The World Health Christian Research Foundation traces its history to 1937 when the Irish missionary, Rev James McKeown, from Ballymena, began his ministry in the then Gold Coast.
Earlier on between 1915 and 1920, a man of God, by name Rev Peter Newman Anim, a Presbyterian, started a prayer group and based their mission on the Book of Acts of the Apostles. They linked up with an American missionary, Apostle Clark, who then started a Church called Tabernacle Church of Faith in the Gold Coast. Between the years 1920-1922, Rev Peter Newman Anim from Asamankese became the leader of his group which was now called Faith Tabernacle.
It was known that he had a spiritual experience which bought about his ministry in divine healing. In May 1923, the Faith Tabernacle experienced a pillar of fire in their prayer meeting which brought about so much healing. It was at that point they made a doctrine of prohibiting any form of medical healing. It was believed that all sickness came from evil spirits and as such must be dealt with by prayer and divine healing. This doctrine was wide spread among many Christians and brought about so much divisions resulting in a lot of mushroom spiritual Churches springing up.
In 1937 Rev James McKeown was sent by the Apostolic Church in UK as a missionary to the Apostolic Church in Asamankese. In June 1938, Rev McKeown was taken ill by malaria and because the group did not believe in medical treatment, they kept praying, but his condition worsened. Mr R Furkson was worried and informed the commissioner of Kibi who had visited their district. It was then ordered by the DC to rush Rev McKeown to the European Hospital in Accra, where he was admitted and treated. On his return the officers of the Church felt he had defiled himself, therefore they were not willing to work with him any longer. This brought about divisions in opinion of medical treatment and divine healing. A group of opposers planned to repatriate the missionary which reached Dr Kwame Nkrumah upon whose advice, some Christian Doctors like Dr Beecham, and other health care assistants with other ministers who believe in both divine healing and medical healing formed the World Health Research Foundation to research further into divine healing and medical healing.
The World Health Research Foundation grew very fast and has over 30,000 members worldwide with supporting partners like Christian Medical schools, Churches, Church organisations, research consultants, missionaries, statutory sectors, charitable organisations, kingdom trust, etc. In the early sixties the World Health Research Foundation mainly aimed at tropical diseases like malaria and majored on findings like tuberculosis to help protect missionaries who came to Africa and also to help sustain the community while they built the knowledge on the need to allow medical treatment as a person of faith. In those days, herbalism was also viewed as occultic due to the fact that most of the herbalists practiced paganism and put emphasis on the idea that it was the gods healing the people rather than the herbs.
It so happened that some of the well known herbalists, usually known as fetish priest, including Kwaku Kyere got converted into one of the main stream Churches and was forbidden from practising herbalism. The World Health Research Foundation took him on board by one Methodist Minister, Rev A Tettey who made investigations into herbs and found that it had absolutely no link to paganism.
In the early seventies, most of its founders died; the Rev McKeown and his wife Sophia also left Africa to the United Kingdom. This resulted in the slow-down of the World Health Research Foundation’s activities due to management and financial planning. It was not until the HIV epidemic in Africa, especially East Africa, became increasingly worrying as members of Church communities were dying from HIV/AIDS on monthly basis that the World Health Research Foundation resurrected under the banner of the GCC and the Christian Soldiers.
Today the World Health Research Foundation has spread world-wide and is continuing to grow speedily with many Church leaders and community concerns recruiting daily. It is believed that through research many will have access to care leading to a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being.
NGO Registration: GHANA (D.S.W./2259), NETHERLANDS KVK34184764, USA (Pharma and Food Science Ltd - Registered Name) 38304-32.
