Babu wa Loliondo—Healing the Tensions between Tanzanian Worlds

Abstract

Tanzanian Ambilikile Mwasapila aka Babu wa Loliondo, a retired Lutheran countryside pastor, suddenly became the most visible media personality and healer in East Africa for half a year in 2011. He had received dreams in which God provided him with the recipe for a herbal medicine that would heal all maladies. Lutheran bishops who had all but abandoned the elderly pastor in his former remote mission field eagerly approved his ministry, while reception in Charismatic churches was mixed. After initial suspicion, the government strongly backed him, and the national research hospital vaguely endorsed the medicine, which is essentially the same as traditional medicine in several ethnic groups. Thus, in this ministry modern scientific, Christian, and traditional worldviews suddenly corresponded, thereby easing the tensions between the three lifeworlds of Tanzanian Christians. After the deaths of several hiv-positive patients who had abandoned antiretroviral (arv) drugs, the magic of the healer vanished.