A New Jersey pastor shut down his website and deleted his social media accounts over the weekend after he was accused of running an international network that has given up to 50,000 people in Uganda a bogus cure for HIV, malaria and other diseases.

The “miracle" cure, given to babies as young as 14 months old in the poor African nation, is allegedly made with industrial bleach, according to a story published Saturday by the Guardian in London.

Robert Baldwin, a pastor from Burlington County, denied he is distributing bleach and said he is being demonized by people who do not understand the science behind the natural medicines he says can cure the world’s deadliest diseases. He was forced to disable his Global Healing Christian Missions website and social media sites after the Guardian story was published, he said.

“I had to shut everything down. I’m getting hate e-mail. People are calling me Satan,” Baldwin told NJ Advance Media. “All I wanted to do is help people using natural healing therapies."

US pastor runs network giving 50,000 Ugandans bleach-based ‘miracle cure’. group led by Robert Baldwin and part-funded by Sam Little claims toxic fluid will eradicate HIV/Aids and other diseases. | Uganda | The Guardian https://t.co/DBxpXT83tR — AfroAtheist (@Afro_Atheist) May 18, 2019

Global Healing was a Christian non-profit group based in New Jersey that partnered with churches, primarily in Uganda, to promote natural healing techniques, according to the group’s now deleted Facebook page. Baldwin was the group’s founder and president.

Global Healing promoted a “miracle mineral solution,” known as MMS, that proponents say can cure cancer, malaria, HIV and AIDS, according to the report in the Guardian. Critics say MMS is actually a toxic mix of sodium chlorite and citric acid, chemicals that produce chlorine dioxide, a type of bleach used in textile manufacturing.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned ingesting MMS can lead to severe nausea, vomiting and life-threatening low blood pressure from dehydration.

“Consumers who have MMS should stop using it immediately and throw it away,” according to the FDA, which says it will pursue criminal or civil charges to protect he public from the dangerous product.

Baldwin denied he was promoting MMS or any cure containing bleach. But he repeatedly declined to say exactly what was in the cure Global Healing was promoting in Africa.

“It’s so confusing to the average person,” Baldwin, 52, told NJ Advance Media. “I’m not giving any more ammunition (to critics)."

Baldwin imported the components of MMS, sodium chlorite and citric acid, from China and sent them to a network of 1,200 clerics he trained in Uganda, according to the Guardian’s investigation. The African church officials distributed the cure to congregants, including after Sunday services.

The U.S. Mission is aware of reports that an American pastor based remotely is distributing a substance called “Miracle Mineral Solution” to churches in Uganda. We strongly condemn the distribution of this substance, which is extremely dangerous and is NOT a cure for any disease. — U.S. Mission Uganda (@usmissionuganda) May 20, 2019

A video posted online shows babies and young children as they drink a yellow solution, reportedly containing MMS, from plastic cups in a rural Ugandan hospital. The video is narrated by Sam Little, a British man living in Uganda who told the Guardian he helped partially fund Baldwin’s network with a $10,000 donation to distribute the “miracle cure.”

A ministry of health official in Uganda told the Guardian the government will investigate the alleged distribution of MMS at the hospital after viewing the video.

Baldwin denied he was personally responsible for distributing any miracle cure in Uganda.

“I just educate. I don’t treat anybody,” Baldwin told NJ Advance Media.

He declined to discuss how a New Jersey-based pastor became connected to ministers in Africa, except to say that he is part of a network of Christians around the world.

Baldwin said his Global Healing Christian Missions group is not connected to any church in New Jersey.

“I’m just a small person trying to raise awareness of natural healing,” he said.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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