Apostle Joshua Selman Nimmack always knew there was something unusual about him. For one, right from a tender age, he knew God’s hand was upon him.
There’s this knowing you cannot explain. But then every time I watch TV and I saw anything that had to do with ministry, the grace of God, there was this witness that I had within me.
Someday I’ll be the one doing this. And so, while most children of his age were concerned with playing, selman was almost always alone in his room studying the word of God. And one day, Selman raised his little hands and surrendered to Jesus Christ during a Sunday school session. But while in secondary school, selman began to experience the extraordinary in his life. It started when a mentor began to teach Selman how to know God even better.
He taught us things like spiritual growth, quiet time. He formulated a quiet time booklet for us that we had to follow through. He taught us the ethics of good Christian character. He helped me because I had a bit of a challenge growing up in terms of complex and trying to reconcile my dreams and the things that I see around me. It opened me up to every motivation that I needed. And I really loved God.
I began to pursue Him, seek Him truly and sincerely from my heart. And that was when Selman began to witness the supernatural. We had a program where a man of God was invited. And then he prayed for those who wanted to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that would be an experience of a lifetime. I got filled with the Holy Ghost.
We did extraordinary things in the school. I mean, there were five of us. We started walking in miracles. I mean, real miracles. I was so super intelligent, it was amazing. I started seeing things in the Spirit, didn’t know what they were. I mean, angels, manifestations. I would receive words about things and they would happen. I would pray for students. I remember praying for one of our students who was a stamara. And he got healed. It wasn’t a big deal because we were just acting by faith.
Sadly, we had a time when they preached against all of these things that we walked in and we really backslided. We’re not prayerful again. We’re not open to the things of the Spirit. We literally shut the door of the Holy Spirit. But all this changed with one encounter.
On the 2 December 2002. I’ll never forget someone walked up to me in the night and tapped me. I was sleeping. I mean, literally tapped me. I wasn’t dreaming. And I woke up. I didn’t see anybody, but I knew it was Jesus. I cannot tell you how I knew. I knew it was Jesus.
That would be my first dramatic encounter with him. I knew it was Jesus. I began to cry, I began to sob. I got down on my knees, I began to pray. And I said Lord, I rededicate myself for your use, for your service. By the time he got into the university, selman’s hunger for God became unquenchable.
I used to spend time praying and just seeking God and sometimes I’ll go to the dam and just pray and tell God lord, I know that my life is supposed to bring you glory, but I’m tired of living a purposeless life. And I remember praying and crying and I would stay sometimes from morning to night telling the Lord you must use me, tell me, let me know why I am here on earth.
One night I had a dramatic vision. I was standing in front of the tower, really one of the hostels in university campuses and suddenly I saw a crowd of people. I couldn’t see the end of them. It was a sea of people and the people were crying, they were sobbing. And in that vision they were saying there was no food and no water. And I said really? I mean I had compassion upon the people. Suddenly in the vision it became like I had the key to the storehouse of that entire generation. And I asked the people, I said is it my fault? They said, yes, it’s your fault. We are dying of thirst. Talking about the bread of the water of life and the bread of life and all of that.
And I told them I will be coming down right now to rescue you. I got up from that vision, I cried and it put a fire in my spirit. I knew that God had called me to be a preacher, to be a minister. The most dramatic of all experiences was when I met Jesus himself. And there he was standing before me, the King of Kings himself. I have seen him. I know he’s alive. I cannot tell you what he looks like. The beauty and the brilliance on his face. The love, the power, the light. I was flat on the floor like a dead man. I understand what Isaiah said. No, he said, the Lord high and lifted up and the train of his robe. I saw him in his glory. Jesus.
I knew instantly that this was Jesus Christ. He didn’t tell me anything. All he did was stretch his hands towards me and a beam of light. There is no human way that light would come upon me in the physical without destroying me. I mean it would disintegrate me in seconds. But that beam of light and remember the Bible says the entrance of thy Word, give it light and understanding. That encounter brought a level of anointing into my life.
I had unusual insights into the word of God. I suddenly was opened fully into the realm of angels. Miracles, visions, insight, faith. The faith of the Son of God came upon me. I mean I knew all things were possible. All things the whole world needs to know. Jesus Christ believe me, he’s not one leader of a religion. He is lord. When you see Him, you will know the earth belongs to Him.
You will know he’s not contending for a position. He’s not scratching his head, wondering what to do. He’s in control. I love him. Today, beyond ministry. I have seen his glory. I have seen his grace. But I can trade I mean, I cannot trade any of these things for Him. Let ministry go. Let the world go. Let money go, let marriage go. Believe me, believe me, I mean this from the depth of my heart. Amazing, is all I can say.
Selman’s story is one that challenges me, and I hope you’re as eager as I am to know how it ended. Well, let’s get back and see how it all unfolds. It all began with a deep longing for God. Then gradually, Selman Joshua NIMMACK was open into the realm of the supernatural. What began to happen blew even his mind.
I would go to place of solitude and just sit alone for hours and hours, digging on the scripture, fishing out things, writing all the visions. And many times the glory of God would literally come and mantle me. I mean, sometimes I would see a mist, a literal mist, a cloud, sometimes in the shape of a man. Sometimes the angels of God would come to me visiting.
