Benny
Hinn Visit and Pomp in Uganda as Reported in the Press
Compiled by Kato Mivule
Posted May 21 2007
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/565901
Benny Hinn dedicates Uganda to God
Friday, 18th May, 2007
By Raphael Okello, Joyce
Namutebi and Flavia Nakagwa
RENOWNED international evangelist, Pastor Benny Hinn yesterday
arrived in the country to a massive crusade at Nelson Mandela
Stadium, Namboole.
Hinn in the country at the invitation of the First Lady, Janet
Museveni, arrived at Namboole at around 6:40pm in a chopper.He
entered the stadium at 7:00pm amid tight security.
His arrival in the stadium was not announced. He appeared
suddenly and walked straight to the podium, the background of
which had a 5,000-strong choir which was singing praises to the
Lord.
When the thousands of believers who filled the stadium to
capacity noticed his glorious presence, he garnered a deafening
applause. Prolonged screaming, chants of praise and clapping
reverberated in the stadium.
Hinn, dressed in a white Nehru jacket, joined in the praise. He
prayed for the country before his sermon powered by a strong,
loud and perfect sound system.
The pastor on the first day of his two-day crusade implored God
to bless president Yoweri Museveni, his family and staff. “Make
this nation become your nation,” he cried out to God.
Earlier, there was a scuffle as Pastor Hinn entered the
perimeter of the stadium.
His guards flown in from the US closed the gates blocking the
entry of several ministers and dignatories. After some
insistence and pleading they were allowed in.
Thousands of excited believers converged at the Stadium at dawn
to avoid traffic jam and get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
attend a Benny Hinn crusade. The queues were long and it would
take an average of two hours for individuals to enter.
People brought in their sick to receive healing. Some people who
had travelled from as far as Gulu, Arua and Mbarara districts
had arrived at Namboole by midday. The two-day event has also
attracted a number of people from neighbouring countries
including Kenya and Rwanda.
“I could not miss this chance because this is the time I think
my child will get her healing,” Joyce Wangari from Nairobi said
as she and her child struggled to enter.
Sources on the organising committee estimate that the two-day
visit will cost over $1.5m (sh2.5b) including flight costs and
logistics, reports Sebidde Kiryowa.
It is estimated that he flew in with television equipment from
the USA worth $4.8m and hired at about $250,000.
To illuminate the place enough for the television cameras, the
same lighting system that was used on the 2004 Oscar winning
Hollywood film The Constant Gardener, which was shot in
Nairobi’s Kibero slum, was brought. According to sources, the
lighting equipment cost about $500,000.
Four separate sound systems were used at Namboole, one of which
came from Nairobi at $500,000 while the rest were hired from
Uganda.
Ange Noir proprietor Charlie Lubega’s sound system has been
hired at $150,000 while two others have been hired at 50,000
each.
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http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/566218
Pastors hit by spiritual force at Hinn crusade
Sunday, 20th May, 2007
By Anne Mugisa,
Flavia Nakagwa
and C. Businge
RENOWNED pastors including Robert Kayanja were hit by a
spiritual force which threw them down flat on the ground during
international evangelist Pastor Benny Hinn’s crusade on
Saturday.
The other pastors, who experienced the spiritual force before
multitudes of Christians at Namboole Stadium, were Imelda
Namutebi, Isaac Kiwewesi, John Michael Mugerwa and a pastor from
West Africa.
The crusade was also attended by the First Lady, Janet Museveni,
who asked Ugandans to pray without ceasing. The Police estimated
the attendance at over 100,000 people, on each of the two days.
The field and all the 42,000 seats in the pavilion were filled.
Kayanja fell twice in his seat as Hinn approached the row where
the pastors were seated. Hinn called him forward and Kayanja
approached him swaying, with a stunned look on his face, before
falling flat on his back. Hinn instructed his aides to pick up
Kayanja, but every time he was lifted he fell until he was left
on the ground for some time.
Later, three men lifted him up and carried him to his chair
where he sat cautiously, before Hinn re-called him to the altar.
Kayanja fell again and Hinn announced that he was anointed. Hinn
instructed him to remove his jacket, which, he did with the help
of Hinn’s aides. Underneath it, his shirt was stained by sweat.
“Let anointing come to him,” Hinn declared. “Let healing come to
Uganda through Pastor Robert’s Ministry. Let the dead be raised
in Uganda. I release the anointing on him, a son of the Almighty
God.”
When Hinn asked him to pray for Uganda, Kayanja, in a shaky,
uncharacteristically husky voice said: “When he told us to join
our hands, I saw Jesus over our heads.” Kayanja then broke down
and cried and said” “Our past has been erased in the mighty name
of Jesus. I can hardly stand in this place.”
At this point Hinn declared that Jesus told him “I have removed
the reproach. God has removed the reproach of the past from
Uganda.”
The other pastors were also called forward and they fell. On
getting up, they looked dishevelled and had to be supported back
to their seats.
As Namutebi was being supported back to her seat, Hinn
instructed his aides to: “Bring that woman back. I don’t know
who you are but there is great anointing on your head. Bring her
back here.
“God is giving you power over demons. He is giving you power
over Satan, when you walk in, Satan will walk out,” he declared.
Other people were also falling and crying during the healing
session.
A big number of people testified that they had been healed of
different ailments during the crusade. A severely-stunted
16-year-old girl who had epileptic fits at least six times a day
had not had an attack for about 24 hours, her guardian said.
An emaciated woman was brought in on her death bed but she got
up and danced, hugging Hinn and promptly got saved. A crippled
boy from Lango called Moses walked and his sister could not
contain her excitement.
A woman who was due for an operation for tumours in her abdomen,
produced a medical report on the second day of the crusade,
showing that her tumors had disappeared. Hundreds came forward
to say they were healed and immediately got saved.
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http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news05215.php
News | May 21, 2007
Demons cast out of Kayanja, Namutebi
ANDREW BAGALA
NAMBOOLE
UGANDAN evangelists Robert Kayanja of Miracle Centre, Imelda
Namutebi of Liberty Worship Centre and a host of prominent
pastors famed for driving away demons, succumbed to Benny Hinn
miraculous demon-freeing powers.
Pastor Kayanja being supported as he fell unconscious while
Benny Hinn (2nd left) prays for him at Namboole Stadium on
Saturday. The most televised preacherwas in Uganda over the
weekend. Photo by Natty Dread
Pastors including Gary Skinner of Kampala Pentecostal Church,
Alex Mitala, and Isaac Kiweewesi on Saturday at Namboole
Stadium, fell to the ground when Pastor Benny Hinn ordered
demons to free them.
A fully packed stadium, believers were mystified by the
preaching and cheered as scores of senior pastors in the country
fell to the ground by the mere swing of Pastor Hinn's hand.
"Pick him (Kayanja) up," Pastor Hinn ordered his ushers as
Pastor Kayanja was on the ground unconscious. "Get your blessing
now to spread the Gospel," Paster Hinn said with confidence.
The famed American evangelist then turned to pastor Imelda
Namutebi, famous for throwing people to the ground; “Receive
your blessing." Ms Namutebi dropped to the ground.
Joy filled the crowds as renowned pastors in tears struggled to
come on their feet. "Forget the past you are now a new person
start preaching the Gospel of God to the people," Hinn told
Kayanja whose cheeks were watered with tears.
A submissive and cleansed Kayanja confessed that while on he lay
on the ground, he saw Jesus. "I can't believe it, When I was on
the ground I saw Jesus," Paster Kayanja testified.
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http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news05214.php
News | May 21, 2007
Benny Hinn attracts thousands
SUSAN K. MUYIYI
NAMBOOLE
IT was no longer an issue of speculation but only a matter of
time for Benny Hinn to arrive at Nelson Mandela stadium for his
first ever Holy Spirit crusade in Uganda. Paster Hinn arrived
incognito in a helicopter but it wasn’t until 7.00pm that he
stepped on the podium.
Meanwhile people had been queuing outside the stadium from as
early as 8.00am. Among the crowd were people who had traveled
all the way from Mbarara, Lira, Gulu, Nairobi and Tanzania.
The gates were opened to the public at 12.00pm although the
service started at 6.00pm an hour after the scheduled time.
People from all walks of life filled the pitch and stadium to
full capacity. Charlotte Muhoozi (President Museveni’s daughter
in-law) supported an elderly woman with a clutch to a front
seat.
The crowds surged into the stadium. Fortunately a special in let
had been allocated for the sick. People with all types of
disease waited for the moment when they would receive a miracle.
Among the sick children were those with deformities including
over size heads, withered hands and legs and some were deaf.
WORD OF HOPE: The first Lady Janet Museveni addresses the
congregation during at Namboole. Photo Geoffrey Sseruyange
One mother who seemed lost in thought tried to shield her sick
child from the scorching sun as she waited for the service to
begin. Some men and women used clutches as walking aides and
some were confined to wheelchairs. It was rather a long wait
considering that people had stayed all day but no one seemed to
complain. By around three in the afternoon, the stadium was
boozing with activity.
The police and the security personnel directed the crowds to
their appropriate sitting areas. The 5,000 choir which included
members from different churches including the Watoto children’s
choir didn’t disappoint as they sang their hearts out to the
applause of the audience.
Pastor Isaac Serukenya led the praise and worship session and
was joined by Ron Kenoly, an American gospel artist, and Jody
Maguire one of the members of Avalon, a Christian singing group.
Pastor Gary Skinner couldn’t help himself as he leaped like an
excited little boy to the tunes of Wipolo and Jabulani. When
Hinn stood in front of the congregation, he teased Pastor
Kayanja about the secret to his youthful look. “You look 22 not
44.”
Pastor Hinn caused laughter when he insisted on speaking in
‘Ugandan,’ (read Luganda,). “I have always wanted to come to
Uganda for a long time. But it is God’s timing now,” he said.
Not only did he preach but also lead a lengthy praise and
worship session and then started praying the sick. Tears rolled
down his eyes as he sang, “How great thou art….” Quoting the
book of Mathew, he said that Jesus was going to heal all the
sick people in the stadium.
A short while after he prayed, people with amazing testimonies
lined on the left and right sides of the podium waiting their
turn to testify. An excited woman was in tears when her nephew
who had been paralyzed for four years started walking again.
A deaf woman heard for the first time in her life and couldn’t
hold back her joy. A woman who had been bed ridden walked for
the first time in eight months. In her brother’s words, “my
sister couldn’t sit up because she had water in her lungs,” he
said.
Those were just some of the few who got the opportunity to
testify.
Pastor Hinn made an altar call, which attracted a considerable
number of people who received dedication cards, which they had
to fill and hand in. He left at 10.30pm.
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http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/life/life05205.php
OPINIONS & COMMENTARIES
ROVING EYE | Kevin O’Connor
No HIV cures at crusades
May 20 - 26, 2007
I did not attend Benny Hinn’s crusade, this weekend, as the
claims of such pastors to heal and perform miracles are
nonsense. However, I did go to a Morris Cerullo crusade in
Kampala in the late 1990s.
I was disgusted at the suggestion that a person could be cured
of HIV/Aids, and even worse, in order to be healed they first
had to give money to the organisers. None of these “miracle”
claims ever stand up to rigorous scientific testing.
At the current time there is no cure for HIV/Aids. Though the
taking of anti-retroviral drugs greatly reduces the level of the
virus in the body, and can mean the person has a life expectancy
of normal length.
Furthermore, to suggest that the power of prayer combined with
monetary donations can cure Aids is highly irresponsible. If
people are told they can be cured, and they believe it, they may
no longer practice safe sex.
Thus the likes of Benny Hinn (or should that be Benny Sin?) are
working against the admirable efforts of organisations such as
TASO and the Straight Talk Foundation who have made such huge
contributions in the fight against the Aids epidemic.
The giving of money forms an integral part of most crusades. Is
it any coincidence that many of the big pastors are extremely
wealthy men and women? And who should be the next American
pastor to visit Kampala, but the appropriately named Pastor
Dollar.
As Business Week magazine has pointed out, Creflo A. Dollar “has
been dubbed by critics as ‘Pass The Dollar’ and ‘Cashflow
Dollar’ for his ostentatious displays of wealth.” He owns two
Roll-Royce cars and flies around America in a Gulfstream-3
private jet.”
Kayanja Pastor Dollar is no doubt a role model for our own
Pastor Robert Kayanja. Kayanja similarly oozes and drips wealth.
According to the Red Pepper he owns:
l Rubaga Miracle Cathedral
l Highway Holiness International, an NGO with many American
links
l Robert Kayanja Ministries, an NGO with over 1,000 branches in
Uganda and the US
l A house in Chicago
l Businesses in the US
l Innumerable Mercedes Benz and land cruisers;
l A private jet
l A magnificent house at Ggaba on the shores of Lake Victoria
Money is obviously very important to these pastors. Perhaps this
explains why WCNC USA reports that Morris Cerullo is facing
federal charges of tax evasion which include that “Cerullo lied
on his income tax returns, omitting more than US $500,000.”
The report continues: “The federal prosecutor said that the
money in question came from offerings at breakthrough rallies
and speaking fees. The feds tells us Cerullo used that money as
his own. If convicted, Cerullo could spend up to nine years in
prison and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.”
Religion certainly can play an important role in providing
support to people suffering from HIV/Aids, other ailments and
the very many harsh challenges that life can throw at human
beings. But it should not be used to provide false hope. To
repeat, there is no known cure for HIV/Aids, and one certainly
won't be found at a religious crusade in the Mandela National
Stadium.
kevin@imul.com
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http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=565963
Thousands attend Hinn prayer rally
By Fred Ouma
and Moses Mulondo
THERE was none of the usual violence associated with soccer
hooliganism. Instead it was joy and harmony, as thousands
descended on Namboole National Stadium, to take part in
world-famous evangelist Benny Hinn’s crusade.
Hinn is on a two-day crusade at the invitation of First Lady
Janet Museveni. Parents and their children, big politicians and
pastors mixed freely.
There was drama when Hinn instructed everybody to sit down.
Enthusiastically, the policemen near the podium took the front
seats to listen to the gospel.
In his sermon, Hinn urged all pastors to always make praying for
the sick a number one priority, arguing that is what salvation
is all about. He said the gospel of healing is above all gospels
because it manifests the presence and love of God in reality.
Various people Sunday Vision contacted, said that the crusade
re-activated the faith of the Christians who turned up in their
tens of thousands.
“This crusade has taken me to higher level in faith. What I have
seen, what I have heard, and what I have received has re-energised
me spiritually,” said William Kyagulanyi from Kawuku.
“I have seen with my eyes extraordinary miracles which I only
used to read in the Bible about Jesus. With my eyes, I have seen
the lame walk, the deaf hear, and the blind receive sight. This
is what I had come to witness,” said a joyful Luke Onen.
Published on: Saturday, 19th May, 2007
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http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=565962
Miracles at Benny Hinn’s Namboole crusade
Thousands pray during the Benny Hinn crusade. Inset a boy whose
aunt said he had not walked for eight years steps forward to
greet Benny Hinn
By Joyce Namutebi
and Flavia Nakagwa
THE lame walked, the blind had their eyes opened, the deaf heard
and the sick recovered at the first-ever Pastor Benny Hinn
crusade in Uganda held at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole on
Friday.
Crippled from birth, 28-year-old Moses from Lira took his first
steps at the prayer rally. He entered Namboole in a wheelchair,
but was healed as Hinn prayed for people during his first
crusade to be televised live to the whole world.
An elderly man who had been relegated to a wheelchair for seven
years as a result of prostate cancer and bedridden for one and
half years, sprang up and walked.
These were some of the many miracles at the start of the two-day
crusade broadcast by the US-based GOD Television.
Hinn a renowned international evangelist explained his crusade
in Uganda was the first to be broadcast live.
“Many people have been requesting me to air the crusades live,
but I would turn them down. While in Washington I received a
request from GOD TV to broadcast the crusade in Uganda live,
which he accepted,” he told a fully packed stadium.
“I want to be saved,” the barefoot Moses said soon after giving
his moving testimony to thousands of people who had travelled
from different parts of Uganda, as well as neighbouring
countries.
Moved by his desire to get saved Benny Hinn, promised to meet
Moses’ expenses to study at a Bible school and also buy him
trendy clothes.
“I want you to know that Moses, the poorest man is now rich with
Jesus Christ,” the excited Benny Hinn declared. Hundreds
responded to Benny Hinn’s call to receive Jesus as their Lord
and saviour after Moses’ decision.
Benny Hinn, led the congregation into praise and worship as soon
as he entered the over 40,000-seater stadium.
Prior to the preaching, he invited Pastor Robert Kayanja to
speak, saying he had heard so much about him.
Kayanja testified that 12 years ago he fulfilled his pledge to
pay bills for Benny Hinn’s programme to run on a Ugandan
television and received his anointing.
Benny Hinn amused the people when he told Kayanja that he looked
more like a 22-year-old instead of his 44 years.
“Tell me the secret of your youth. You look so young,” the
pastor said amidst cheering from the congregation. “I know what
it is, it’s the anointing,” the evangelist added.
With a pastor like Kayanja, Pastor Hinn said, God had blessed
Uganda.
A few examples of what transpired at Namboole
# A Kenyan lady, who fell while mountain climbing and fractured
her legs, got healed.
# A young boy, who had been paralysed for eight years since the
age of three after immunisation, walked.
# A woman who looked to be in her thirties and had been deaf and
dumb since birth heard for the first time and struggled to
speak.
# A teenage girl who had rheumatism for six months walked. She
had been brought in a baby pram unable to walk.
# A child who had been deaf since two was healed.
# A woman suffering from arthritis, who had been unable to walk
for eight months, walk ed after getting healed.
# A man who had his right leg crushed in a motor accident seven
months ago and couldn’t walk without crutches got healed.
# Another frail looking woman who couldn’t walk for eight months
and had to be carried on a mattress was healed.
Published on: Saturday, 19th May, 2007
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