Uganda (MNN) — A missionary nurse with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) is bad for
business. That's according to the witch
doctors working in the Lake Victoria, Uganda, area.
Spirit-worship remains a pillar of island lifestyle, and fishermen
routinely call upon witch doctors to cure and prevent disease. However, due to extreme
promiscuity and rampant prostitution, the HIV/AIDS-rate in this beautiful
archipelago has topped 90 percent.
Because of the high infection rates, the Mildmay Treatment Center works
in the region. It provides outpatient
clinics, a child care center, and a pastoral care center. Its training and
education programs facilitate the reproduction of the center's care model to
help others start similar ministries.
Working under the umbrella of Mildmay Treatment Center, AIM's Kathleen
Burns has been helping sufferers of HIV/AIDS in the Ssese Islands.
Her ministry involves taking the island sufferers to the mainland for
treatment. During the boat trip and later in the clinic, she gives not only
medical hope but spiritual hope as well.
As a result, many patients have accepted Christ. The witchdoctors
complain that since she started working with the AIDS sufferers, they've had a
drastic decline in business.
