Ghanaian-American filmmaker Leila Jewel Djansi has questioned why wealthy African churches continue to invest heavily in chapels and other church projects instead of putting more money into hospitals, schools, medical research and rehabilitation centres.
In a lengthy Facebook post, the Ghanaian-American filmmaker said Africans often rely heavily on prayer and “seed” giving when dealing with serious illnesses but travel abroad for treatment when they need advanced medical care.
She referred to the late TB Joshua, who was flown to Turkey by air ambulance after suffering a stroke, while stroke patients waited at his church for healing.
“Meanwhile, my people send ‘seed’ to NPSSD for strokes and other diseases whispered through an earpiece, while the pastor cashes in on YouTube views and foreign remittances,” she wrote.
Djansi said she had “no hate” for such religious practices and respected the strategy if it helped Christians develop a consistent prayer life.
However, she said stroke care in Ghana was “another story”, and in Africa, an even bigger problem. She referred to a 15-bed dedicated stroke unit, correcting the figure as 15, not 24, and recalled her sister’s experience there.
“So in Africa, we pray. Oh… Do we pray. For hours! Travail!” she wrote.
She then turned her attention to cancer treatment, saying Africans often fly to India for care despite the religious beliefs and symbols visible there, including representations of Shiva, Goddess Kali, Krishna and Buddha.
“Let that sink in,” she wrote, questioning how people whose gods some Christians “cast and bind” during midnight prayers were able to build hospitals and medical systems Africans trust with their lives.
How did the people we believe are worshipping the wrong gods know to build hospitals?” she asked.
She noted that these were not only hospitals but research hospitals, medical schools, cancer centres, laboratories and specialist facilities capable of procedures such as heart, liver and bone-marrow transplants.
“How did people whose theology we condemn build institutions whose medicine we trust with our lives?” she asked.
Djansi said there was a similar history in the United States, where churches, religious orders and other faith-based organisations helped establish hospitals and schools, while the state regulated the institutions.
“So why can’t we? Or Why aren’t we?” she asked.
According to her, African churches can build hospitals and schools, train doctors and nurses, fund research and establish rehabilitation centres that continue serving communities long after their founders are gone.
She questioned why some wealthy churches were instead building massive chapels, church hotels and Bible schools that could eventually be inherited by pastors’ children.
“They’re doing the ‘work of God’ by building chapels. Not children’s cancer research hospitals,” she wrote, citing Acts 17:24.
She also cited more than 644,000 foreign arrivals in India for medical purposes in 2024 and claimed that “Aba’s” cancer treatment in the US cost $2.3 million but was covered by insurance established by a faith-based Baptist corporation.
Djansi criticised the idea of using “cancer seed” to fund a pastor’s Range Rover while depending on medical care built by others. She also jokingly noted that the scrub nurse treating a patient in the US could be LGBT.
Despite her criticism, she said she would continue to celebrate the Catholic and Adventist churches for their contributions to education and healthcare.
She recalled scouting an Adventist hospital in Simi Valley for a film and seeing a chapel in the lobby.
“Because the chapel and the hospital do not have to be competing ideas,” she wrote.
She also recalled the Catholic chapel on the Korle Bu grounds, where a priest went around the wards at 4 p.m. praying for patients. She said she cried many tears in that chapel.
Djansi stressed that people should not stop praying or giving but should demand that their “seed” creates lasting benefits.
“May your seed pay it forward,” she wrote, calling for such funds to build hospitals, laboratories and schools, train doctors and nurses, fund research and provide rehabilitation for stroke survivors.
She said such institutions could continue serving people long after the person who collected the money was gone and could also become a way of sharing Christ, citing Matthew 25:35–40.
Ending with humour, she asked, “Jesus, this trumpet… you don’t have air in your lungs???”
She then returned to her central point: “That Indian Dr. treating your dad? That’s his god.”
