SPIRITUAL HEALING MEETS A CRYING NEED IN A COUNTRY LIKE OURS (the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa), where most health and social services are pretty nonexistent. People in developing countries naturally embrace Christian Science because they see how much healing it can bring to every part of their lives. The steady growth of Christian Science in our city, Kinshasa—the capital of the DRC with a population of some 6.5 million—has been due mostly to lectures where people can learn about Christian Science and the healings people freely tell others about.
In 1986, I joined the Christian Science Society in Kinshasa, which has since become Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist. At the time I joined, churches were not allowed to hold public lectures because of the political state of the country. This ban concerned mostly new churches, evangelical and others, suspected to be venues for opposition groups to congregate and plot against the government. In the late 1980s, even while this ban was still on, a Christian Science lecturer came to Kinshasa and delivered several lectures over a two-week period. People poured into the lecture sponsored by our society, filling a big hall that held 500 people. This inspiring lecture led me to take primary class instruction with the lecturer, who is also a Christian Science teacher.
The political atmosphere in our country changed so much thereafter that we've held public lectures almost every year since. During this time, the five Christian Science Societies all became churches. Now Kinshasa has five churches and four societies, as well as some growing groups.
