Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Vacancies in the Evangelical Church of Malawi

Evangelical Church Of Malawi

(NYASA MISSION)

SHIRE VALLEY SUB-SYNOD.
P.O. Box 90, Nchalo, Malawi.
20th October 2010

The Evangelical Church Of Malawi (Shire Valley Sub- Synod) is looking for Experienced Coordinators to work exclusively in The Shire Valley Region (SVRC).

1. HIV AND AIDS TREATMENT AND HOME BASED CARE COORDINATOR.

(i) International and Multicultural
(ii) Qualified Clinician with either Diploma in Clinical Medicine or MBBS with little public Health training.
(iii) Vast Experience in HIV or Infectious diseases.
(iv) Experince working in a leadership role in HIV and AIDS.
(v) Other Public Health diseases control programs in tropics.
(vi) Knowledge about Scientific Literature on HIV and AIDS care and treatment.
(vii) Demonstrated ability in research world be an added advantage
(viii) Computer literate.

CONTRACT DURATION
 Based on 5 years contract and annually renewable at the end of five years.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY
 Working in a leadership role in HIV and AIDS and other Public Health disease control within the Shire Valley Region Council.
 Caring the sick and alleviating the special groups i.e. orphans, elderly, and widows.
 Research the effective approach towards the affected areas and families.
 Working hand in hand with the Shire Valley Region and report to the Region council constantly.
 Prepare to work odd hours sometimes.
 Preaching and teaching in various church centres as deemed necessary by the SVRC especially on Sundays and other occasions.
 Facilitate and organize community and review meetings.
 Sound report writing skills.
 Establishing and building of Health Centres and counseling places.

2. INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICE PROJECT COORDINATOR.

The Evangelical Church Of Malawi (Shire Valley Sub-Synod) is inviting missionaries to express interest in Infrastructure Services Coordinator from Overseas exclusively for The Shire Valley Region (SVRC).

Qualifications
 Minimum holder of Diploma in Civil Engineering or any relevant qualifications.
 Ready to coordinate in the remotest area in tropics.
 With recommended experience in Infrastructure construction i.e. Churches, Schools, Clinics etc.
 Computer literate

CONTRACT DURATION
 Five (5) years contract and possibility of renewable at the end of five years.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE COORDINATOR.
 To provide construction supervision services for the selected Shire Valley Regional Council developmental works.
 Upgrading the poorly constructed churches and other infrastructures.
 Rehabilitation of other lowly standard infrastructures.
 Improving the church within the Project corridors through labour based reshaping etc.
 Supervising the construction works for all selected church centres.
 Verifying personnel protection but from within the church.
 Verify the hand tools and equipment provided.
 Timely report compilation and submission on all project activities and lessons learnt and challenges coordinator to the Sub-Synod Executive.

3. EDUCATION COORDINATOR.

The suitable missionary shall be:-

Qualifications
 Minimum of BA in Education.
 Familiar with Education context in Africa.
 Willing to work in tropics.
 Willing to work with Africans without a sign of discrimination.

CONTRACT DURATION
 Five (5) years contract and is renewable at the end of five years.

JOB DESCRIPTION
 Searching fund for orphans in Secondary Schools.
 Improving the welfare of primary school going orphans by providing them with the basic requirements within the Sub-Synod.
 Establishing the learning Institution within the Sub-Synod locality.
 Introducing many primary Institutions for both orphans and those with their parents.
 Employing good teachers to help the Coordinator.

It is expected that missionaries raise their own support and also assist in the raising of project funds for their respective projects.

For more detailed information contact the Regional Admin. Secretary through gzembetsani@illovo.co.za or otherwisemapute@gmail.com

Sunday, October 17, 2010

witchcraft accusations

Barely a month after our dear pastor friend had to bury 4 youth after they had thrown themselves in a fire, today we were confronted with another so-called pastor who accused some teenage girls of being witches. The three girls, aged 14, 16 and 17 were consequently expelled from their families and beaten so badly by the community that the police had to intervene to save their lives. They came to the girlshome for help but the home is full beyond capacity and we had to house them in an empty room. Please pray that the Lord may provide the necessary resources so that we can help children and youths who after being accused of being witches are in grave danger without protection or rights.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria (CNN) -- Just after midnight, the pastor seized a woman's forehead with his large hand and she fell screaming and writhing on the ground. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" shouted the worshippers, raising their hands in the air.

Pastor Celestine Effiong's congregants are being delivered from what they firmly believe to be witchcraft. And in the darkness of the city and the villages beyond, similar shouts and screams echo from makeshift church to makeshift church.

"I have been delivered from witches and wizards today!" exclaimed one exhausted-looking woman.

Pastors in southeast Nigeria claim illness and poverty are caused by witches who bring terrible misfortune to those around them. And those denounced as witches must be cleansed through deliverance or cast out.

As daylight breaks, and we travel out to the rural villages it becomes apparent the most vulnerable to this stigmatization of witchcraft are children.

A crowd gathered around two brothers and their sister. Tears streamed down their mother's face as she cast out her children from the family, accusing them of causing the premature deaths of two of their siblings with black magic.
I was beaten by the prophet in the church.
--Samuel, 15, now homeless
RELATED TOPICS

* Nigeria
* Child Abuse
* Religion

"I am afraid. They are witches and they can kill me as well," she sobbed.

Taking his time to talk to the mother, Sam Ikpe-Itauma, an imposing man wearing a "Child's Rights & Rehabilitation Network" t-shirt, has come to try to rescue the three children.

"If we are not here there's a possibility of them being thrown into the river, buried alive or stabbed to death," Sam said.

He tries to persuade their mother and a crowd of villagers that the three children are not witches - but no one believes him. And so, putting the children in his white pick-up, he drives away to his orphanage and safety.

Sam runs Child's Rights & Rehabilitation Network, or CRARN -- an orphanage that supports nearly 200 children. All of them were accused of witchcraft and cast out by their families, often after being tortured. The orphanage provides security, healthcare, nutrition and counseling.

Check out the CRARN website

Godwin's story is typical. As he sat next to the quiet 5-year-old, Sam said that after Godwin's mother died, the church pastor told his family that "Godwin is responsible."

From his own investigation, questioning Godwin and talking with neighbors, Sam said that when a relative asked Godwin if he was a witch, "he said no and was beaten and made the confession that he actually killed the mother."

Sam said Godwin was locked up with his mother's corpse every night for three weeks with little food or water before a neighbor contacted Sam, who was able to rescue him.
Witches and wizards, they started getting afraid. I never gave them rest.
--Pastor Helen Ukpabio

Other children at his orphanage bear the scars of being beaten, attacked with boiling water, and cuts from machetes. But these children are the ones lucky to be alive.

"A child witch is said to be a witch when that child possessed with certain spiritual spells capable of making that child transform into cat, snake, vipers, insects, any other animal and that child is capable of wreaking havoc like killing of people, bringing diseases, misfortune into the family," Sam said.

"When a child is accused of being a witch -- that child is hated absolutely by everybody surrounding him so such children are sent out of the home... But unfortunately such children do not always live long. A lot of them, they're either killed, abandoned by the parents, tortured in the church or trafficked out of the city."

Sam doesn't believe in witchcraft and is trying to raise awareness in local communities now gripped by hysteria.

Belief in witchcraft is rooted in centuries of tradition, but it's only in the last 10 years, that it has become associated with child abuse, he said.

"It's a social crisis," he added. "Poverty propels this child witch phenomenon and poverty is a twin sister to ignorance.

"Most vulnerable children come from single parents, divorced parents, dysfunctional families."

But the orphanage has very little space for more children. Overstretched finances mean he can barely pay a skeleton staff of four people, as well as feed the children.

Instead, many children are left to roam the streets.

"My parents sent me out of the house -- said I'm a witch," said Samuel, a 15-year-old who has lived on the streets for five years after a local pastor blamed him for unexpected deaths in the family.

"I was beaten by the prophet in the church," he said in a quiet voice.

Samuel lives in an abandoned building with 10 other children accused of witchcraft. A local group, 'Stepping Stones Nigeria,' which is dedicated to helping street children, visits them.

"Religious leaders capitalize on the ignorance of some parents in the villages just to make some money off them," said Lucky Inyang, project coordinator for 'Stepping Stones Nigeria'.

"They can say your child is a witch and if you bring the child to the church we can deliver the child but eventually they don't deliver the children... The parents go back to the pastor and say, 'why is it you have not been able to deliver the child' and the pastor says 'Oh - this one has gone past deliverance - they've eaten too much flesh so you have to throw the child out.'"

And most pastors charge a fee for deliverance -- anywhere from $300 to $2,000.

One of the most notorious and influential pastors is Helen Ukpabio of Liberty Gospel Church. Her 1999 film, the widely distributed, "End of the Wicked" has been attacked by child rights groups for its depictions of Satan possessing children.

She had agreed to an interview but the meeting was continually postponed for two days.

But in her preaching at Liberty Gospel Church, she heralds success stories of how she has driven out demons through deliverance.

"Witches and wizards, they started getting afraid. I never gave them rest!" she shouted to a cheering congregation.

Some pastors believe education is a more powerful tool against witchcraft fears.

"One of the things that caused the parents to abandon the children is ignorance," explains another local pastor, Celestine Effiong.

The local government, however, accuses Sam Ikpe-Itauma and Lucky Inyang of using the children to run a scam.

"We insist that the name of Akwa Ibom state must not be smeared and the people of the world should not be deceived by certain NGOs who are claiming to be taking care of stigmatized children of Akwa Ibom," said Aniekan Umanah, the Information Commissioner of Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state.

"This is a ruse, they are making money for themselves."

Stories of NGOs rescuing children, say the government, are exaggerated. They argue instead, that a new Child Right's bill outlawing child stigmatization has largely ended the problem.

But despite some arrests, so far, the government acknowledges, there have been no prosecutions.

"There may be problems yes but it's been blown out of proportion and people are capitalizing, on what ordinarily may be a social problem, across the globe in painting Akwa Ibom state black -- that is the aspect we say no to. We will not allow the image of our state to be smeared."

Sam and other NGOs deny any improprieties, insist their finances are a matter of public record and plead with the government to support their cause.

"Relevant government agencies, working on security and protection of children must step up their efforts to make sure any child that is stigmatized must -- that parent, the churches, the law must be evoked to make sure such people face the law immediately, otherwise it must go on and on, on and on."

With the night comes the screams of more deliverances -- and more witches to be cast out.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Evangelist Richman Banda



Today a cry for help came from evangelist Richman Banda who works in the poor lower-shire in the vicinity of Nchalo. He is busy planting an Evangelical church called 'New Believers'. Even though Richman now has 20 families the church is unable to support his ministry sufficiently. He needs someone or a church who is able and willing to support this ministry with 30 dollars per month (MK 5000-00)?

We reckon this is a good investment in the kingdom of God as many more can then be reached with the gospel in this arid region.

For more information contact Africa Outreach or phone pastor Richman Banda himself: 00-265-884535227. Or write to Pastor Richman Banda, p/a Mr. Mageza, PO Box 18, Nchalo, Malawi.

May God bless you for considering his request.

Monday, August 16, 2010

MISSIONARY VACANCY AUGUST 2010

FAITH OUTREACH Pentecostal Church in Luchenza, Malawi is looking for a medium-long term full-time missionary to assist them:

Profile:

- A married person
- 30-60 years old
- Hetero-sexual orientation
- Committed Bible believing Christian, able evangelist, Bible teacher, preacher,
church planter.

Tasks:

- To start and give leadership to a Bible college to be run at the denomination
headquarers in Luchenza.
- To preach and teach in affiliate churches and at evangelistic meetings
- To assist in church planting activities
- To provide general assistance to the denomination and local congregation

Renumeration:

- The missionary is required to raise his own support which ideally should be about
800 dollars per adult and 500 dollars per child per month.

About the church:

Faith Outreach is a registered Pentecostal denomination with 7 congregations in Malawi and 11 in Mocambique. The denominations' headquarters are in Luchenza where it also has an orphanage.

Applications can be send to:

The head of the denomination, pastor Goodwill Chumba:goodwillchumba@yahoo.com or to the director of Africa Outreach Malawi Dr. Erwin van der Meer:africaoutreach@hotmail.com

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Progress at the girlhome


We are very pleased to report that enormous progress has been made at the home since it came under a new administration in February. The girls are very happy about the food and goods they receive. In spite of the fact that the same amount of funds are available the girls have much more food as now nothing is being stolen by the administration and all funds are properly handles and accounted for. We thank God that He has heard our prayers for a godly administrator. Not only ourselves but even the community leaders, community members, the department of social welfare and the media have noticed the positive developments at the girlshome. In the meantime all employees have gone through social welfare training and a gate, guardshelter and security wall was build. Also two churches have become pastorally involved with the girlshome which is another blessing. In the next two weeks we expect the arrival of a Belgian volunteer and also visitors from Holland.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The gospel in Malawi

In Malawi people are still very open to the gospel. The average Malawian, both in urban and rural Malawi lives in fear of witchcraft, magic and evil spirits and is in search of salvation from these things. Christ, along with forgiveness of sin and salvation from damnation is also the Lord over and above all the powers and can provide deliverance from fear and anxiety about these and replace it with faith and trust in Christ's protection. Please pray for us as we minister God's grace in this nation.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Ntcheu, Luchenza, Ngabu and Zalewa

Over the past four weeks Erwin preached all over Southern Malawi in both pentecostal and evangelical churches. The response of the people has been very good with many re-commiting their lives to Christ or coming to faith for the first time. Particularly encouraging is the response of the people to biblical teaching on witchcraft and witch-hunting and it is our sincere prayer that Gods people in Malawi will respond to these challenges from a position of faith and godly love rather than from the perspective or fear, revenge and mutual suspicion.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

This article has been accepted for publication by a theological journal and is copyrighted so please do not publish without permission

African Christianity, Witchcraft and Power-Encounters

The African church is a growing church, in spite of poverty, hardships, opposition by Islam and traditional religious practitioners, Christianity in Africa is advancing. The African Christian church is also making its voice heard internationally in international conferences and academic scholarship the African Christian voice is heard more and more and has something worthwhile to contribute to the global Christian community. The recognition that Africa is now one of the heartlands of the Christian faith (Jenkins 2002:1) implies that Christianity has to some extend become an African religion. Christianity is alive and well in Africa at least in terms of numerical growth. (Tienou 2001:154). The African Church is also becoming a growing and vibrant missionary force (Aryeeteh 1997:34). Many European theologians welcome African variants of Christianity in the hope that this will bring refreshment to Christianity and Christian praxis in Europe (Meyer 1992:2). However, our joy should not blind us for the fact that just like Christianity in other contexts, we must continue to critically evaluate our form of Christianity in the light of Holy Scripture, the character, teachings and ministry of Christ, as well as in the light of the insights gained in the 2000 year history of the Christian church. Therefore, thorough discipleship and critical theological reflection is essential.

Avoiding the errors of European church history

For African Christianity to make a healthy contribution to global Christianity it needs to avoid the errors made in European church history where Christian beliefs and European philosophy and European traditional beliefs became so mixed that the resulting Roman Catholic church could hardly be called Christian in many of its teachings and practices. The Reformation was needed for Christianity to become more Biblical and authentic . One of the biggest challenges is therefore to help African Christians think and live in ways that are both authentically African and Christian (Tineou 2001:155)

The problem of witchcraft related beliefs and practices in the African context

One of the main issues which has come into the limelight of the international media due to African witchcraft eradication excesses in the United Kingdom. Nigeria and Congo (Harris & Karamehmedovic 2009; BBC 2005; Kunhiyop 2008:379), is the problem of witchcraft and the pervasive fear of bewitchment, evil spirits and other evil supernatural powers. Magic, witchcraft and the belief in the existence of evil spirits can be found all over the African continent. In all African traditional religions one finds the concept of a supreme God, the belief in ancestral spirits and at times the belief in lesser deities or divinities. The religious scene is usually dominated by diviner-priests, witches, sorcerers or magicians, while one may also find prophets and healers (Johnson 1992:2ff). In Malawi, the country in which I live and work with Christian leaders at grassroots level, everyone talks about witchcraft and the fear of witchcraft is very real even among the educated (Musopole 1993:347-348). In spite of attempts by some Western sociologists and anthropologists to downplay witchcraft related issues as merely an idiom through which members of a community negotiate social stress, for the people on the ground the fear of witchcraft is very real and a source of major stress in the community. Individuals do practice sorcery or buy witchcraft medicines in order to gain advantage over others, or revenge, or to actually protect themselves against them (Maxwell 1995:321). Influential African theologian John Mbiti said that the fear of witchcraft is one of the most disturbing elements in African life (in Westerlund 1985:36-37).

In recent years there has been an upheaval in the media in Malawi about the evils of witchcraft and reports of violent witch hunting, imprisonment, banishment, torture, murder, the destruction or loss of one’s property, excessive fines and other forms of punishment following witchcraft allegations, mostly on the basis of supernatural evidence or narrative proof (Chandilanga 2008:4-5; Chibaya 2007:15; Kandiero 2007:15; 2007a:2; 2008:4; Kasawala 2009:1,3; Mmane 2007:1, 3; Phiri 2007:10; Zingani 2005:15). Of course this implies that the fear of witches and other evil supernatural powers is also found within the African Christian community.

Christian demonology and the African traditional worldview


The most common response to witchcraft and other African traditional beliefs by the missionaries in the modern era was to dismiss such things as superstition which would gradually disappear when people are properly educated (Khatide 2007:340-342; Onyinah 2002:107-108). Consequently when African people expressed their fear of evil spirits, witchcraft or other evil supernatural forces many missionaries denied the existence of evil spirits and magic rather than claim the power of Christ over them (Hiebert 1982:41). Many evangelical missionaries, particularly those influenced by Pentecostalism did not totally dismiss the African’s fear of witchcraft and evil spirits but redefined these in terms of Satan and the demons. Ironically the identification of the spirits of the African traditional religion as demons and traditional practices as satanic authenticated and strengthened the belief in witchcraft (Onyinah 2002:111). By equating the former gods and spirits to the demons under the control of the Devil, the old religion is on the one hand demonized and rejected and yet on the other hand it is validated as a spiritual reality. Particularly the blending of the Devil with the African concept of the witch is an important feature of Christianity in Africa just as it has been for centuries in European history (Meyer 1992:120-121). The blanket demonization of all aspects of the old religion has hindered genuine inculturation of the Gospel, because even good and wholesome beliefs and practices were rejected. Even some of the less wholesome practices could possibly have been Christianized or substituted. The blanket demonization of African traditional religious beliefs and practices has actually fostered syncretism between Christian and traditional beliefs and practices. For example the African independent Aladura churches have retained the belief in malevolent spirits and human witches but renounced traditional divination and sacrifice as a means to control these. Instead efficacious prayer is now the way to engage God against the evil powers (Ray 1993:270). While this may appear a good step towards the contextualization of the Gospel in Africa it actually tends to perpetuate the traditional worldview under the guise of Christianity. At the same time prayer is redefined from communication with God to being a mechanistic means to an end (Hiebert 1985:46-47).

Christian diviners and exorcists


All over the African continent one can find African pastors, bishops, prophets or apostles who do exactly what the diviners did before Christianity came. By means of supernatural revelation they allegedly diagnose illnesses, including spiritual afflictions and curses and also reveal hidden sins (Strohbehn 2005:55-56). Just as in the case of the traditional diviners supernatural inspiration is used to sniff out the witches and sorcerers. Only the power of divination is now ascribed to the Holy Spirit instead of to the spirits of the old religion. Thus one assumes there is an encounter between the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of evil spirits. However, the old problem of innocent people being wrongfully accused of witchcraft and other evils persists. One can come across numerous pastors in Africa who specialize in such ‘power-encounters’, in order to attract more people to their churches, so that they increase their status and income from tithes. Others enrich themselves by charging a fee for exorcism whereby some exorcism sessions, especially of children, are conducted in a manner that is abusive and violates their dignity and human rights (BBC 1999; Dummett 2009). Because power-encounters are very open to manipulation and abuse we must examine and evaluate them critically and ask the question: whose interests were being served in this power-encounter? Who was exalted and who was humiliated, used or abused? It is usually the poor and the marginalised who are the victims of such witchcraft scapegoating (Onyinah 2002:131). In many cases the accused, including children, are put under severe psychological and sometimes physical pressure to confess all kinds of witchcraft related evils. This leads to self-incrimination, stigmatization and even violence and death (Onyinah 2002:131; BBC 1999). The pre-occupation of African Pentecostalism as well as several other Christian groups with witches and demons hinders the progress of Christianity in Africa as it promotes fear of witchcraft and the evil supernatural instead of providing a viable alternative (Kunhiyop 2008:379). Though African Pentecostalism and several other Christian groups have rightly taken the problem of witchcraft seriously, often its deliverance ministry has not brought deliverance from the old unbiblical worldview. Consequently, the practice of power-encounter has often done more harm than good, becoming little more than religious showmanship, an enforcement of traditional fears and false beliefs and a means to exalt the pastor and increase his or her income. In such scenarios, with are far too common in Africa, the true Gospel is violated and twisted. In these situations not the Kingdom of God is advanced but the destructive and deceptive purposes of the Evil One who was identified by Christ as a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Consequently, we read of mothers burning their children to death (MANA 2009) and of bishops taking the false testimonies of confused children as reliable evidence (Mmana 2007:1, 3). We can even find some unscrupulous preachers playing a major role in the killing of the so-called ‘witch children’ in Nigeria (Kunhiyop 2008:379) and in the abuse of ‘witch children’ in Congo (Dummett 2003; USA TODAY 2009).

Evangelicalism in Africa and the concept of the power-encounter

Largely due to C. Peter Wagner’s effective promotion of his spiritual warfare ideas (Vandermeer 2009:92ff) many contemporary evangelical missionaries and Christian workers, both African and foreign, are taking the concept of the power-encounter very seriously. The emphasis is on employing the superior power of God in order to combat the spiritual powers which appear to harass African Christians (Butler 1993:386). Although I agree that there is a place for power-encounter in the sense of a deliverance ministry in the biblical sense whereby we ask Christ to intervene in a situation, we must be very cautious that at the same time we do not collaborate with the traditional worldview and its scapegoating mechanisms which demonize innocent people. For example, Wagner’s reports of a spiritual battle with an alleged African witch Momma Jane, which resulted in the death of the witch (Wagner 1997:86ff), re-enforce the common tendency in Africa to understand spiritual warfare in terms of the witchcraft eradication idiom. This is contrary to scriptural teaching, as it actually entails nothing more than a battle against ‘flesh and blood’ (Eph. 6:10-18). We must therefore critically assess the methods by which people arrive at the conclusion that someone is a witch or needs deliverance from witchcraft. Also the methods of deliverance themselves need to be evaluated. We must ask ourselves whether these methods agree with the character and teachings of Christ. Certainly Wagner’s celebration of the death of a witch does not agree with loving one’s enemies. It is essential that the cultural reality of the fears and concerns of witchcraft is addressed theologically and pastorally, with seriousness, sensitivity and respect, stressing the sovereignty of God over all evil forces and the victory of Christ (Kunhiyop 2008:389). From Scripture we can conclude that a power-encounter occurs whenever Christ enters or intervenes in a situation. Just as the very presence of light drives away the darkness, the very presence of Christ drives away the Evil One and his demons. It is when we draw near to God we find the strength in Him to resist the Devil and make him flee (James 4:7). During Christ’s life on earth when He came in the presence of Legion, who was possessed by many demons, the demons cried in fear and begged not to be harmed, and finally they had to leave their victim (Mk 5:1-13). In many other cases Jesus simply commanded the demons to leave their victims and they did so immediately (cf. Mk 1:21-26; 32-34; 9:25-27). In the case of the Canaanite woman He delivered her demonized daughter at a distance without going there in person (Mk. 15:22-28). Christ is the divine warrior with all authority in heaven and earth (Mt. 28:18). He is the One who disarmed the powers and triumphed over them on the cross (Col. 2:15). He is the one who is exalted far above every spiritual power, title and name which can be named and has all things submitted under his feet for the benefit of His Church (Eph. 1:22). From this exalted position of power Christ is actively subduing all the powers until finally He will even subdue the power of death itself.

The power-encounter and prayer


If the power-encounter is a matter of helping people to allow Christ to enter their lives and to transform the situation in which they find themselves, it does not make sense when apart from Christ we develop our own spiritual warfare methods and spiritual weapons to get the job done. Of course we have a personal responsibility to activate our God-given senses, faculties and talents in the struggle against the evil powers. However, there will be no victory, if we do so on our own, relying on our own strength. We should do so in Christ, the Victor, hence Paul’s exhortation ‘be strong in the Lord’ (Eph. 6:10). We should do what the people in the New Testament were doing, namely taking those who were harassed by demons to Jesus for Him to deliver and heal them (Mk. 1:32-34). I believe this is what Jesus meant when He told his disciples that some demons can only be removed by prayer and fasting. In prayer and fasting we focus on the Lord, putting our trust outside ourselves in His abilities, not in our own (Mk. 9:28-29). Matthew tells us that the disciples could not throw out the demons because they were lacking faith (17:20-21). The faith mentioned here is faith in Christ and not faith in a certain method of spiritual warfare or a specific type of power-encounter. In prayer and fasting, we do not expect victory from these practices as spiritual warfare and power-encounter methods, but from Him whom we focus upon and from His power and ability to intervene. Our theology of prayer should be Christo-centric, and prayer should not be reduced to a method, as in the African traditional worldview. There prayer and power-encounter becomes a pragmatic means to an end, namely overcoming spiritual barriers to one’s well-being and prosperity (Ray 1993:273). For example what does it mean when we talk about prayer that pulls down strongholds and lets captives go free (Arjeeteh 1997:37)? Real prayer in the Biblical sense is communicating with the exalted Christ and opening our hearts to Him, and in faith awaiting His intervention. However, once we become tempted to think of prayer as a means to an end, and as a spiritual method to get desired results, we would have lost the real meaning of prayer, and would have re-defined it in terms of the traditional religious worldview.

The power-encounter and narrative evidence

Several contemporary African scholars have pointed out that the uncritical use of narratives and exaggerated testimonies and confessions about power encounters and witchcraft related beliefs foster an unbiblical and animistic worldview (Onyinah 2002:132). We should not uncritically believe witchcraft confessions, not even from former witches and sorcerers who have turned to Christ, because in their minds and memories they may still be led astray by their former master. We must base our understanding of witchcraft on Biblical teaching instead of extra-biblical narratives (Kunhiyop 2008:380ff). For example, the claim of several witches in Zaire that they killed an American missionary appears to have been accepted as a fact, without question, not only by the Africans but also by the missionaries (Butler 1993:386). Although it may be true that they poisoned the missionary or used other means to kill her, one needs to treat all claims with caution and critically evaluate what constitutes valid irrefutable evidence and what does not. It is common for witches and other practitioners of magic to claim they have magically killed someone who died in an accident or of malaria or other natural causes. Usually these claims appear after the event has already taken place, rarely are they accurately predicted. Such claims coincide with the common belief in dual causation which entails that almost any negative event may be understood and explained in terms of both natural and spiritual causes. An African may contract HIV from sleeping with a prostitute. Although he is educated and he understands how he got infected, he is likely to consult the diviner to find out who had cursed him so as to make him visit prostitutes or this particular one who was infected with HIV. The question is not how but why it happened to me, and who caused it. In such an environment of fear and mutual suspicion the power of suggestion is enormous. Hence we need to be extremely cautious in believing the supernatural explanations we are offered. We must be cautious in believing the testimonies of traditional religious practitioners, which usually are designed to advertise their great spiritual power in order to attract more customers. Unfortunately, the testimonies of many African pastors about how they overcame demonic powers and spiritual opposition often serves the a similar purpose. Putting yourself forward as an expert on spiritual problems has traditionally been an effective means for otherwise marginalized persons to be accepted by others as a respected person with status and authority (Barnes 1990:259-267), and within Christian circles often results in people putting themselves forward as healers, prophets, apostles or exorcists. For example, the pastor who reported that he invited the sorcerers in his area for a power-contest (Butler 1993:384) may well fit this common pattern as well as the confessions of the born-again former witch who brags he could change himself into an owl or that before his conversion he used to steal cattle by magically hiding them in his pocket (Chibaya 2007:15). In Africa such stories abound and they should be accepted as reflecting the worldview, the concerns, the interests and the ambitions of African people from a traditional perspective. Yet expatriate and African Christians who work with people in that context, should not just accept them as a valid reflection of reality. By the end of the day our theology and praxis should not be based on extra-biblical narratives but on Biblical teaching.

Another reason for caution in the area of power-encounters is that much of what passes as magic, demonic and evil spiritual power is the result of psychological problems, tensions in the community, and clever psychological manipulation (Butler 1993:385-386). Scapegoating is deeply ingrained in the African society and often takes the form of witchcraft allegations. The same applies to sociological problems and tensions in society. It is not accidental that streetchildren, orphans, the elderly, strangers from other areas, foreigners , the extreme poor and the disabled are likely to be accused of witchcraft, because they represent extra burdens in a society already burdened by poverty, disease and other problems. Other sociological causes include the rapid urbanization and modernization of African society which goes hand in hand with the breakdown of traditional culture and morality. Society is in flux, there is uncertainty, tension, corruption and inequality. Add to this the fear for supernatural evil and its resulting suspicion and emotional distress, and you have very high levels of societal tension and distress, which finds an outlet in the scapegoating of certain people as witches.

How then should we respond to the fear of the evil supernatural in the African context?


I would suggest that first and foremost this is not just a theological issue. In the first place it is matter of pastoral care. Many people in Africa live in fear and in mutual suspicion and many fear that they unknowingly may be witches themselves or in some way be demonized. The traditional response often includes consulting a diviner and obtaining protective ‘medicine’ or charms. From a pastoral point of view the many traditional forms of seeking protection need to be substituted by Christian rituals and practices. The wearing of charms can be replaced by wearing verses from Scripture which stress the supremacy of Christ and reflect his superior power and his love for us. Of course this should not be meant as a form of Christian magic, but as object lessons and reminders for the believers that Christ is their protector. Praying special prayers for protection can be an effective method of pastoral care in Africa. Such prayers may assist in alleviating the fear of the evil supernatural (Butler 1993:387-388) and could help the afflicted to focus on Christ as the One from whom our help comes. All this needs to be done carefully. We should not contextualize in an unbiblical manner, so that people put their faith in the ritual itself or in the paper that bears the portions of Scripture, but instead these pastoral methods should encourage people in their faith in the Lord about whom the Scriptures speak and whom we address in our prayers. The use of pieces of cloth supposedly from Mary’s garment, as amulets, among Catholic Haya in Tanzania in order to protect against witchcraft and other misfortunes is an example of unbiblical contextualization (Stevens 1991:18-19). We may also encourage the composing of songs that stress the power of and the protection by Christ, so that in singing and dancing the believers may rejoice in the fact that Christ is their all-powerful guardian. However, we should always remain cautious. Songs, dances, prayers and other aspects of the ritual in the African context are often understood as being efficacious in themselves. This then means that the one who has the secret knowledge of such rituals and controls them has an enormous power at his or her disposal. This power can be used to dominate, manipulate, marginalize, exclude and victimize (Barnes 1990:256ff).

Dealing with victims of demonic harassment


Victims of demonic harassment need to be led to Christ through Biblical instruction and in prayer for deliverance. They themselves need to renounce any dealings they may have had with the Evil One, and commit themselves to following Christ. We do not only mean ordinary people who seek refuge in the occult and become victims. Also former practitioners of witchcraft, divination or other occult activities must also be considered victims of demonic harassment, because their practices demonstrate that they were deceived and taken captive by the Evil One. Even those who we may judge as not truly suffering from demonic harassment but who still live in fear that they suffer from demonic harassment or from witchcraft, or those who think they may have become spiritually contaminated so that they may have become witches without knowing it, also should be treated in the same way. We must also consider their fear of the evil supernatural as a form of demonic harassment. Let us not be surprised when before, during of after a prayer there are some physical or psychological manifestations. Often this may simply be a psychological or psycho-somatic reaction to the relief that is experienced, sometimes it may be culturally conditioned or have other psychological causes. However, in some cases the psyche of the individual is so much under the influence of a demon or demons that this results in intimidating psychological and physical phenomena, such as in the case of the boy with an evil spirit who was delivered by Christ (Mk 9:17-18, 26). Such phenomena should not intimidate us or make us fearful. Instead we should continue to trust the powerful Christ, and in faith focus on Him. To focus on Satan and his power in any way is to lose our focus on God (Butler 1993:389). Personally, I discourage doing deliverance ministry in big public meetings, because of the dangers of possible stigmatization of the afflicted, and also to preserve their dignity. Moreover, in public meetings there is the danger of being trapped by ‘Christian’ showmanship whereby the deliverance minister or team is in the limelight rather than that the focus is on Christ who brings true deliverance. In Malawi I have witnessed several incidents in Pentecostal churches when exorcisms were done late at night in front of several microphones with all the speakers turned to their loudest volume, so that the whole suburb was kept awake in order to focus attention on the church and its powerful minister. Apart from the danger of showmanship in public meetings, I do not think deliverance ministry should be an individualist affair. We can involve a group of mature, sensitive and loving believers. Lutheran missionary Stanley Benson in Tanzania reports how healing or exorcism took place within the African Christian community. Christians would gather to restrain affected persons, so that they could not run away or hurt themselves, and then sing hymns and pray and take care of the person until freed from the demon (McConnell 1992:411).

Apart from a careful pastoral response, the issues discussed above need to be addressed theologically, in church, in theological education and in theological scholarship. In doing this the African context should be taken seriously. However, such a contextual approach must avoid the pitfalls of building our theology of on extra-biblical sources. This warning applies to our demonology as well as to our theology of spiritual warfare or power-encounter, so that both Africans and non-Africans may think and live in ways that are contextually relevant and at the same time authentically Christian.

Erwin van der Meer

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Genocide in Northern Nigeria

Please pray for our fellow believers in Northern Nigeria, they are suffering genocide on the hands of the Muslim majority. The following link is not for the faint hearted but it shows the reality of what is happening:

http://www.anglicandioceseofjos.org/dogo.html

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Blantyre Girlshome

The girlshome saga got an unexpected twist when to our surprise we got a phonecall on 01 February 2010 from the Blantyre department of social welfare with the request that we come and see them urgently. Erwin went to see them and found the matrons of Bangwe House of Hope and the last four girls sitting in the office of the social welfare officer. It turned out that Mrs. Kanyangira had humiliated the chairperson of the board in public to so such an extend that he immediately resigned. Upon his resignation the donor Word & Deed informed everyone that they would stop funding the project. After this Mrs. Kanyangira informed the donor that she has resigned and promptly told the matrons and the girls that the home is closed and that they need to ask for help from social welfare. After this was explained, the social welfare officer requested that Erwin continues the home but he declined because in his opinion without a proper board, without a director and without donors, the organisation Bangwe House of Hope no longer existed. However, an agreement was reached whereby Africa Outreach will start a new and similar project for girls under the name Blantyre Girlshome with the help of the social welfare department. It is expected that the donors who used to fund the former project will in future be willing to fund the new project once they see it is run properly and all funds are properly accounted for. We are also privileged that we have the support of the community leaders and of the local police unit. It is also our prayer that some of the capable board members who use dto be on the board of Bangwe House of Hope will be willing to sit on a new board. Unfortunately, our dear pastor, the chairperson of the Bangwe House of Hope board got so hurt and disappointed that he is no longer interested. We are praying that we may be able to form a new competent board and find a new chairperson as capable and integer as our pastor. So far w see the sudden changes as God's intervention on behalf of the poor girls who have suffered a lot over the past few months. They have expressed their gratitude for the good food and care they are getting now.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Bangwe House of Hope

We just got back from a family holiday in Zimbabwe where we went to see friends and family. We had a wonderful time and it was encouraging to see how Harare Theological College has grown to 120 students. Back in Malawi things were less well, during our absence several girls left the girlshome as they complained that their schoolfees weren't paid and they received little food. They appealed for help to a community based organisation (CBO) in Bangwe which then contacted us. For the time being the girls are taken care of in a homebased care setting under supervision of the local CBO while we provide the funding for their upkeep. It is really sad that the situation at the home is so bad that girls are appealing to other organisations for help.

Saturday, January 2, 2010


It is good to be back in Malawi. We had a wonderful New Year celebration together with missionary friends Johannes & Marieke Bos from Balaka. We look forward to a year of fruitful teaching and preaching ministry in Malawi, Mocambique and Zimbabwe. The past year 2009 was full of challenges but as St. Paul says, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength". On the positive side we look back on a year in which many people gave their lives to Christ and many others were taught to turn away from being led by false witchcraft beliefs, paranoia and other evil thoughts to freedom in Christ. Also in spite of all the problems in Zimbabwe the girlshome we co-founded in Zimbabwe is still functioning well 7 years later! Please pray for us that also in Malawi we may continue to be led by the Spirit of God and stand firm in righteousness, truth and love. Pray also that we may not be tempted to give in to the deceit and intimidations of the enemy and compromise our faith and witness. Finally we thank God for the many donatons we have received, especially for buying a 4x4 vehicle from Word & Deed for Erwin's teaching ministry in rural Malawi (see picture). We also are grateful for schoolfees for Sevana so that she can embark on a para-medical study and for the many other donations and gifts we received. We also thank you for your many prayers and encouragements which have sustained us, and above all we thank our Lord for His goodness, patience and love.