Where is Dore?

We are worried about a regular commenter on the blog who calls herself Dore. We believe she is a disciple of TB Joshua who has recently turned against the church and we are concerned for her wellbeing.

Dore has been commenting on TB Joshua Watch regularly for several months. We are in the process of piecing together more about her identity, but for now the only things we know are that she is female and (probably) Dutch. At first she defended TB Joshua in her comments but it was clear as she expressed herself that she had doubts and concerns about the ministry she was serving.

As time went on she gave some interesting insights into the the way that TB Joshua operates and the psychological and spiritual torment that disciples go through. Many of our readers offered her words of support, prayers and encouragement. Her last comment on the blog was a week ago. She had recently mentioned that TB Joshua had fired her as a disciple. One of the last things we heard from her was the following comment:

Hi Just wonder, thank you for your prayers, I somehow become in the savety of Jezus again,..And i am very calm,…..,..will you explain what fighting in the spirit means?….Dont be afraid, it will wotk out fine,….and I will tell my story on Joshua Watch freely,….its a long story,..

Since then, we have heard nothing. She has not replied to our repeated emails or commented on the blog at all.

There may be a reasonable explanation for her silence. But we have some reason to be concerned.

Why are we worried?

We know that TB Joshua has little tolerance for dissent and that he has a reputation for being violent. We also know that he has complete control of his disciples in SCOAN, who have their passports taken the moment they enter the church, and that the church is surrounded by armed guards that take orders from TB Joshua. This is something that has been documented many times, on this sites and other sites. Recently two ex-disciples have talked about how hard it is to leave SCOAN.

Emma talked of her own escape from SCOAN, as well as a mysterious death of a disciple that was hushed up:

To correct the statement that everyone is free to leave, that’s an absolute lie. I was also always told in disciple meetings by TB that “If any of you want to leave, come meet me in the office & I will arrange for you to go.” I believed him, until I was held against my will and literally had to escape on an okada (motorbike taxi) and hide in a hotel until I could go to the airport. Not only that but TBJ sent armed guards to the airport to look for me, so free to leave?? Not if you have information on him…

One key disciple disappeared mysteriously only for me to find out years later that he somehow died? He was a junior prophet & had been there over 10 years. All I knew was he was in isolation because he was “down”. TBs way of saying someone is sick. Next thing, more than a year later someone mentions to me that he died. No funeral, no announcement in a disciples meeting, no acknowledgement of his family. Just whispers, “He died, didn’t you know?” (Editors note- It is worth reading her full comment on this post)

Ex-disciple Giles also confirmed that leaving was impossible without TB Joshua’s permission:

There is absolutely no way you are getting your passport and ticket from the guy who keeps them if TB Joshua says no. You need his permission.. I know of two “escapes” though. One was a clever guy who used to make alot of flights on TB Joshua’s behalf. He used these trips to secretly take more and more of his personal belonging each time, little by little. Then one day, when he was in his country on the churche’s business, he simply threw his phone away and disappeared 

This is why we are keen to get in touch with Dore.

A Message for Dore
Dore, many people are thinking of you and praying for you. If we’re over-reacting and you are OK, just taking a break from the blog (which might not be such a bad idea..), we’d appreciate it if you could make contact.

A Message for TB Joshua
TB Joshua, the world is watching you. If any harm comes to any of your disciples, you will be held responsible and accountable. If people want to leave, we urge you to let them go.

UPDATE
After investigation, it is looking more likely that Dore has been writing from Europe rather than Nigeria. This would obviously be preferable and would hopefully mean she is in less immediate danger from TB Joshua. However, we remain concerned by her continued silence and would like to make contact with her as soon as possible.