Another healer in Kampala: Benny Hinn

This weekend the legendary pastor and faith healer Benny Hinn was in town. One of Ellen's patients gave a testimony in church about his healing. He had been diagnosed and was being treated for hypertension. He also had "a pain in his R side and L arm". (We're not sure if the pain was from angina, MI, or TIA...or something else) But at the event prayers were offered for a miracle and his pain went away, and he concluded saying, "So now I can stop my medicine."

Acknowledgement and credit given to the spiritual world and powers pervades Africa. People's lives, speech, and answers to questions are all driven by their belief in a spiritual power. From a western standpoint, this is a deterrent to science and evidence based medicine. To people who are struggling to get by day by day, this is a comfort to rely on a Provider in times with no reliable government or economy, and they keep believing because many of their hopeless circumstances are, indeed, answered by prayer.

I think of this different paradigm a lot while I pass stores called, "Praise Supermarket" or "Allah bicycle repair and salon" (I'm not making this up!!) or see billboards announcing the next big visiting pastor that preys on the faith of the people. It seems silly until I meet a refugee whose difficult life is hopeful and meaningful because of their faith.

Whether one sees a reliance on the spirit world as good or bad--simple-minded or intuitive--is almost irrelevant. The fact is that the culture is deeply immersed in spirituality and providing care must be based around this: a balance between medicine and faith.