Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubanga Miracle Centre Cathedral, Kampala has appealed to people living with HIV and AIDS not to abandoned their treatment and run to churches for healing.
Kayanja said people taking antiretrovirals (ARVs) should continue taking their medication as well as seeking spiritual healing from the church.
He thanked God for ARVs, saying the drug has done a great job in rehabilitating the lives of people living with the virus by giving them hope to live longer.
“Thank God for the medicine because people now look better. If you did not see your relative dying of AIDS in a miserable way, you would be condemning the medicine today,” he said.
ARVs strengthen the immune system, enabling people to live with HIV for a long time. Kayanja also said ARVs have helped people die with dignity, which was not the case before the discovery of the drugs.
“Those days when were burying people before the ARVs came, people died a miserable death. They were sliming, that’s why we called it ‘slim’, it was terrible image. I thank God for the invention of ARVs because it helps someone to live with HIV and die in a decent way,” Kayanja said.
Kayanja criticised those pastors who tell their followers to stop taking ARVs and pray instead. “Everybody who tells people to get rid of ARVs is inconsiderate of human dignity because anything that would help a person to get better should be encouraged,” he said.
He urged people to always seek medical attention, adding: “I believe that doctors are extended hands of God, who uses them to administer medicine to heal people. We should always encourage those who are affected with the virus to seek for medical attention. That’s what my belief system is.”
However, Kayanja called on people to protect themselves against HIV saying the pandemic is still real, and is killing and affecting people everyday.
The pastor made the comments today (20 September 2011) while addressing journalists at the Mountain of the Moon Hotel in Kabarole district. Later this week, he will address political and religious leaders and business communities.
Kayanja called on religious leaders to pray for Uganda. He said: “Uganda is now playing a major in the region. We’ve got peacekeepers in Somalia, we have been involved in the peace building of South Sudan, Rwanda and Brundi. We need to pray for our country to remain peaceful.”
He called on the police to arrest and prosecute pastors who ask for money from people in return for praying for miracles and blessings and for them.
“There are criminals in church today who con people of their money and property, disguising that they are miracle performers. I urge the police to help us and arrest those criminals who are tarnishing the image of God and church,” he said.
