The True Healer
Today we ventured out to a village two hours away to visit a Traditional Zambian Healer. I am all about natural remedies. Yes, I know I will be handing out meds on a regular basis as a nurse, but personally try to I avoid them at all cost and love it when I can find a natural way to cure what ails me, even if that means waiting it out with a cool washcloth and some vitamin C. It seemed like it took forever to make our way down the bumpy dirt road to the tiny village where the Traditional Healer awaited us. When we arrived we were shocked to find out that he had not been expecting us and wanted us to come back another time. My heart dropped. I was really looking forward to this. It was one of those moments when you’re shocked and can’t believe something is really happening and it starts to become hilarious all at the same time because this is the type of thing that happens all the time here. Schedules are rarely kept. Time is relative. And flexibility becomes your motto.
Thankfully we were able to convince him to take a few moments of his time to talk with us, and he invited us into the village to talk and ask questions. They brought out all of their chairs and little Zambian stools for us. Some of us laid out our chitanges and sat them under the shade of the tree we were all huddled under. We sat around him as he told us about how he came to be a Traditional Healer and Diviner which means that his “power to heal” comes through his ancestors in the form of dreams. He told us how his ancestors speak to him in dreams every few nights and give him specific directions of where to find the herbs with healing benefits. He explained the different types of healers: diviners, witch doctors, spiritual healers (those who pray over their herbs but have the power to heal with our without them), and herbalists (those who are taught the different types of herbs and convert them into medicinal form). We tried to learn more about the actual types of herbs he uses and how he uses them, but he refused to give us any information for fear of being exploited as he apparently had been in the past.
It was interesting and a bit scary to listen to him talk about how he has healed different diseases including blindness, malaria, TB, bone fractures, and much more with his traditional medicine and guidance from his ancestors. Reflecting on it later, I began to realize how close I was to spiritual forces at work in that village and how God had been protecting us from the minute we stepped off the bus. In the US we are so far removed from the blatant spirit of evil that prowls the continent of Africa everyday. The things that we would think mysterious and unfathomable at home become mundane and commonplace here. It is a frightening realization. But God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and discipline! God is so much bigger than any spiritual force threatening to harm the work He is completing in us while we are here. We prayed as a team when we returned from the village. We prayed for protection over our hearts and minds. We thanked God for bringing us to this country and for his continued faithfulness in every aspect of our lives here. I’m so glad to know that God is in control. He is the creator of the heavens and earth, the trees, roots, and herbs and He is the Ultimate Healer.
