Neo-Prophetism, Gender and ‘Anointed Condoms’: Towards a Missio Spiritus of Just-Sex in the African Context of HIV and AIDS

Abstract

Until recently, African pentecostalism was recognized for its militant advancement of conformist norms and corrective measures in relation to sex and sexuality of congregants. However, the continuous threat of HIV, which has claimed more lives in the context of heterosexual Sub-Saharan Africa than any part of world, is forcing some neo-prophets to become more open and often explicit on issues of sex and sexuality. One such daring voice is Pastor Paul Sanyangore of VictoryWorld International Ministries in Harare, Zimbabwe, who ‘anoints condoms’ as a response to issues of gender and sexuality in the Zimbabwean context of HIV. This article engages Sanyangore’s theology of safe sex from Pneumatological missiological perspectives. It concludes with some proposals for mission practice for engaging issues of sex and sexuality.