- The eight-year-old had been battling a lung infection
- Bushiri said that a doctor had advised that if she had not been blocked to travel to Kenya for medical assistance, she may not have died
Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) leader Shepherd Bushiri’s daughter Israella Bushiri has passed on.
The eight-year-old had been battling a lung infection and placed in and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at an undisclosed Kenyan medical facility after being referred by Malawian doctors.
The self-proclaimed prophet released a statement in his Facebook page on Monday morning to announce her daughters passing.
“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing on of my daughter, Israella Bushiri,” he said in a post on social media.
“As a father it was my desire to see her grow and serve the Lord, however, the will of God was for her to return back to Him,” reads the statement.
The late Bushiris daughter ‘Israella’ made headlines last month when she was denied an early opportunity to travel across boarder to Kenya for urgent medical attention by the Malawian government – which is assumed her life would have been spared if she had travelled on time.
“When I spoke to the Doctor, he highlighted that if she has not been blocked at the airport the first time she needed to travel to Kenya for medical assistance, she wouldn’t have passed on,” said Bushiri in a statement.
Bushiri said that a doctor had advised that if she had not been blocked at the airport the first time she needed to travel to Kenya for medical assistance, she may not have died. “It is very disheartening and sad, therefore, that my daughter has become a victim of the persecutions that we are facing from SA,” he said.
Bushiri, who fled to Malawi as he faced fraud charges in South Africa said he was heartbroken that his daughter has fallen victim to the persecutions they are facing from South Africa.
Bushiri described her daughter as a strong young walking angel who loved worshipping and serving God. She also is also said to have been a smart kid with her books.
“Israella was born during a time when my wife and I were going through great persecution, and she has lived her life witnessing what it means to fight and labor for the Lord despite trials and battles. She came at a time when we really needed her and through it all, she offered my wife and I, including the entire church great comfort and enlightenment,” reads the statement in part.
Bushiri said he and his wife choose not to mourn her but to celebrate her life. The couple were expected back in a Malawian court on Monday in their extradition case.
They had fled SA a week after being released on R200,000 bail by the Pretoria magistrate’s court. Shortly after leaving, Bushiri said in a Facebook post that they had left the country for their safety.
The Bushiris and their co-accused – Landiwe Ntlokwana, Willah Mudolo and his wife Zethu – face charges of theft, money laundering and fraud in connection with an alleged R100m investment scheme. The Bushiris’ bail conditions barred them from travelling outside SA.
FULL STATEMENT RELEASED BY BUSHIRI ON THE PASSING OF HIS DAUGHTER
It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing on of my daughter, Israella Bushiri.
As a Father it was my desire to see her grow and serve the Lord, however, the will of God was for her to return back to Him.
Israella was born during a time when my wife and I were going through great persecution, and she has lived her life witnessing what it means to fight and labor for the Lord despite trials and battles.
She came at a time when we really needed her and through it all, she offered my wife and I, including the entire church great comfort and enlightenment.
We are a church built on faith and if we aren’t careful to observe the ways of the Lord, we can mistake God’s will for God’s punishment.
If things could be reversed we would have desired it to be so. However, the will of the Lord is above our desires. We have experienced it and have accepted it.
We are a church of God’s love and strength and His love and strength will carry us forward from this day forward.
Israella was a strong young girl who loved to worship and serve God, despite her young age. She was brilliant in her speech and possessed a divine excellency in the way she spoke and even tackled her studies.
Today, all those that encountered her testify that they felt a certain special aura that oozed divinity. She was a walking angel. In our darkest moments she gave us light and in our lowest moments, she lifted our spirits. I am grateful to God to have fathered an angel of such spirit and beauty. She will always be my little girl.
When I spoke to the Doctor, he highlighted that if she had not been blocked at the airport the first time she needed to travel to Kenya for medical assistance, she wouldn’t have passed on.
It is very disheartening and sad, therefore, that my daughter has become a victim of the persecutions that we are facing from South Africa.
However, my wife and I, bow to God’s sovereignty and as this is his will, it could have happened anyway.
Today, my wife and I choose not to mourn her but to celebrate her life. I do not believe that the devil could take the life of my daughter.
She was a child of God and she passed on to be with Him according to His will. We prayed and we fasted, we commanded out- and in this week, when the Lord spoke to me that it will be a week of His will- His will has taken place.
Family, join me, not in mourning as those without hope but in celebrating the life of Saint Israella. She shall always be remembered and forever carried in our hearts.
1 Thessalonians 4:13, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”
I will be addressing the general public at exactly 12.00 hrs (CAT) on ALL our official social media platforms as well as Prophetic Channel.
God bless you!
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