3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CHRISTIANITY AND THE IMPACT OF THE REVIVAL MOVEMENT IN THE NORTH WESTERN DIOCESE OF THE
6.2. What has to be done by the Church?
6.2.1. Emphasis on the Ministry of Healing
Our prime question is: how can the Church be a healing community? In answering this, the question is not to know whether miraculous healing is possible or not. The basic question is to know how miraculous healing can be made a reality in the life of Christians. Many people including the Abalokole consider the act of confession the beginning of inner healing as the Holy Spirit touches the source of their suffering.
The Abalokole consider the act of confession the beginning of inner healing as the Holy Spirit touches the sources of their sufferings. The sick person needs to discover the sickness and he/she, with the help of Abashumba(p&stors), Abainjilisti( evangelists), or other faithful C\ms\mns(Abakristo Abesigwa), needs to believe that Jesus Christ forgives and heals.
Everyne Kato emphasizes that Jesus Christ alone is the healer and ministers (watumishi wa Mungu) and the medicines are just channels that God uses. Interview with, Everyne Kato, Kahororo, 10/9/2002). The Abalokole critically condemns waganga wa kienyeji (traditional healers) who force people to abstain from some foods. By food abstinence, the victims are saluting the demons and therefore become slaves of them. Jane Kataraia and Joseph Lweyongeza believe that committed Abalokole cannot be affected by demons unless they elapse (Interview with Jane Kataraia, Buyekela, 7/8/2002; Interview with Joseph Lweyongeza, Itongo, 12/7/2002.
However, it was observed that among the revivalists there is a common tendency of shouting- umeshindwa kwa jina la Yesu( in the name of Jesus Christ you have been defeated), whenever one see or hears strange things. This may not only denote a common fear of those demons and witchcraft, but also their African nature. Alternatively, it causes the Abalokole to put more trust in Jesus' power and authority.
It can be argued therefore that the power of demons in the body of human being is a question
ordinary Christians will be blinded so that they may not see the importance of trusting God alone while those who are not Christians will be blinded from seeing the realities that are claimed by the Gospel.
According to the Abalokole, a person with demonic possession must have offered him/ her- self to the devil and therefore lived apart from God. Rohoza Kagemulo for example believes that demons possess people only if they expose themselves to demonic influences such as kutambikia mizimu (veneration of the dead), dances of spirits, and adultery. She argues that, such people can be rescued only when they confess publicly what they had been doing ( Interview with Rohoza Kagemulo, Itongo, 4/5/2002).
By using Exodus 15:26, Namata explains why some people do not receive healing. He mentions, lack of faith( Mat, 17:14), some positive reason from Christ (Gal. 4:13-14), misunderstanding of the disease, sin, praying without touching the root of sickness, disregarding medical treatments, uncleanness, bad family relationships or dependence on the 'servant of God' for healing instead of God ( Namata 1990:141-145). These regards show that receiving healing depends on two conditions. God's will and personal preparation for healing.
As Buhrmann writes, healing means to make whole and healthy. It implies that what was previously whole has become fragmented and had subsequently been restored to its previous wholeness and that signifies health (in Pillay 1989: 16). Healing according to Oosthuizen is an opening up for the person of the way to self fulfilment. Physical healing is linked to social healing, in other words, the restoration of disturbed relationships, which implies those relationships which destroy social- economic well being (in Pillay 1989:16).
Namata mentions four types of sickness that may be in the body of an individual. First, there are the spiritual sicknesses that are caused by the sins that the person has committed. Such sicknesses often include those caused by curses, guilt, and bad dreams. According to Namata, these sicknesses are only healed through a deep prayer of confession in which a person is helped to realize his or her sin.
Second, there are mental sicknesses. According to Namata, these are the result of troubles in someone's life which may be caused by other people. These may include marriage issues, family matters, sexual harassment and others.
A person who suffers from such difficulties can be afflicted by his or her pains to the point that they may bring psychological problems, a heart attack etc. They can have a permanent effect
on a person if he or she is not helped to overcome them (Namata 1990:138-139).
Namata says that such sickness needs inner healing prayers that will make the person aware of the importance of forgiving others before he or she can be forgiven. Confession helps a person to release the tensions and stresses he or she has. Namata links this idea with Jesus' emphasis on the significance of forgiving others (Mk. 11:25), which has a psychological impact on the life of an individual.
Namata also mentions sickness of the body. These result from infections by bacteria, virus and fungi on the body. Others in the same group are those caused by accidents. The European and African traditional medicines and a prayer of faith heal these sicknesses. The sick person needs to discover the sickness and he or she, with the help of the people of God, needs to believe that Jesus forgives and heals
Finally, there are those sickness associated with demonic possession. Munga describes them thus:
i) Demons are evil spirits who can be sent to or cast out of their hosts.
ii) Once occupying a person, they have the power to control their hosts.
iii Demons are harmful. While inside their host, they can cause afflictions.
iv) Demons might exist in a person without his or her knowledge.
v) Demons are described in anthropomorphic terms; they execute their duties by receiving and obeying orders from Satan; they read the Scriptures, they reason out how to hinder the advancement of God's work and they act accordingly (Munga; 1998:115).
The prayers for exorcism peculiar to these types of sicknesses are emotional compared to those for other types of sicknesses. According to Namata, the prayers for exorcism are in the form of command directed to the demon while other prayers are directed to God who can
The importance of healing is further stressed because of the ideas, stemming from the African ontology of being, regarding the mystical causation of illness. Kiernan says "while a member is ill, the community is at risk (1990:95). This is because an ill person has come within the influence of outside malevolent forces. She or he is to be "shred up", strengthened and bound more tightly into the community of the saved" (1990:95).
Taking this further, Hexham and Oosthuzen state that healing does not limit itself to the individual, but also affects the life of the community and society at large. The African approach to healing is holistic. When a person is sick the whole person is sick, and not part of him or her. According to the African understanding, it may even go to the extent that when a person is ill, everybody else around him is considered to be ill (1996:179). Therefore, for the researcher, healing is not only the absence of disease; healing is the act, event or process of restoring the person to the state of well being making it possible to live in harmony with fellow human beings, the environment and God.
Healing is one expression of God's special care for people "I am the Lord, your healer"
(Exodus; 15:26b). God orders people with power and destroys enemies and deceivers. God's will for the people, a will that is not without condition, is imaged through that of God as a healer. Both disease and health originate with God. "I kill and I make alive; I would heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand" (Deut. 32:39). God relates to people both positively and negatively. In Hosea God is represented as being in despair over Israel's seeming incurableness. In Jeremiah, Yahweh affirms "Your heart is incurable, and your wound is grievous. There is no one to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you" (Jer. 30:12-13).
In the New Testament, Jesus' miraculous healings are presented as the signs that the Messiah has arrived and the Kingdom of God is in our midst. Among the powers of the Messiah is the power to heal the sick (Mt. 11:4-6; Lk. 7:21). Jesus' healings are presented in the gospels as the product of his charismatic power.
One of the beautiful summaries of Jesus healing is found in his answer to John the Baptist's disciples. "Go and tell John what you are hearing and seeing..." (Mt. 11:1-6). A list of healing is even given, including bringing the dead back to life. How did Jesus heal the sick?
He touched them, and he looked at their trust. This shows us that, Jesus is the model for healing and challenges the Church and any person involved in the healing ministry. The question to ask ourselves: Is Jesus' attitude and way of dealing with patients not a challenge to some health care workers, pastors, abalokole and other Christians who deal roughly with the sick, or even avoid them as in the case of those who avoid AIDS patients pointing an accusing finger? There is no doubt that Jesus' way is an invitation and a challenge to Christians, to welcome the prodigal sons and daughters of society (cf, Lk. 15:11-32). In fact, an effective healing ministry, requires openness, receptivity, and understanding towards those in search of healing.
From the historical point of view, Jesus stood in the tradition of the Jewish charismatic healers. Touching is a very important aspect of Jesus' ministry of healing. In the Hebrew Scripture God is the one who sees our afflictions, who hears our cries and feels our pain. The ministry of Jesus represents God's salvific God, a God of life (Hayes 1990:520).
In 1 Corithians chapter 12, where Paul is describing the characteristic gifts which the Spirit of God produces, he mentions the gift of healing and the working of miracles (1 Cor. 12: 9-10, 29-30). He does not describe their occurring, nor does he indicate whether or not he shared in these gifts. They are, however, ranked by him in fourth place, after the role of Apostles, Prophets, and Teachers.
Near the end of his oratory treatise, the author of the book of James asks his readers to confess their sins to one another and to pray for one another so "that you may be healed."
Implicit in this exhortation is that sickness is related to sin (obufu ndwala), just as healing is linked with forgiveness (kukila n 'okuganyilwa), which as noted is also the case in the gospel tradition. What is wholly clear from this non narrative New Testament evidence is that healing continues to have a significant role in the lives of those who see themselves as the people of God.
For Luther, healing was a dispensation of a former time (Kelsey; 1973:23). His suggestion was that great miracles like healing were given in the beginning simply so that the Church people could do greater work than these by teaching, converting and saving men spiritually (1973:21). For Luther what passed for healing miracles seemed to him to be devil artifices
enlightened Scripture for now that the apostles have preached the Word and have given their writings, and nothing more than what they have written remains to be revealed no new and special revelation or a miracle is necessary (1973:22).
Luther later on changed this view. Moreover, he even wrote instructions on a healing ministry based on the letter of James. These instructions were written as a response to the request for advice on mental illness. His response was that he knew of no worldly wisdom to give. From his experience with encountering the problem he felt that the case "must be counteracted by the power of Christ and with the prayer of faith" (Tappert 1955:52).
His instruction on healing service was that the pastor should go to the patient:
".. .with the deacon, and two or three good men confident as you, as the pastor of the place, one clothed with the authority of ministerial office, lay your hands upon him and say " peace be with you dear brother, from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ." Thereupon repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer over him and close, with the words "O God Almighty Father, who has told us through thy Son, verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you; who hast commanded and encouraged us to pray in his name. Ask, and ye shall receive; and who in like manner has said, call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and you shall glorify me; we unworthy sinners, relying on these thy words and commands, pray for thy mercy with such faith as we can master.
Graciously deign to free this man from evil, and put to nought the work of that Satan has done in him, to the honour of thy name and the strengthening of the faith of believers: through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, world without end. Amen. Then when you depart, lay your hands upon the man again and say, "These signs shall follow them that believe; and they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
(Tappert 1955:52).
Other than writing the institutions for healing ministry, Luther also showed concern for caring for the sick. He took care of sick people rather than turning them over to institutional care (Reus 1965:990). This is seen in his letter to Johan Hass about the question on whether one may flee from a deadly plague (Wiencke 1968:119). He refused to move to Jena and remained in Wittenberg where he had a 'hospital' in his own house of which he became 'his own hospital director' (1968:116); Reus 1965:991). This hospital was different from a
modern hospital. It was a place in which Luther specialized in caring for the sick (especially the victims of bubonic plague). It was in this 'hospital' where he ministered to the victims of this dreadful plague through the Word of God comforting, strengthening them and also praying for them daily (Wiencke 1968: 115).
Luther viewed spiritual healing as an integral part of the pastoral task of the Church. He did not forget that medically trained people should be consulted. But especially when their counsels seemed at an end the constant necessity for intercessory prayer stood out plainly (Hoffman 1976 198-199).
Through Luther's instructions on healing ministry one can observe three aspects about the healing ministry.
First, is the method to be employed for healing the patient. In healing the patient, the pastor should lay his or her hands upon the patient and pray with the words of the prayer he or she has chosen.
The second aspect is who should do this ministry? According to the instructions, not only the pastor is responsible for this ministry, but both the pastor and the laity are responsible. This reveals that sharing of the work should be adopted in a healing ministry.
The third aspect is that people involved should have faith, otherwise, they shall lay hands on the sick and they will not recover.
It seems that healing was a very important ministry in the Early Church. However it is disappointing to see that up to now the Lutheran Church does not seem to have a well developed theology of healing. The Lutheran Church seems to lack literature on the contextual healing ministry. This is why some of the Abahaya Christians are joining Pentecostal Churches. Beneath the umbrella of Pentecostal Churches, they seem to have found a place where they feel at home, not only in worship, where they can shed their tears, voice their sorrows, and present their spiritual and physical needs, but in the whole expression of their Christian faith.