KUALA LUMPUR – A Muslim couple seeking spiritual treatment were baptised by now-missing Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife in January 2015 after reading positive testimonies on the Christian “Healing Ministry”.
The pair underwent a similar ritual performed by Pastor Raymond Koh – also missing – in February the same year, this time with their two underaged children, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) public inquiry into the disappearance of Joshua and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, heard today.
The Healing Ministry refers to the church’s response to Jesus’ commission to preach the gospel and heal the sick by helping those in need.
Witness Fadzlina Amran said she and her husband, Iqbal Mirza Mohd Jalaluddin, sought alternative treatment after various efforts to be treated by ustaz failed to cure them.
Fadzlina said the family had been experiencing spiritual disturbances for years.
Among other things, she said, they kept hearing knocks on the doors of their home, and that she was once possessed in 2012, and vomited out a nail and a piece of glass two years later.
“I knew Joshua through my husband, who was recommended by one of his friends who claimed there was this Malay pastor who could perform healing.
“So, I googled this Healing Ministry in several locations, and found that people of various faiths had gone there. Their testimonies made it seem as though it could heal us.”
Prior to the baptism on January 1, 2015, said Fadzlina, Joshua showed her and her husband a video of a similar ritual carried out on a lady suffering a stroke, who was then cured.
She acknowledged that Ruth performed a full baptism on her, with the ritual including the performative utterance of “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” and the act of being bathed, adding that she went along with it as she wanted to be cured.
“I didn’t really bother because my intention was to get healed. I just followed along.”
In February 2015, her family of four met Koh. They underwent a similar bathing ritual, this time in a swimming pool.
Asked whether the family took part in Christian gatherings after that, after images of her children participating in a church’s music rehearsal were shown to the inquiry, Fadzlina said she did not, but is unsure of the rest.
“They (her children) may have joined some Christmas programmes. They were invited, so of course they joined in the performance.”
Iqbal Mirza, who was questioned as a witness yesterday, maintained that they are still Muslim. – The Vibes, January 6, 2021
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