Excerpt from draft of "Apostle to the Pygmies – The Doctor Jerry Galloway Story”
Several weeks later, in November, one of the members of the prayer group knocked on my door to inform me that his father was critically ill, and he had just brought him to the hospital. I went over right away and was shocked at how critical he was. He had been sick for three weeks with bloody diarrhea and vomiting, and he was in shock from dehydration and blood loss. A quick exam showed that he had a severe case of amoebae, which could be fatal if not treated immediately and adequately. I spent most of the night with the man and gave him fluids and medications.
Two weeks later, after much effort and hassle, he was on the road to recovery. The reason the man had not come to the hospital earlier was because he had eaten some stolen meat that his mother-in-law bought from a man who also took the meat from a hunter’s trap. The laws of the ancestors said that to eat stolen meat would result in a ndoki (evil spirit), which caused severe illness. So, for three weeks, he was given all sorts of magic potions to drink to drive away the ndoki. The real cause of the amoebae was from drinking water contaminated by amoebae, which came from human feces. One of the most common reasons for death among the Batwa was their belief that the ndoki was the cause of illness, and that prevented them from seeking modern medical care.
Only the liberating message of Christ could help my brothers and sisters be free from their beliefs about the ndoki. This liberation would be a slow process that required great patience and gentleness. The Batwa needed to know and feel the love of Christ, and my work was to be God’s channel of love and compassion towards them.
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