Kenyan Minister Claims to Have Healed Thousands of AIDS Patients, New York Times Reports

Thousands of Kenyans with HIV/AIDS are seeking the assistance of the "charismatic" Rev. John Nduati and his Church of God's Power to heal them, the New York Times reports. Nduati, a Protestant minister who says he began healing people at age 10, claims that he has cured thousands of Kenyans -- residents of a nation that "has become notorious for AIDS quackery" -- of AIDS, the "mainstay of his ministry." Of Kenya's 29 million residents, about 2.3 million have HIV, the Times reports. On a recent Sunday, 161 people with HIV came to a service, seeking healing. During the service, Nduati healed Francis Manene, a 41-year-old with AIDS, saying, "You are mighty and wonderful and there is no other God like you. This brother has a bad disease. He would like to be healed. Change him from positive to negative, and he will live to glorify your name." Nduati "dismisses any suggestion that the healing is not real" and claims he can produce hundreds of people with documentation proving their healing. He added that "his credibility [is] bolstered by the fact that his services [are] free." He said, "I want this country to be like Switzerland. Free from corruption and free from criminals. ... If I were supported, I [would] reach the whole world. And they [would] be healed" (Fisher, New York Times, 4/1).