Divine Bud: Testimonies of God�s intervention

Philip Mutaka

Description

This book presents innovative material on ethnography; more specifically, it exposes events where African individuals deal with the supernatural � such as: reaction to the death of a child whose surgical operation was considered an answer to prayers to God, how African students have dealt with evil spirits in their lives, how African people have experimented the phenomenon of �miracle� with their specific religious background that merges imported religions (Christian and Islam) and their traditional cultural religious beliefs. The material is also of interest to readers concerned with the need for dialogue between religions for the purpose of finding solutions to conflicts arising in the modern world. The book is truly thought-provoking. See for example what happens when a Muslim faces Jesus Christ as recounted in chapter 5. Mevoutsa�s testimony in chapter 6 is a perfect example that exposes the way Africans attached to their traditional cultures believe that God may use tradition healers to manifest his presence among his creatures.

Sujets

• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 20 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789956728831
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Divine Bud Testimonies of God’s Intervention

Philip Mutaka

Divine Bud : Testimonies of God’s Intervention

Philip Mutaka

L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookcollective.com ISBN: 9956-727-58-X ©Philip Mutaka 2012

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

Table of Contents Foreword………………………………………………...v Chapter 1: Shattered hope………………………………. 1 Chapter 2: Georgina’s short life …………….…………... 11 Chapter 3: Miraculous recoveries ………………..……… 19 Chapter 4: A Muslim woman’s deep trust in God …….… 41 Chapter 5: When a Muslim faces Christ ………………… 57 Chapter 6: Rescue from witchcraft ……………………… 79 Chapter 7: Other miraculous testimonies ……………..… 91 Chapter 8: Living with the divine bud …………………. 129 Chapter 9: Learning from witnesses of the divine bud … 159

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Foreword “Before we go to bed, let us pray,” said Jacky. During the whole evening of May 6, 2009, Jacky, Georgina, Nadine, and Eric have been selecting the items that Georgina and Jacky would bring to Ghana for their stay in preparation to Georgina’s surgical operation. Everything was ready. They will be traveling tomorrow. For a long time, all the family had been praying for Georgina’s surgical operation. She was born with a congenital scoliosis, and this single handicap had affected the family in various respects. Our most fervent prayer had always been that God heed our prayers. I will recount the different problems we encountered in this request for God’s intervention in favor of Georgina later in this novel. I have just used the term novel, but, as my readers will notice, it is not really a novel. It is based on reality. What makes it a novel is the organization of the events. But the stories are factual. I was in the sitting room when I heard Jacky inviting the children to pray. For a long time, I had ceased praying with the family. It is not that I did not like to pray. It is just that I had decided that it was far better for me to stop praying with the family because I never wanted my children to believe that, even if you persevere in your prayers, God may not answer them. I have always believed that my whole existence would be shattered if my children were to think that I am a liar when I always tell them that, somehow, God will answer our prayers and that Georgina will get operated somehow. Despite the various efforts we had made to have her operated mostly in the States, we usually obtained negative responses. The Shriners Hospital for children in Boston, Massachusetts, v

which was our first serious hope, turned us down because they said that the operation would have to take place in three phases. Contrary to the predictions of the surgical doctor who acted as Georgina’s local Cameroonian doctor, it could not be done once and Georgina could not simply stay in the States for a period of three months. Besides, as parents, we would have to obtain a visa and have her travel to the States. Nothing could be done as long as she stayed here in Africa. Another Shriners Hospital of Philadelphia simply turned us down because they said that, in order to envisage her operation, she simply has to be in the States. As long as she is in Africa, they were not going to study her dossier. However, they are the ones who put us into contact with the Focos team, a medical organization which also makes seasonal stays in Ghana to do orthopedic operations. Dr. Boachie Adjei, its doctor, is Ghanaian living and working in the States. To alleviate the difficulties for African children who could not afford traveling to the States, his organization usually asks the patients to go to Ghana and meet him there. The patients were to get to Accra, Ghana, two to three weeks before his arrival. For this year, he was going to come on May 23, 2009 and that is why Georgina was to arrive there by the beginning of May. As I heard Jacky inviting children to pray together, I also joined them. Nadine was in bed. Georgina was kneeling before the bed. Eric was standing and I came to stand by the door of Georgina’s room where the prayers were to be conducted. It is Jackie who conducted the prayer. Among the prayers, there was the Lord’s prayer, that is, “Our father who art in heaven,” followed by Hail Mary and a Glory be to the Father. After that, Jackie started addressing her personal prayers to

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God from the bottom of her heart. For me who heard it, it was very emotional. One sensed how grateful she was to God for allowing the arrival of this day when she would finally travel with her daughter to have her operated. “Lord God, we just want to thank you for always taking care of us. For a long time, we have always prayed that this day may come, that is, that Georgina be given a chance to be operated on for her backbone problem. We simply want to thank you in our hearts, and I pray that you protect us during the travel to Ghana and during the whole stay in Ghana. I pray that you always be with the doctor who will operate on Georgina, that you be the one guiding all this operation. I also pray that you continue to look at the rest of my family that will stay here during our absence. You also know that I left my own mother in Butembo in a convalescence state. I pray that you continue to look after her and have pity on her and make her recover. I pray all this in the name of Jesus.” A short silence intervened. In fact, two weeks earlier, Jacky was in Butembo, the capital city of the Nande, her ethnic community. She had gone there hurriedly because her mother called for her. She thought she was getting to the end of her life and wanted to see her children around her before she departs from this world. Fortunately, by the time Jacky returned, she was doing better. In fact, she was no longer at the hospital. She was getting treatment from a traditional herbalist because it had been determined that she had been poisoned. Western medication was not efficient to treat the sequels of this kind of poisoning. As a consequence of that poisoning, her mother decided to no longer return to her native village because she knew that she was poisoned by a

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neighbor and she no longer wanted to put her life in jeopardy. In a sense, Jacky’s prayers reflected the sum of urgent worries she had and that she entrusted to God because she knew that he was the ultimate savior who alone would be able to look after Georgina, her own sick mother, and her family that she would temporarily leave in Cameroon without a mother. After the short silence, I heard Georgina praying. “Lord God, I want to thank you for finally heeding our prayers. For a long time, we have always prayed you so that I might get a chance to get operated. You have now answered this prayer as I will be traveling to Ghana tomorrow. I pray that you always stay with us, that you protect us during the travel, that you bless the doctor who will operate on me. I ask you all this in the name of Jesus.” “Amen,” we all answered as we were happy with the prayer. Soon after Georgina ended her prayer, Nadine also prayed. The quintessence of her prayer was also to thank God for having finally answered our prayer. I must confess that I always admired Nadine. Sometimes, I thought Nadine is the pastor of the family. Just like Georgina. They knew how to pray, to address themselves to God with all their trust in him. As you heard them, you could not doubt that God must heed their prayers. It is amazing the way they have mastered personal prayers that they address to God. As children that have grown as Catholics, they were expected to know the recitation prayers. However, they must have learned from their parents who definitely admired the way Protestants pray. Their prayers are much more personal, more genuine. They

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