spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

lost. She was caught in a vicious circle, and began to wonder how long it would take before the
day arrived when she would prepare the final meal, like the widow at Zarephath, when the
prophet Elijah came to stay at her place. Oh, if only there was a person who was willing to
relate to her, to support her with words of encouragement, and to bring back her life. Just like
Elijah did for the widow by providing a steady flow of food and by returning her son to her.
One day, Grace met a woman at the place where she worked. She remembered Irene Phiri very
well. She had seen her at a kitchen party of one of her daughter’s friends, and at the time she
was impressed by the appearance of this woman: Irene was a widow too, but she did not come
across like a widow, a victim. There was something special about her. No doubt Irene had
suffered the same kind of social disease as Grace Banda, but still she radiated strength, dignity
and health. How did she do that? Irene Phiri informed Grace Banda about the circle of fellow
widows: the group that had proven to be her medicine. The fellow widows had taught Irene
about new life. She was given food to feed her children, she acquired sewing skills, and she met
people who listened to her story. Irene concluded that these contacts are life-giving bonds that
bring true healing in one’s life of distorted relationships. Grace Banda, too, was invited to the
circle of widows, and there she, too, experienced healing as well as the restoration of her
dignity. Her testimony is that human beings may have failed to support her, but that God was
with her in her grief and sorrow. She speaks of the Holy Spirit, who brought new people into her
life. Grace Banda understands the work of the Spirit as moving people towards one another in
order to give each other strength and vitality. Through the presence of the Spirit, she
experienced healing amongst people who saved her life, because the well-being of an individual
is intricately linked with other people and with God.
7.4 CONCLUSIONS
This chapter offers the first exploration into speaking of God and health on the basis of the
notion of relationality. The exploration began in Chapter 2 with the identification of relationality
as a key concept of the ngoma paradigm of health (or the African traditional healing discourse):
relationality is health, and the restoration of broken relationships is equal to healing. This notion
of relationality was connected to Reformed theological discourse in the sense that the theme of
relationality became a key in theological reflection on health and healing. The main question in
this chapter was: is it possible to speak of God and health/healing on the basis of the notion of
relationality?
It was shown that the theme of relationality occupies an important place in theological discourse,
of which the Trinitarian sub-discourse is a prominent one. Trinitarian life is about God’s
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