By Emmanuel Mihiingo Kaija
Senior Pastor, Uganda Assemblies of God
Opening quotes
“The river that forgets its source will dry up.” — Luganda proverb
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17
Abstract
In response to Gertrude Kamya Othieno’s moving critique of Benny Hinn’s 2025 Kampala crusade, this essay offers a multifaceted theological and cultural reflection rooted in African spirituality, economic analysis, and postcolonial theology. While her warning against spiritual spectacle and theological colonialism is urgent and prophetic, I seek to broaden the lens—to uncover the deeper cries embedded within Uganda’s public rituals of faith. What many critics view as mimicry may also reflect spiritual yearning, economic survival, and the reinvention of agency in a postcolonial context. Drawing on theological scholars, African proverbs, and empirical data, this piece interrogates the ethics of mass evangelism, the dynamics of healing, and the future of an African church caught between memory and emergence.
Introduction: Between Echo and Emergence
Gertrude Kamya Othieno’s essay, “Benny Hinn’s Kampala Crusade: A Nation Rehearses Its Past,” read like a lament carved from the bones of history. Her language was sharp, beautiful, bruised—accusing the Ugandan church of spiritual amnesia and our leaders of hosting a spectacle staged by foreign hands. She writes not with mere critique, but with a prophet’s trembling voice, warning that we may have mistaken sound for spirit, theatre for truth. And yet, what if the Rubaga spectacle was not only a mirror of past wounds, but a magnifier of present longings? What if, beneath the imported stage lights and soaring music, something uniquely Ugandan was unfolding—a wounded people attempting to pray their way out of despair? A proverb from the Akan says, “If the drumbeat changes, the dancer must also change his steps.” In this spirit, I offer not a rebuttal but a reinterpretation—a reflective widening of the canvas upon which Gertrude so powerfully painted.
1.The Crusade as Cultural Economy: Between Devotion and Development
To dismiss the 2025 Benny Hinn crusade as a spiritual circus is understandable—but incomplete. It is true that over UGX 3 billion (approx. USD 800,000) was spent on the crusade, a controversial figure in a nation where over 80% of rural health centers experience frequent drug stock-outs and child mortality remains at 43 per 1,000 births. But we must view African religious gatherings not solely as spiritual assemblies but also as complex economic and social events. The Uganda Tourism Board has reported that spiritual gatherings such as Phaneroo’s weekly rallies and Robert Kayanja’s “77 Days of Glory” series created micro-economic booms, drawing tens of thousands from across borders.
In Rubaga, where the crusade unfolded, local hotels reached full occupancy, boda bodas ferried pilgrims late into the night, vendors sold food, cloth, and icons, and digital entrepreneurs live-streamed the event for global audiences. Faith becomes not only devotion, but livelihood. The World Economic Forum recognizes faith-based tourism as one of the fastest-growing global sectors, now generating over $18 billion USD annually. In a nation where 84% identify as Christian,⁴ can we dismiss this event as mere religious entertainment? When a tech summit or business expo brings international money, it is called “development.” But when faith does the same, we recoil in suspicion. The Yoruba say, “When the gods are honored, the market dances.”
2.Healing and the African Body: Between Clinical Proof and Spiritual Meaning
Othieno’s critique of unverified miracles is theologically essential. She raises urgent questions: Who tracks the testimonies? Are the claimed healings medically confirmed? Do they serve or sabotage the healthcare system? These questions matter. A theology of accountability is not optional—it is part of our ethical witness. Yet, in African cosmology, healing is never purely physiological. It is relational, ancestral, symbolic, and emotional. It is not always about the tumor vanishing but about the burden lifting—the despair breaking.
According to a Johns Hopkins University study, spirituality contributes significantly to patients’ well-being, especially in contexts of chronic illness. In Uganda, Mildmay International has pioneered faith-integrated care for HIV-positive individuals—blending prayer, counseling, and medical care in a holistic model. If theology is to remain relevant, it must listen both to the language of the spirit and the science of the body. The African church must walk between miracle and medicine, hope and history. The Igbo remind us: “He who walks close to the healer must believe in both the roots and the rain.”
3.Between Colonization and Contextualization: Has the Gospel Gone Native?
The presence of Benny Hinn, an American televangelist with a history of controversy, understandably stirs discomfort. His lavish lifestyle and prosperity-laden preaching raise questions about neocolonial Christianity dressed in designer robes. But the Africanization of Pentecostalism is not as passive as critics suggest. As theologian Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu argues, African Pentecostalism is not merely mimicking—it is localizing, adapting, re-theologizing. The metaphors, music, testimonies, and deliverance styles at Hinn’s crusade bore African fingerprints. The gospel has gone native—imperfectly, but indelibly.
Lamin Sanneh wrote of the “translatability” of Christianity—the way it enters a culture and, like yeast, reshapes it from within. Yes, prosperity theology is problematic. But in contexts of poverty and marginalization, its appeal speaks to real desires for dignity, economic upliftment, and divine agency. The African preacher does not merely echo foreign sounds. He reinterprets them. “The borrowed cloth may not fit, but it still keeps the child warm.” — Hausa proverb.
4.Spirit and Politics: Whose Voice Echoes in the Stadium?
Gertrude’s lament rightly warned of spectacle replacing substance. But the Ugandan government’s embrace of Hinn’s crusade also reflects how politics and religion remain entangled. State actors attended. Ministers offered speeches. Media coverage was extensive. In a country where churches sometimes do what governments fail to—feed, heal, employ—the power of the pulpit can be co-opted.
The church must beware. We are not called to be the chaplains of empire, but the prophets of truth. In the words of Emmanuel Katongole, “Theology in Africa must become a theology of interruption—interrupting the political lie that power redeems.” If we clap too loudly at the stadium, we risk muting the cries of the poor outside its gates.
5.Prophetic Paths Forward: Accountability, Indigenization, and Lament
We must not walk away from this conversation unchanged. The African church must:
1.Audit its miracles with integrity and transparency.
2.Invest in theological education rooted in African contexts and languages.
3.Decolonize its liturgies, images, and language of power.
4.Champion public health, not just private testimonies.
5.Embrace lament as part of worship—not just triumphalism.
The South African Council of Churches has begun commissioning independent audits of large crusades to track health claims and financial flows. Ugandan theologians and pastors must do the same. Our people deserve miracles with meaning and hope with substance.
Conclusion: A Fire That Purifies, Not Consumes
What happened in Rubaga was messy, moving, imperfect, and holy. It was a paradox, like much of African life—where spirits walk among traders, and angels visit dusty hospitals. Perhaps Benny Hinn was a guest, but the hunger in the crowd was ours. The prayers were ours. The songs, though Western in origin, were sung with Ugandan ache. We must critique, but not with cruelty. We must reform, but not from arrogance.
As a final word, I echo an Akan proverb: “Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one person can embrace it.” May our faith be wide enough to hold lament and longing, critique and compassion, spirit and truth.
Footnotes
1.Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Demographic and Health Survey 2022, Kampala: UBOS, 2023.
2.Uganda Tourism Board, Annual Tourism Report, 2024.
3.World Economic Forum, Faith-Based Tourism as a Rising Global Trend, 2023.
4.Pew Research Center, The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2022.
5.Koenig, Harold G. et al., Handbook of Religion and Health, Oxford University Press, 2022.
6.Mildmay Uganda, Faith and Health Integration Report, 2023.
7.Asamoah-Gyadu, Kwabena, African Charismatics: Current Developments Within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana, Brill, 2005.
8.Sanneh, Lamin, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture, Orbis Books, 2009.
9.Katongole, Emmanuel, The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa, Eerdmans, 2011.
10.South African Council of Churches, Healing Ministries and Accountability Report, 2023.
