Jesus for All Nations

Nagpada

Meshach Octavio Nevis

Lower Parel

Bishop Octavio Nevis

Jesus

JFAN website

Followers of Octavio Nevis, founder ofChurch inclaim their apostle’s powers of healing will help him raise his son from the dead.died on October 27 at his home in. But he has still not been buried. That’s because his father,, believes that he will rise from the dead. “Brother has healed several people. Aids, cancer, arthritis, migraine, and blindness. He is a mediator between god and his people. He has been gifted with powers of healing. Didn’trise from the dead and go to heaven?” says Pravin More, one of Octavio’s followers.Nevis, 17, suffered from blood cancer, and his body was initially kept at his residence. But, as pressure built up from other residents of the housing society, it was transported to Nagpada. Octavio works out of Nagpada Neighbourhood House. He is the bishop – and the founder – of Jesus for All Nations (JFAN) church. Nevis’s body lay for 7 days in a temperature-controlled coffin, until the police acted on an anonymous complaint filed last Friday and confronted Octavio. Over the weekend, the bishop and his family transported Nevis to Ambernath, but both the living and the dead did not get much respite, as the Ambernath police, who were given a heads-up by their counterparts in Nagpada, asked them to either bury the body, or move it out of the area. At this moment, the body of Meshach lies in a morgue in Byculla.According to the, Octavio Nevis, who founded the church about 20 years ago, was a street brawler before his life was transformed. The former ruffian and martial arts expert prayed for 16 hours a day, and, says the JFAN site, used the same hands with which he used to beat up people to heal them. Today, Octavio’s ministry has branches in Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, Khirkee and Pune, and he is also popular in Dubai. According to More, who also handed events for JFAN, this is the not the first time Meshach has died. “Meshach had died two years ago, too. His father’s prayers brought him back. We are sure this time, too, a miracle will happen.”Meshach’s family and Octavio’s followers are so sure of the power of their leader’s prayers that they have been keeping a constant vigil over the body and participating in the prayers for the last 10-odd days. “Some hundred of them would come here and pray before the body was shifted to Nagpada,” said a resident of Shree K r i s h n a Apartment, where the Nevises stay. “If he had s u c h powers, why did he not cure his child rather than letting him die?” Octavio’s wife Priscilla refused to speak to this newspaper. Attempts to get in touch with Octavio proved unsuccessful.Octavio’s followers say that they are only too happy to co-operate with the police, but also feel that they have been disturbing their prayers. “They are doing their work and we will be happy to help them. But this constant moving about with Meshach has meant that we cannot pray in peace. It has affected our prayers,” said a follower. “We have bought some time from them. We will decide what to do on Wednesday, as some of their relatives are flying in from abroad.”Meanwhile, the police, who could register a case in this matter suo moto, are waiting for “someone” to file a complaint. “There is no complainant in the matter, so we cannot register an offence,” said Sanjay Baswant, senior police inspector, Nagpada. According to Dr Harish Pathak, head of the forensics department at KEM Hospital, what the Nevises are doing is against the law. “Nobody can keep the body at home like this. Cops can take action under anti- superstition act.”Word is that Meshach will finally be buried by Wednesday evening. The followers of the church say that the body is holding up fine. “We have been very peaceful, and will decide on the burial process by Wednesday,” said one of them. But, they are also hopeful that the something wondrous might happen in the intervening hours. “Brother has cured many people. He is the only one praying for his child. That’s why we have sought some more time from the cops.”