“Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.” Psalm 10:17–18   Stop Child Witch Accusations (SCWA) was formed in 2012 and is a coalition of predominantly Christian,…

We tend in English to use the words “witch” or “witchcraft” in ways that fail to reflect analytic distinctions widely present in other cultures and languages. One class of persons practice divination or contact the dead on behalf of the living in a culturally acceptable and open way. For example, in South Africa the Sangoma and Inyanga are…

Yesterday I received an urgent email from a good friend, the President of an indigenous evangelical denomination among the Aguaruna of Peru, with whom I worked closely many years ago. I would like to translate his letter here into English, using pseudonyms, and provide commentary on the way witchcraft issues continue to play out among…

When considering witchcraft and witchcraft accusations in the news over the last month, one should note its widespread geographic distribution (highlighted in the map above). For example, one finds news of older women lynched and burned (or hacked) to death as witches in the last few days in Nigeria, Guatemala, India, and New Guinea (see…

It was around 1990. I was teaching in America at a seminary and Bible college. During a monthly time of staff prayer, our school’s difficult financial problems and damage from a recent storm were mentioned. When other prayer requests were solicited, Bill (a person on staff) mentioned that there was a group of witches that…

Over 20 thousand street children, most of them orphans, roam the streets of Kinshasa. In response to the biblical call for God’s people to care for orphans, an organization of Congolese pastors led by Pastor Abel Ngolo called Equipe Pastorale Aupres des Enfants en Détresse (Pastoral Team for Children in Distress), and in partnership with…

In many regions of the contemporary world, from New Guinea to Nigeria, health problems, death, infertility, and financial problems are blamed on neighbors or relatives thought to have caused these misfortunes through witchcraft. The accused, who are often widows, the elderly, or orphan children, are ostracized, exiled, beaten, or sometimes killed. How churches and church…

I suggested last week that missiologists should focus on homosexuality in our research and writing, that missiologists would bring real strengths to the topic, and that such a contribution would benefit the wider church. But I also indicated there would be difficult hurdles to clear for this to happen. The following are three challenges we…

                At a missiology conference next month   in Dallas, Sherwood Lingenfelter will be discussing homosexuality. Sherwood is a well-known and respected missiological anthropologist, the former provost at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the loving father of a lesbian daughter.  There are a number of challenges that he will face as he presents,

Fifty Christian scholars and church leaders, a majority from Africa (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania), but including participants from Asia, Europe, and North America, gathered at Africa International University (AIU) in Nairobi early last month (March 6-9) to discuss how the church should respond to witchcraft and to…

Actual cases of pastoral interventions where witchcraft suspicions and violence are present, especially interventions that have seemingly positive outcomes, is something I’d like to hear more of.  Tim Stabell just emailed me from DRC describing such a case reported to him by a Congolese pastor in his class. Here is the brief account: + + +…

Years ago my wife Kersten pointed out that the preacher at our church made almost exclusive reference to the world of men in his preaching. Once she pointed it out to me, I paid attention week after week, and found that she was correct.