Ebola Epidemic: Where Are The Faith Healers In Africa?

Faith healers or just healers. It does work. But it won't work if you don't believe it will. To the Christians. Jesus said what I do you can do. We are all capable of this and so much more and it really doesn't have anything to do with Christianity I just included that for the OP who seems to have skipped that in the book. . Foolish people who don't believe it won't experience it but it's real. Believe me or don't but it's real.



a reply to: DAVID64

a reply to: ketsuko

Thanks Ketsuko, thats different than what the OP and I were addressing. I don;t mean to trash peoples faith, nor their spirituality.

Firm believer in that. I also know what passes for it in the Western World.

a reply to: intrptr

Well as far as that goes, many of the people on the ground in Africa choose to use their own traditional healers before they will visit any others. That type of healing is equal parts herbal and faith based, even if it is a different type of faith healing than you were referring to.

In fact, one of the first victims of the current epidemic was the local healer who was treating patient zero, the 2-year-old who was first to get Ebola.

I hate to sound like a vulture, but really this is a good question. This (the disease) should be kicked out if the faith healers are to be believed. According to them, God can heal any and all, and it would do wonders to make people believe that He is real. He's supposed to love and care for all of His creation, so why not show us His love by healing the sick to help them see that He is all powerful and all loving? I guess many Christians would say that the ones who die deserve it? Is that the explanation?

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
i have reason to believe in people with these abilities.
i felt it on my own skin, so to speak.
as to why they don't go there and help...who knows? maybe their abilities have some kinds of limits, maybe the person being healed needs to fit certain requirements in terms of their faith?
and, from what i've been able to understand, people that ave these abilities do not like, or want advertisement.
YOU have to look for them, why is that, i don't really know.

I should have mentioned that I do believe that God can and does heal today, though I have not personally seen it. The article is taking a stab at the ones who do advertise their faith healing abilities. The ones who have mega churches and mega dollars to "administrate". It is not Gods' power to heal that this is taking the piss off of but the people whose real aim is to make money from it.

originally posted by: Cinrad

As the governments of West Africa struggle to contain the spread of the Ebola virus, I am wondering where all the men and women of God who claim they can heal the sick and who conduct faith healing sessions in countries across the region are? Where are all the continent’s miracle workers now that people desperately need healing; where are the anointed men and women of God now governments urgently need to contain the spread of Ebola?

Not only that, but homeopaths as well, particularly Homeopaths sans Frontiers. I think the reason they're not there is because they mine their colloidal silver from the gullible instead.

originally posted by: Ellie Sagan
I hate to sound like a vulture, but really this is a good question. This (the disease) should be kicked out if the faith healers are to be believed. According to them, God can heal any and all, and it would do wonders to make people believe that He is real. He's supposed to love and care for all of His creation, so why not show us His love by healing the sick to help them see that He is all powerful and all loving? I guess many Christians would say that the ones who die deserve it? Is that the explanation?

And if he did that? There would still be plenty who would disbelieve anyhow. Who is to say that those who survive and get better haven't been healed in part through their faith? Perhaps it's only your disbelief that tells you it's only a person's own immune system that does all the work.

originally posted by: ketsuko
Perhaps it's only your disbelief that tells you it's only a person's own immune system that does all the work.

...and Science, and medicine.
For all intents and purposes, God is a no show and doesn't get my vote for the title 'Saviour'.

originally posted by: ketsuko
Who is to say that those who survive and get better haven't been healed in part through their faith? Perhaps it's only your disbelief that tells you it's only a person's own immune system that does all the work.

This is the sort of stuff these charlatans propagate. If God is going to heal someone, like I believe He does still, then He will heal them completely, not just part of the healing. If God only healed part of it then God would be the doctor's fellow worker, whether he be an atheist or animist, and the only one he calls his fellow workers are Jesus' brothers.

Furthermore there is no way to state definitively that God did part of the work. Of course God could sustain someone's faith and strength through a physical crises like that if they are asking Him for it, and He promises that he will never leave us, but that is different from what you said.

I dont want to sound harsh but that sort of statement makes no sense and makes you look gullible and blinded by your faith. And it is the kind of excuse professional faith healers use all the time.

Africa is a pretty poor country, I doubt we'll see any faith healers over there anytime soon. Their powers work off of money, no money no healing.

a reply to: ketsuko

In fact, one of the first victims of the current epidemic was the local healer who was treating patient zero, the 2-year-old who was first to get Ebola.

Thats interesting. Your understanding of that tale as told might have a link to go along with it? Not disbelieving just wanted to read it if you got one.

Herbal remedies carry weight in my mind, too. Maybe not just as "faith based" medicine but for their medicinal properties. Thats ancient knowledge that we seem to have overlooked. I know many pharmaceuticals utilize and synthesize different plants to effect cures in the modern world. Companies have sought shaman knowledge to try and find more.

Did you know the Orangutan deliberately seeks out over 400 different types of food, plants and herbs? Sometimes they travel long distances through the trees just to get a sprig of something growing in the canopy.

a reply to: Cinrad

I am wondering where all the men and women of God who claim they can heal the sick and who conduct faith healing sessions in countries across the region are? Where are all the continent’s miracle workers now that people desperately need healing; where are the anointed men and women of God now governments urgently need to contain the spread of Ebola?

(^^ From your linked excerpt)

Where are they? They are in HIDING, and keeping their mouths shut, because they are Charlatans. Quacks. Fakers. Liars. Ineffective at healing, but capable of getting people to believe them. It's a sham, and they know it.

That's where they are - not to be found - because they can't do one damned thing to stop it. And again, they know it.

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

as to why they don't go there and help...who knows? maybe their abilities have some kinds of limits, maybe the person being healed needs to fit certain requirements in terms of their faith?

Maybe they're scared to death that they will catch it.

Just saying. Yeah, their abilities have "limits" all right - placebo effect, to be specific - and a contagious disease isn't one of the things they pursue.

a reply to: toktaylor
Although I don't have enough knowledge of how healing works to actually debate it with you, I do know for a fact that someone wrote a thesis for their phd about the effects of "spiritual" healing on women with breast cancer. The thesis ensured the author a very good position at one of the best universities in the world.


I never suggested that healing could help limbs regrow, or cure cancer. The mind is a very powerful thing, who knows what it is capable of under ideal circumstances? I don't, you don't, even the foremost experts in the world don't know.

My best guess would be that 100% of people claiming to cure terminal illness with healing are liars and taking advantage of the vunerable.

In certain circles healing is considered to be a useful tool for easing many different types of health problems. eg, insomnia.

I could easily accept that using healing triggers a placebo effect in the subject. But no one really understands the biological mechanism behind it at this point in time, there for it is not a great stretch of the imagination to see that the placebo effect could in fact be badly labelled and misunderstood.

www.nhs.uk...

As the "experts" have yet to prove healing does or doesn't work I don't understand how you can be so sure there is nothing in it. Homeopathy has been judged as a quack treatment as the potions used are so weak they hold no active ingredients, but scientists have proven that water has a memory, which is the basis of the explaination that its practitioners give.

a reply to: eccentriclady

You do not need any expert to tell us what is reality against what is belief. We must eradicate the idea of believing things without evidence. Understanding our biological functions and how they react to germs and bacterias is the only way to cure diseases, and no amount of faith healers can and will ever prove otherwise...peace.

As a new reader to this thread I have observed that no one on here has had any experience with healing in the name of Jesus.
By the way, God does not charge for healing so any one that does make money this way is not working with the gifts of the holy spirit where one of the gifts is healing.
Another thing that I have noticed is that some of you think that the healer has the power to heal. Not true. We only have the faith in prayer that Jesus will heal who we are praying for. We have no power whatsoever and never had.
Faith is all that is required but do you have any idea how long it takes to get that faith. Even when we do pray in faith we do not know if Jesus will heal. He would rather look inside a person and heal their heart and attitudes first.
These observations have been made with many years of experience...

To those of you who will mock what I say just sit back and ask yourself what you have done to truly find out what healing is instead of just coming out with your own thoughts on the matter.
So much goes on in this world that you have no idea about and probably never will. All's I will say is seek and you shall find.

god bless, John

a reply to: Cinrad

the topic imo is poorly researced by the one who created the article. there are several factors happening there right now. many spiritual people are being killed or at least forced to stay away because of current beliefs about the virus and how it is getting there. it has been stated that the belief is that this is another american white mans attempt to kill black africans. there is no shortage of faith healers there and they have there own view of what is happening to them. even the doctors are at rish of being killed because of beliefs. this is just a ploy to mock the belief in God.

originally posted by: Klassified

originally posted by: WakeUpBeer
a reply to: Klassified

Interesting how it says to preach to every creature. I never noticed that before.

Yeah, I guess that means aliens, animals, and insects can be saved and healed to?

Even Jesus couldn't

Mark 6
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

originally posted by: Klassified

originally posted by: WakeUpBeer
a reply to: Klassified

Interesting how it says to preach to every creature. I never noticed that before.

Yeah, I guess that means aliens, animals, and insects can be saved and healed to?

I have had pretty good luck with animals actually, never for an insect though, and never had the opportunity to lay hands on an alien yet.

I'm not fond of TV faith healers, but I have seen healings happen many times in my personal life.

a reply to: intrptr

Here:

www.cnn.com...

www.livescience.com...

Now, it doesn't specifically say what methods the nurse and village midwife were using, but I'm guessing that since this was a small village in Africa, they were, one or both, using traditional methods which are often a mix of herbs and faith.