs where foreigners (and locals who dress as foreigners) can get a drink. You can visit the spectacular Sheikh Zayed Mosque most mornings and the lush Khalifa Park whenever the mood takes you. And then that’s about it unless you leave Abu Dhabi for the desert.

Several tour companies offer variations of dune bashing, the practice of driving a 4×4 at breakneck speeds into sand dunes as big as houses and being launched almost vertically into space, but the best are the comprehensive packages of which dune bashing is merely the highlight.

A comprehensive tour means an overnight stay at a Bedouin encampment in the desert, complete with dinner, quad-biking, camel rides and, naturally, belly dancers. The Bedouin experience is a little contrived and touristy but it’s tremendous fun with the right attitude and the quad-biking alone is worth the trip.

bedouin-camp

Then everyone — about forty of you — are invited to climb into the ubiquitous white trucks for a roller-coaster ride through the desert. It’s hectic and a little frightening but there are roll bars and seat belts and drivers who at least give a very convincing impression of people who know what they’re doing. If you can, try to get the passenger seat. There’s no bad seat and you won’t be disappointed regardless where you sit but at the front the spectacle is complete and the surprise when you hit the dunes is in no way lessened by the fact that you clearly see it coming.

Don’t bother trying to record the experience. You likely won’t be able to hold your camera steady and in any case you’ll want to concentrate on the physical sensation that really won’t translate all that well to your photo album. Above all you won’t want to miss an aspect of the ride that you may not have considered — the endless, seamless, awe-inspiring expanse of the desert. You can’t capture that feeling with a camera but in real time it’s like no view you’ve ever had, unless, perhaps, you’ve ever been lost at sea.

So far as I know all of the available tours, which typically start by bus in the centre of Abu Dhabi or will pick you up at your hotel, have sterling reputations, particularly with regards to the value/price ratio. They typically charge about dh250 (roughly €50) and it’s cheap at twice the price.