Healing without cost: Meegmege’s story

Told by Morgan Jackson, International Director of Hosanna Ministries

GHANA — When Meegmege became very sick, she went to a fetish priest for treatment, as was common in her community. Many more visits to other fetish priests followed, but her symptoms persisted.

The first priest told her he could cure her by releasing a chemical in her body. He made cuts in her skin and, while she was bleeding, he rubbed a potion in. This treatment did not help.

Another priest offered a different solution. After a ceremony was performed, she needed to drink the bloody water that remained in a bowl from other sacrifices. The water contained maggots, but Meegmege was so desperate to be cured that she drank it. She went to this priest several times, and drank this water each time, but she received no relief.

Yet another priest told her to bring him a hen. He twisted the hen and, while she was standing on a sacred rock, made her hold it on her head as it died. At the moment of death, she dropped the hen behind her. She was then told to remove all her clothes and give them to him, and then she would be healed. After several weeks she was still ill, but she continued this ritual, each time bringing a hen with her and removing her clothes and giving them to the priest. She eventually hit a problem: she was running out of clothes! Even after all this, her symptoms remained.

Stood still

One day the church in her village received the Bible on cassette in the local language. As she walked past, the words caught her attention and she stood still to listen. She was deeply touched as she listened to the story of the sick man who went to a pool of water to be healed. At that pool there were others who were sick, because they had heard that when an angel visited the pool, the water would be stirred and the first person to enter it would be healed. But Jesus came to this man and, seeing his faith, healed him!

Challenge

Meegmege saw this as a challenge. She thought in her heart, “If this happened to this man, then if I go to church and give myself to Jesus I will be healed.” So she went into the church and told the people there, “I heard the cassette today and I am giving myself to the church and to Jesus.”

The people prayed for her and she was healed! Now she not only attends the church, but is one of its leaders. What she found so amazing was that, when the people prayed for her, they did not ask for anything: she was healed without cost. (WR 388/13 - 10/11.04)