Dr. Frans J. Cronje made his request for forgiveness during a medical conference in Nairobi, Kenya
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
NAIROBI, KENYA (ANS) -- Dr. Frans J. Cronje, a white Afrikaner doctor stunned an audience in Nairobi, Kenya, recently when, during a keynote session at a Christian medical conference, he apologized to the hundreds of black doctors for the racism of his people in South Africa.
Dr. Frans J. Cronje making his apology during the WCDN conference
Speaking on the topic of "Spiritual Roots of Disease", Dr. Cronje said, "I was born in London. I have a British birth certificate. I also have a Dutch, French, and German ancestral heritage. And, I am an Afrikaner. So, I represent the African colonial empires and a white South African male. I am a symbol of generational racism.generational iniquity...
"We have all had to learn that racism is contrary to God's word - that is sin - and I have had to learn to think differently. We have behaved contrary to what we know God's Word says - that is transgression -- and I have had to repent before God for my disobedience.
"Indeed, I also want to repent to you, today: I repent for the way my ancestors and I have oppressed you out of greed and have dishonored you out of fear... But I also need to overcome the stain of this generational iniquity by demonstrating that I want to change; that I want to become my brother's keeper again; and that I have had a change of heart.
Another picture of
Dr. Frans J. Cronje
"Therefore, I would like to deposit something into Africa today that may help to restore the health and dignity our generational iniquity has stolen from you... That is how you overcome iniquity. That is how love covers a multitude of sins - it does so by demonstrating a desire to represent God's nature again."
He went on to say, "Unfortunately, this is not the way we minister on issues of health. As a result, we complain that God does not answer our prayers and we continue relying only on the methods of man to overcome our persistent violations of His instruction, His laws, and His sovereignty. We need to change and to show that we want to!"
Some 500 doctors, scientists and medical professionals from 37 countries came to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi for the 9th International Christian Medical Conference held May 25-26, 2012, to explore whether miracles still happen today and, if they do, to provide medical data to prove them.
After making his request for forgiveness; Dr. Cronje received thunderous applause from the attendees for his brave statement.
One doctor from the Democratic Republic of Congo told me, "It was very courageous of Dr. Cronje to make this apology to us and, of course, we accept it. After all, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are commanded to forgive. He is the first Afrikaner that I have heard make a statement like this, and it is deeply appreciated by all of us from the continent of Africa."
Dr. Cronje is a medical doctor who specializes in diving, hyperbaric and aerospace medicine, and received both his medical degree and a Master's of Science degree in Aerospace Medicine from the University of Pretoria cum laude in 1991 and 1997 respectively. He completed the full medical licensing exams to practice medicine in the United States and subsequently completed a clinical Fellowship in Diving, Hyperbaric and Underwater Medicine at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA in 2003.
He is considered the pioneer of modern hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Southern Africa and has dedicated 17 years of his professional career to introduce and expand this scientific, therapeutic modality in South Africa.
African doctors praying during the conference
Dr. Cronje also went on to say, "This brings me to an important understanding: all unrighteousness is not biologically equal. 'All fall short of the glory of God' and, yes, 'the wages of sin is death'. So the eternal consequences are indeed the same. However they are not the same biologically: stealing your pen is not the same as murdering you even though both actions are unrighteous.
"God himself makes the distinction in Exodus 34:6-7: Here He declares His own nature and says that He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. Jesus uses this same distinction when He says that the thief comes but to steal to kill and to destroy. Please do not leave here today without getting this from my message: sin represents ignorance of God's principles. It robs you of God's blessings and reduces your quality-of-life.
"The first example of this progression in Scripture comes from the life of Cain. He displays ignorance by bringing the fruit of his own labors as a sacrifice to God instead of the shed blood of lambs - our works do not atone for our sins; we have to follow God's instructions. His sacrifice is rejected, but God instructs him, tells him not to sulk, encourages him to do what is right, and warns him not to entertain anger because sin is lurking at his door.
"God covers his sin. However, Cain disobeys this instruction, goes into the field and murders his brother in a deliberate violation of God's instruction. So transgression reduces life itself and leads to premature death. I encourage you to explore the Scriptures and you will find this consistently: transgression leads to death. There is another level, though: After murdering his brother, Cain is confronted by God who asks him where his brother is. Cain responds by saying: 'am I my brother's keeper'. The very meaning of brother in Hebrew is a 'strong fence' or 'strong keeper'. So in this simple statement Cain is challenging God's right as sovereign lawmaker.
Dan Wooding with some of the Maasai dancers who performed during the WCDN conference
"This is iniquity; the point where we determine right and wrong for ourselves rather than accepting God's absolutes. At the end of this initial confrontation, Cain expresses these profound words: my iniquity is more than I can lift off. The English translation is misleading. It reads 'my punishment is more than I can bear'. This is not about punishment primarily; this is about the consequence of violating God's sovereignty. It is Cain's iniquity that brings on a generational effect. Cain is now marked".
He added, "In an effort to limit the damage, he is instructed by God not to concentrate in cities. However, he disobeys this instruction again and it leads ultimately to the destruction of the entire World except for eight people! Iniquity destroys. Steal, kill, destroy.Iniquity is also transferred from generation to generation until someone is willing to take it on. It is the basis of inherited sin, inherited mental illness, and inherited the biological disease. Like Cain, this is the point where people have the greatest problem with their understanding of God.
"They interpret their suffering as punishment and accuse God of His lack of mercy. What they fail to realize, is that God is actually expressing His greatest mercy in that He does not destroy the person who became twisted immediately. Rather, God's appreciation of life is so great, and his willingness to demonstrate patience towards us is so vast, that He allows the person to live, to see the impact of his iniquity, in the hope that Ezekiel 18 will be fulfilled: That a father will look at his son and cry out: 'God what must I do'. Or a son will look at his father and say: 'I want to change'. This is the point where the restoration that comes by God's own sacrifice - through His Son's atoning death - can be appropriated.
"Yes, Jesus died for our sins, but we must appropriate the fullness thereof by becoming willing to learn God's ways; by repenting of our disobedience; and by showing our change of heart as we choose to manifest His love."
Dr. Cronje also said, "With few exceptions, the Bible attributes sickness to sin. However, with the discovery of microorganisms four centuries ago, the emphasis gradually shifted towards a more material and biological understanding of the cause of disease.
"Today there is nearly a complete dissociation between the original Biblical understanding of man and the modern practice of medicine and psychiatry. Yet, for all the advances of science, nearly 70% of the population of most Western countries are on chronic medication whereas 40% have a mental health diagnosis; elsewhere, poverty and disease abound. Our modern biological and chemical approaches are not solving our present health problems.
"Evidence from psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrinology (PNIE), epigenetic research and functional medicine all suggest that 75 to 85% of chronic and incurable disease have associated emotional root causes. These root causes are strikingly similar to those first described in Genesis 3 - fear, guilt and shame."
In his presentation, the doctor offered a practical framework in which the links between spiritual roots and biological problems may be reconciled and understood from both a Scriptural and a scientific perspective.
"The ultimate goal is the pursuit of wholeness and sanctification of spirit, soul and body," he added.
Note: In South Africa, an Afrikaner minority party, the National Party, came to power in 1948 and enacted a series of segregationist laws favoring whites known as Apartheid (literally "apartness"). These laws allowed the systematic persecution of opposition leaders and attempted to enforce general white supremacy by classifying all South African inhabitants into racial groups. Non-white political participation was outlawed, black citizenship revoked, and the entire public sphere, including education, residential areas, medical care and common areas such as public transportation, beaches and sidewalks, was segregated.
Apartheid was officially ended in 1990 after significant internal resistance and a long embargo against South Africa. The factual end to apartheid, however, is widely regarded as the election of 1994. After a long series of negotiations between President Frederik Willem de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, a democratic, multi-racial election was held, transitioning power from the National Party to the black African National Congress.
Attendees wave farewell at the end of the
medical gathering
Dr. David Nico, PhD, CWC, from the United States was another speaker and he presented a "Deliverance Case Study - Demon Possession." The doctor described himself as a "Healthpreneur & Wellness Expert," and is an educator, researcher, and spokesperson for DR. HEALTHNUTT which inspires people to live an active, healthy and exciting lifestyle by taking personal responsibility for their health. He is the Founder and CEO of NICO VENTURES®, a health consulting, promotion, and seed stage investment company. He has also appeared as a guest on television and radio programs and is a speaker at conferences and seminars.
At the end of the conference, it was announced that the 10th World Christian Doctors Network International Conference will take place in Mexico City, Mexico, next year at a date yet to be announced.
Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. Dan has recently received two top media awards -- the "Passion for the Persecuted" award from Open Doors US, and one of the top "Newsmakers of 2011" from Plain Truth magazine. He is the author of some 44 books, the latest of which is "Caped Crusader: Rick Wakeman in the 1970s." To order a copy, go to: http://www.amazon.com/CAPED-CRUSADER-Rick-Wakeman-1970s/dp/1908728302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335474883&sr=1-1 . Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link.
