spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. The battle between evil and heavenly spiritual
forces is not only recognized as an experienced reality within AICs and PCCs, but also within
other traditions, like the Roman-Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Lutheran Church
(Jenkins 2006:105).
The victory over evil spirits is the premise of spiritual intervention by the faith community.
Many churches in Africa understand their own mission of healing and liberation as a
continuation of Jesus’ commission to his disciples to heal and to liberate. Asamoah-Gyadu
(2004:394) defines such healing and deliverance ministries as “the deployment of divine
resources, that is, power and authority in the name or blood of Jesus – perceived in
pneumatological terms as the intervention of the Holy Spirit – to provide release for demonpossessed,
oppressed, broken, disturbed, and troubled persons and communities, in order that the
victim may be restored to ‘proper functioning order’”. In exorcism, the principal aspect of the
church-based healing ministry, it is all about the freeing of a human being by ending his or her
oppression by an evil spirit or demon. By means of prayer and fasting, the surrounding faith
community plays a crucial role in the battle against demonic power.
This demonic power has different faces in the case of spiritual warfare. The generic enemy of
God’s fullness of life is Satan, whose evil power is manifested in demons influencing and taking
control of human beings. Being captured by evil spirits will manifest itself as demon oppression
or demon possession. Demon oppression is when the power of evil presents suffering and
misfortune to a person, while demon possession is about the demon hijacking the spirit of the
human being in such a way that he or she speaks and acts on behalf of the demon. The human
being, having lost his or her free will, is taken hostage by the evil spirit, and aims at destruction.
Another phenomenon closely related to the spiritual warfare concept is the existence of witches.
Witchcraft is defined as “a manifestation of evil believed to come from a human source” (Kgatla
2003:5). This means that evil is not only associated with demonic spiritual forces, but also with
malevolent human beings who deliberately seek the presence of evil powers in order to destroy
the abundant life of others. Within the witchcraft discourse, a witch is described as someone who
targets the life force and the vitality of a human being, whether or not at someone else’s request.
Ellis & Ter Haar (2004:95) contend that “witches are often suspected of stealing or ‘eating’ the
life-force of others to enhance their own vitality”. The evil created by another human being lurks
behind every corner, and hence why people try to protect themselves from witchcraft in all its
varieties. Witchcraft beliefs are widespread in Africa, and there are multiple churches (of all
dominations and traditions) addressing witchcraft in their healing ministries.
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