Disciple of shamed pastor who 'broke' Constance Marten delivers 'interactive prayers' to half a million people from screen-lined studio deep in the Welsh countryside | Retrui News | Retrui
Disciple of shamed pastor who 'broke' Constance Marten delivers 'interactive prayers' to half a million people from screen-lined studio deep in the Welsh countryside
SOURCE:Daily Mail
In a small TV studio in the depths of the Welsh countryside, a man speaks to hundreds of tiny faces on a wall of screens with a deep religious fervor.
In a small TV studio in the depths of the Welsh countryside, a man speaks to hundreds of tiny faces on a wall of screens with a deep religious fervor.
Pacing back and forth restlessly, he touches the faces around him, or approaches the camera with a look of ferocity, while uttering prayers and advice to his hundreds of thousands of followers.
'Pray for a spiritual awakening,' he tells viewers. 'Pray for the United Kingdom right now... We need a spiritual revival, a spiritual renewal. Pray for this nation right now.'
This relatively unknown man - in the UK at least - has amassed more than 430,000 followers on Facebook alone, with another 230,000 following his teachings.
But Brother Chris, as he is known to his followers, has a rather complex back story that starts two decades ago in west Africa.
The Englishman, 38, came to preaching after spending years as a disciple of a shamed pastor accused of sexually abusing his followers and 'breaking' Constance Marten in a cult in Nigeria.
Christopher Tonge lived in a compound run by TB Joshua in Lagos from his teenage years in the 2000s.
Along with his parents he was a follower of Joshua - who faced a catalogue of allegations of physical and sexual abuse, faked miracles and brainwashing and died in June 2021, before returning to the UK for good.
Brother Chris, as he is known to his followers, is a former disciple of TB Joshua and previously lived with the disgraced pastor in Lagos, Nigeria
Temitope Balogun Joshua, known as TB Joshua, founded an evangelical Christian church called the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in 1987
Joshua, pictured with Christopher Tonge who is also known as Brother Chris, has faced a catalogue of allegations of sexual and physical abuse since his death
Chris is now the face of his own brand of Christian preaching from a small room in the heart of the Welsh countryside.
He has continued to express support for Joshua through an online church, God's Heart TV, which was set up by his parents Gary and Fiona Tonge in January 2022.
Now a close relative of one of TB Joshua's female victims told the Mail she is concerned about Brother Chris's failure to condemn the disgraced pastor.
She said her relative is 'still quite lost' after returning to the UK following almost two decades spent living in Joshua's compound.
'Vulnerable people are at risk,' she told the Mail. 'She [family member] is still feeling very lost, even years later she still can't think straight.
'She is still not aware she was in a cult and still talks of TB Joshua as a good man. I'm concerned about the ongoing pull [of God's heart TV] for her.'
Chris is the voice and face of online church God's Heart TV, which was set up by his parents
Women interviewed by the documentary makers revealed they had been sexually assaulted and raped by Joshua while living in his compound in Lagos, Nigeria, as his 'disciples'.
Others told how Joshua would physically assault them and force his disciples to work long hours while allowing them as little as three hours sleep per night.
They told how so-called 'miracles' were faked or exaggerated, such as people claiming to have been cured of cancer by Joshua when they in fact never had the disease.
For Chris's part, he dismisses the allegations as a distraction.
'I want to emphasise that my personal experiences do not correlate with any of the allegations in this documentary,' he said in a video after its release.
'As Christians we should be careful not to shift our attention, our focus from the spiritual, the natural, and get distracted from the Great Commission'.
The 'Great Commission' refers to the instruction Christians believe was given by the Holy Spirit to spread Christianity throughout the world.
And on the second anniversary of Joshua's death, Chris described the day as 'an opportunity for reflection but also a time for thanksgiving - in recognition of the millions worldwide impacted by his [Joshua's] life of selfless service and sacrifice for God's Kingdom.'
God's Heart TV was set up by Chris and his parents, Fiona and Gary Tonge
It was at the Holy Trinity Brompton Church in South Kensington where the Tonges are understood to have first met Constance Marten's (pictured) mother, Virginie De Selliers
Marten, left, and her partner Mark Gordon, right, were convicted of gross negligence manslaughter of their baby in September
To this day, Brother Chris describes himself as a 'Disciple of TB Joshua' in his social media accounts.
The family has now set up their own religious movement in a quiet corner of north Wales, seemingly with a basis in Joshua's own evangelism.
God's Heart TV provides a 24/7 stream of prayer sessions, sermons and preaching for followers from around the world to tune in at any moment, with just the touch of a button.
Chris shares endless testimonials from followers who claim desperate situations have all been cured after submitting prayer requests through his site.
The cure of disease and sickness, miracle births and healing to intimate genital problems are all attributed to Brother Chris's interactive prayers - as are more commonplace life events such as being successful in applying for a new job, passing a driving test or having an offer approved on a house.
His 'interactive' prayer sessions, which are livestreamed once a month and posted online, see hundreds of people tune in and appear on screens surrounding Chris and other members of his organisation.
The wall of faces, made up of people from all over the world, remain on screen for hours, punctuated only by conversations with those who have applied to have Chris pray for them ahead of the session.
Filled with passion, Chris paces around the studio preaching before reaching out and touching figures on screen, or gesturing towards the camera - in an eerily similar manner to Joshua.
TB Joshua was accused of abusing his followers and faking the miracles that were filmed and streamed to millions around the world
TB Joshua's compound was usually guarded and access was strictly controlled (pictured surrounded by mourners after his death in 2021)
This is of little surprise given Chris first preached to thousands while a disciple to Joshua, having first met him aged just 16.
While he is the on-screen face of God's Heart TV, his parents Gary and Fiona are directors of the company behind the scenes.
They too travelled to the compound in Lagos, even sending their children to live in the compound as teenagers.
Back in the UK, survivors said the couple were responsible for recruiting new followers from their local church in London, the Holy Trinity Brompton in South Kensington.
They spread word of Joshua at the church and further afield, with many they encountered then travelling to Lagos to visit, or even become disciples themselves.
It was at the Holy Trinity Brompton Church in South Kensington where the Tonges are understood to have first met Constance Marten's mother, Virginie De Selliers.
Survivors who knew Marten while living in Lagos told the Mail that after learning of TB Joshua from Fiona Tonge, she later sent her own daughter to live at the compound.
Several survivors have told how Marten's time in Nigeria appears to have triggered a downward spiral that would ultimately end in her conviction, alongside boyfriend Mark Gordon, for the gross negligence manslaughter of her baby daughter.
One told how Marten had been 'broken' by Joshua, while a second said she was brought to Nigeria by her mother 'to get help – help in the sense that she was rebellious, strong-willed, disobedient'.
Some years after her return to the UK, and while working for Al-Jazeera as a researcher, Marten is said to have pursued making a documentary to expose Joshua in the mid 2010s, but it never came to fruition.
By all accounts, on her return the aristocrat's daughter was not the same person who had left for Lagos six months previously.
This, according to those who knew her, was a natural result of being 'brainwashed' by Joshua - with his compound described in a BBC interview as 'a place of torture, psychological abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, and sexual abuse.'
God's Heart TV and Christopher Tonge have been contacted for comment.