‘I know that God is my own doctor!’ Mobility in Search of Divine Healing Among Cameroonian Women Migrants in Cape Town, South Africa

This study highlights migrants’ mobile trajectories within various Pentecostal churches to seek divine healing and salvation. It explores the mobile (trans)national trajectories of Cameroonian women within various Pentecostal churches in South Africa and beyond in search of physical, spiritual and psycho-social healing, examining the extent to which religious mobility is a panacea for divine healing among Cameroonian women migrants. Exploring the extent to which migrants’ everyday lives are rooted in the nexus of attaining divine healing where these healing gains are consolidated through the use of religious memorabilia, I interrogate the extent to which mobility within Pentecostal churches fulfils the quest for divine healing among women Cameroonian migrants. I argue that with increased psycho-social ill health—often the result of the sheer challenges of migration—the tendency to look towards Pentecostal churches for healing increases sharply in a bid to attain a meaningful life and be at peace with oneself—calmness of the soul and spirit. Traumatic experiences such as alleged witchcraft, family feuds, illnesses and so forth have preoccupied migrants’ everyday lives, engendering a continuous search for healing. Religious mobility amongst migrant women appears to provide answers in search for Charismatic Pentecostal pastors whose ministries are based on healing. Such religious mobility—trans-local and transnational—is underpinned by affordability and the migrant’s ability to travel for healing and deliverance within South Africa, Africa, or seek healing virtually.