Church sues HIV-positive ex-member
A church in Kampala has sued a woman living with HIV/AIDS and a pastor for defamation.
Last year, Frances Adroa and Pastor Solomon Male accused the Universal Church of The Kingdom of God of taking Adroa’s car with promises of healing her but her condition did not change.
Adroa was member of the church on George Steeet, while Male heads Arising for Christ Ministries.
Male, an outspoken pastor, has been critical of many of the mushrooming born-again churches.
He has blamed a number of pastors for engaging in ungodly practices and defrauding the faithful they lead.
Magistrate Jolly Nkore of Mengo Court yesterday set September 9-10 for the hearing.
The church’s leaders, Gilson Costa and Gerald Nkayi, were not in court but their lawyer Deepa Verma Jivram said Adroa and Male caused publication of defamatory statements which injured the status and character of her clients.
Jivram submitted some of the newspaper articles published last year in which Adroa claimed that her car, a Hyundai, was taken during faith healing sessions by the pastors, who said she would recover.
But Adroa’s status never changed and she demanded a return of her car, which she said had been damaged beyond repair.
[…]The case comes after several claims by followers, mainly in born-again churches, that their pastors had ripped them of cash with promises of being healed of AIDS or getting fortunes that never materialise.
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, headquartered in Brazil, also uses the name “Stop Suffering.” However, the church causes a lot of suffering by preaching a form of the Prosperity Gospel: if you want to receive money, healing or another blessing, you first must give or ‘sow’ money.
The church’s teachings and practices make it, theologically, a cult of Christianity.
See Also:
• Jesus wants you to drive 4×4, says South African church
• Universal Church of the Kingfom of God: Pay the Lord!
• Church promises miracles for cash