A pastor in Mozambique died after attempting to fast for 40 days in order to imitate what Christ is claimed to have done in the Bible.
Francisco Barajah, the founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church, died in a hospital in Beira after being evacuated in severe condition.
He had dropped so much weight that he couldn’t stand up after 25 days without food or drink. He was 39 years old.
On the demand of family and supporters, he was rushed to the hospital.
Mr. Barajah was diagnosed with extreme anaemia and digestive organ failure.
He was rehydrated with serums, and liquid meals were tried, but it was too late, and he died on Wednesday.
The priest was also a French instructor in Messica, a town in Manica’s central region that borders Zimbabwe.
Fasting was normal for the pastor and his supporters, according to members of the Santa Trindade Church, but rarely for that long.
Marques Manuel Barajah, the pastor’s brother, stated the pastor had fasted, but he disputed the medical explanation of his death. “The fact is that my brother had low blood pressure,” he explained.
That is not the first instance of such a lethal endeavor to replicate Christ’s 40-day fast in the desert as reported in Matthew’s Gospel.
According to local media, a Zimbabwean man died after 30 days in 2015. A lady died halfway through a similar fast in London in 2006, according to a British coroner.