Sickness is a spirit

Along with the rainy season, comes sickness.  The rain has brought an increase in the mosquito population, which has also brought a significant increase in the amount of Malaria cases.  My students are constantly complaining of sickness.  We have had a significant increase of absences this third term from school because of students being sick. 

Not only has malaria plagued Kabala and all sides of Sierra Leone, but the disease called Ebola has also brought significant worry to the community.  It started in Guinea and Liberia and has now entered into Sierra Leone and is presently in Kailuhan District.  It has infected many people in Kailuhan and it has also killed a significant number.  The schools have closed down and people are not allowed in and out of the district.  I was listening to the radio on my way to Freetown two weekends back and people were complaining because they were even canceling all public gatherings like watching the World Cup to prevent the spread of the disease.  

I have heard many people talk about the disease and from my understanding, as soon as you feel as though you have symptoms, you need to go to the hospital.  If you catch it early on, it can be curable.  But the issue is when people wait and do not report their symptoms early.  Some people wait until it is too late and then unfortunately it cannot be cured.  

As the spread of Ebola has brought many discussions, it has brought to my attention this idea that sickness is a spirit.  I was listening to a sermon at church last week about sickness.  The preacher said how all sicknesses were a spirit and that if we had the Spirit of God inside us, we would not be infected with the sickness.  As I was thinking more and more about his sermon, I thought about how there are two kinds of sicknesses.  

One, there are sicknesses that are caused by spirits.  These sicknesses can be caused by demons or spirits who are from Satan working inside of us.  In my own beliefs, it is true that if you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, Satan's spirits or demons cannot disturb you because you have the most powerful Spirit inside of you.  Satan's spirits will try to disturb you, but as long as you have God's Spirit, his own spirits will not touch you.  

But there is a second kind of sickness that I do not believe is caused by a spirit.  If it were caused by evil spirits, then anyone who has God's spirit should never get sick.  I believe that there are sicknesses, such as Ebola, that are not caused by any spirit but are just a natural part of life.  There are parts of life that even as a Christian, we have no control over.  I just keep thinking of my aunt who died from breast cancer.  She had God's Spirit inside of her but the cancer still took her life.  There are some things in this life that we do not understand, only God can understand.  

One thing I have continued to appreciate about being here in Sierra Leone is even when bad things happen, people always appreciate God.  Even in the hardest circumstances, people continue to thank God for the blessings that he continues to give them.