18 - Neo-Pentecostalism and globalization

Summary

. . . I’m not going to let you stand here by yourself, Bishop, let you carry this load alone. Last night, my wife and I spent a lot of time. . . . We spent a lot of money to come here. Y’all know (looking at the crowd) we spent a lot of money to come here.” [“Yes!” replied the audience.] “And, um, last night, the Lord told me in light of all that I’ve seen; my wife and I agreed to write you a check to the Potters House for $10,000.

With this act of generosity from a member of the audience, Dallas-based Pentecostal Bishop T. D. Jakes lifted his hands and walked back and forth across the floor of the stage. The announcement had come seemingly as a surprise, a spontaneous gesture in the midst of the bishop's plea to his audience for financial support. Bishop Jakes's comments were directed toward the primarily American donors gathered together that morning in Soweto. The need he spoke of was specific. South Africa, like other African nations, is experiencing a crisis of clean water. Women and children walk miles to collect water from polluted streams. Those in remote areas of South Africa, like persons located in similarly isolated regions of India and other countries of the “developing” world, are in a quandary. “If you don't drink it, you die. And, if you drink it, you die,” in Jakes's words. Added to this, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated many in the country, especially in neighboring Swaziland, the second stop on the bishop's tour. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has left countless children orphaned and thousands of others without sufficient medical attention or even proper medical diagnosis. The work of responding to this crisis, Jakes insisted, should come from the Christian church.