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Big bucks paid by Africa’s poorest to hear TV evangelist I have become accustomed to American television evangelists raking in huge amounts of cash while pleading poverty in their appeals for ever-increasing needs for money. For years, I received letters in the mail from many of the nationally known ministries that whined that unless I gave to their cause, their ministry would go belly-up and gazillions of people would never hear the Gospel and be lost forever. One man, now fallen from the scene, said that, unless he reached the world, the world would not be reached. A number of these ministries have come under the scrutiny of the federal government. And no wonder — one such evangelist lives in a $10 million “parsonage.” Another television minister is reportedly building a mansion costing several millions of dollars while, at the same time, his ministry is laying off staff, cutting jobs, freezing wages, and halting matching contributions to the employees’ retirement accounts. But I have also become accustomed to Americans fawning over celebrity preachers and throwing their dollars at them with no apparent regard as to the celebrities’ personal integrity or their lack of financial accountability. However, one man takes the cake. According to an article in www.allAfrica.com, television evangelist Benny Hinn recently charged some of the world’s poorest and most destitute people admission to his religious services. Hinn reportedly encountered a loss of some $2 million (about 4.4 billion Ugandan shillings) on his recent visit to Uganda and two other African countries. Speaking on Light House Television, Hinn said: “Most people are poor in Africa and it affected the recent crusades.” According to the article, “Unlike his 2007 visit, when entrance was free of charge, this time participants had to pay $50 (110,000 shillings).” A similar report was posted in The New Vision, which is advertised as “Uganda’s leading website.” When I read that Hinn was charging the Ugandan people 50 bucks to attend his meeting, I have to admit that I was stunned. Ugandan citizens are among the world’s poorest, with the average income in the neighborhood of $300 per year. A staggering 69 percent of the people live on less than a dollar a day, and most of that is spent for food. According to the Ugandan Daily Monitor, the nation is currently in the grip of a famine that has affected 51 of its 80 districts and people are literally starving to death. The average life expectancy in Uganda is less than 49 years and 48 percent of the people do not have access to safe drinking water. When I visited Uganda in 1998, I watched people work all day hauling banana stalks, a back-breaking task in the relentless, broiling sun, for $2 a day. While $50 may not be much to most Americans, for an average Ugandan citizen, it is a fortune. Most Ugandans are farmers on small plots of land used for subsistence agriculture. Some are able to raise a small amount of coffee or tea to sell, but most Ugandans have to work two or three jobs just to survive. Hinn said that “... much as some people may not want to hear him talk about money, ‘it is important to have money to do God’s work.’ He, however, pledged to continue with the healing crusades.” According to The New Vision, some 8,000 people attended the first night of Hinn’s crusade in Kampala. I wonder if the admission price was worth it. [David Epps is the founding pastor of The Cathedral of Christ the King, 4881 Hwy. 34 E., Sharpsburg, GA 30277, between Peachtree City and Newnan. Services are held Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. He is the bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-South and is the mission pastor of Christ the King Fellowship in Savoy, IL. He may be contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.] login to post comments | Father David Epps's blog
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