Johannesburg - Alleluia Ministries on Wednesday said their leader, Alph Lukau, and the church did not know the person or have any dealings or interactions with "Elliot" or his family prior to their arrival at the church on 24 February, before his "resurrection".
"At the outset, both Alleluia Ministries and Pastor Alph want to make it abundantly clear that they remain steadfast in their belief that through the power of God people cannot only be healed but they can also, certainly, be resurrected from the dead.
"God’s power, simply put, knows no bounds," said Church appointed spokesperson, Minister Busi Gaca.
Gaca lamented that instead of being celebrated as divine interventions, miracles, and those who believed in them, were instead being attacked and ridiculed.
"We are accused of being charlatans and those who share our belief in the divine power of God are labelled naïve.
"Our detractors will stop at nothing to dissuade you from accepting that not everything has a rational explanation; dissuade you from accepting that there is a God who desperately wants you to live your lives according to his teachings; convince you that to have faith is to be naïve," Gaca said.
The church also said in its statement that Lakau had not claimed that he resurrected the person shown in the video.
"Prior to even praying over Elliot, Pastor Alph states that Elliot is in fact breathing, the facts surrounding Elliot's death were presented to Pastor Alph by Elliot's family (as seen in the video) and these were then reported as such, during the service Pastor Alph clearly states that the extent of the miracle needs to be verified and that such verification should include interviewing Elliot's doctor and interviewing everyone in the mortuary," Gaca said.
Gaca also said that claims on social media that a person photographed with Alph was Elliot, are untrue. The person was, in fact, an employee of the church, Gaca said in the statement.
He also said in the statement that Elliot had been arrested.
Gaca also denied that the church, or anybody linked to the church, had ever engaged with funeral parlours as was alleged.
"We encourage all of those who wish to interrogate the video and testimony to do so with the intention of seeking the truth and that you be guided by the facts as depicted in the video and not the versions being peddled by our detractors," Gaca said.