Australian Pastor Raised from the Dead

Viliame "Bill" Kolikata, pastor in Australia

This is the testimony of a Fijian man, named Viliame "Bill" Kolikata, pastor of Living Stones Mission Fellowship in Australia. While attending a prayer meeting at the great hall of the Parliament House, Canberra, on October 22, 2007, he had a heart attack and died.  About twenty minutes later, he was resuscitated.  This is a factual account that has been medically documented.  Now he has a powerful message for the church and pastors today, as he retells the experience he had while he was dead.

"My heart just stopped and reports in the hospital said I was gone for 20 minutes. The doctors explained to me he can't do resuscitation on my mouth because there was no life, so he did it on my nose," Kolikata said. "They felt the heartbeat again, but it was in and out. I was in comatose for three days. They prayed and commanded the spirit of death to leave."

Kolikata said that while he was dead, his spirit left his body and went on a journey. As he looked back on this world, it was a very dark, sad place that seemed haunted.  There was nothing here that made him want to come back.

"I (could) see my body and saw the angels around me and they took me. I came to a beautiful place. On top of the mountain was a beautiful church strong. But one thing catches my eyes, the foundation of the building was made up of white sand," he shared.

He saw a beautiful church on a mountaintop in rainbow colors.  It was on sand like the white sands of the Caribbean lagoons.  He was told that this was the church on earth today.  It is built on sand.

"The voice of the Lord said, 'Son, what you are seeing now is the picture of My Church in the world. It's beautiful, but the foundation is very weak. You need to take this message to church,'" Kolikata continued.

The Lord told him, “My servants have departed from Me.  They have departed from My ways.  There are a lot of sins in the church. There is no holiness.  The Church has compromised.  Repent.  Repent before me. Humble yourself.  Turn from your wicked ways.”

The Lord showed him that the church is involved in alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, and many other things.  But no one wants to say anything, because no one wants to offend anybody. He went on to say, "God is not happy. Jesus is not happy."

Shortly after Kolikata's experience, the leaders of Willow Creek Church near Chicago repented publicly for their mistakes.  That church has been built on the seeker friendly model of church growth.  They do and preach what people want to hear.  They have spent millions of dollars doing this. They published Kolikata's story a few days after it happened.  They confessed that after all these years, they have not done the right thing.  There is no discipleship in the church.

Kolikata exhorts disciples of Christ by saying, "Pour your energy into serving the Lord and His kingdom.  Invest your talents in His service.  Pray, 'Lord, this is for You.'”

He points out that we are all so focused on the natural, material realm.  We invest in it.  It doesn’t matter how much you build in the natural.  You cannot take any of it with you.  Everything we build will be destroyed.  He says, "Give everything you’ve got to the Lord: your own life, your wife, your husband, your children, your talents, your energy.  Always glorify God in everything you do and say."

He emphasizes the need for a return to fasting, praying, feeding on the Word of God, because we are in a battle against darkness 24/7. He exhorts us to "Start doing what God says.  Stop building on material things.  Stop fulfilling your own plans and designs. Relationship comes first and then ministry.  Make sure your relationship with God is right first.  This is critical." 

I believe that many pastors today think they are doing the right thing.  And if they hear of this story, they may be inclined to dismiss it as potentially false, and something that does not apply to them.  But Kolikata warns us not to do this.  He says, "All seven churches in Revelation thought they were focused on the right thing.  They were not aware of their sin until Jesus the Head of the Church revealed it to John.  The message for all [except two of the] seven churches was 'repent.'"

He warns, "The Church does not belong to the pastors.  It belongs to Jesus."  There is only one Head of the church, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.  We need to restore Him to His rightful place once again. Today, Kolikata shares this message from the Lord with churches and anyone else who will listen.

Attribution: Excerpts of this story were used with permission from CBN News from an article called "Prayer Movement 'Rising Up' Australia."  Other excerpts were taken from a 40-minute video of his testimony that was once posted online, but has since been marked private, and is no longer accessible to the general public.

Author's note:  The pastor featured in this article is not personally connected with this site. Please prayerfully listen to his testimony, and use the Testimony Review Process adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has spoken to him.  For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with the Lord, whether something is valid or not. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.

If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading an article, called "Snatched from Death to Life during the National Prayer Call", by Danny Nalliah, the pastor who led the prayer service in which Kolikata died. It contains brother Danny's testimony of how the event unfolded from his perspective on the podium. You may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Main Directory for Eternal Destinations, such as Nigerian Pastor Raised from the Dead, Korean Pastor Raised from the Dead, The Four Tallest Homes in Heaven, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, and A Warning for Christian Married Couples. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.