Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to travel here. Mwasapila's answer is that it's God's choice.
If I was another healer, I might
advertise and travel here and there, but God chose here, so I will do my work here. If he de-
cides later that I should move and go to another place, then I will go
.
He tells me the medicine works by faith. To be cured, one must drink and believe. I ask
if a Muslim, Jew, or Hindu would be healed as well as a Christian.
God doesn't look at the
religion; he looks at the person who comes here with belief of faith. If they used the medicine,
they will get better
.
As we talk, the tall bald man who earlier spoke to the crowd pulls up a chair and begins to
listen intently. He says nothing at first, but begins to chime in during Jotham's translations,
emphasizing or elaborating certain points. Unlike Jotham, or Mwasapila, he seems impatient
with my questions and scowls at me. The effect is disturbing, and I start to get the sense that
I am no longer interviewing Mwasapila but instead arguing with this unidentified man.
Finally, he asks me whether people know about Mwasapila in America, and I say there's
only been one newspaper article. “I think in America we are used to putting our faith in doc-
tors even though we are also very religious. So some people will say, 'That sounds like it
can't be true.' Other people will think, 'That sounds like something I would like to see for
myself.'”
The man tells me Americans should read Revelation verse 22, lines 1 through 3. “You will
see what God did during Jonah's time.”
“Since you have now offered something, may I have your name?” I ask. This is apparently
daring and makes the small crowd titter.
He tells me it's Frederick Nisajile and that he works for the Tanganyika Christian Refugee
Service, which I later learn is an NGO affiliated with the Lutheran Church. Both Frederick
and Mwasapila seem intently interested in America. The healer predicts many more people
will come.
God has already shown me people from Asia, Europeans, Americans. Right here
is not big enough. The place to do this service is behind this mountain on the great plain
.
Frederick and Mwasapila both want to know what American doctors or drug companies
would think if they heard about this cure. I joke that they probably wouldn't understand, and
Jotham both chuckle. Sensing my audience will end soon, I make one more attempt to ask an
important question. I explain I've spoken to at least one person who believes there might be
something wrong with Mwasapila's brain, causing him to hear God's voice. “And I just have
to ask, respectfully, did you ever wonder, when you first heard from God, if your brain was
playing a trick?”
Jotham hesitates, and then starts to translate this, but Frederick emphatically cuts him off,
almost shouting, “No, no, no!”
He launches into an explanation in English that I barely understand, saying David and
somebody else in the Bible heard God's voice many times, and in David's case, he spoke to
