It’s noon and *Ibrahima calls, asking if I’m home. I say yes. He follows it up with, “I’m nearby. Can I stop over?” (I think he adds that question because I’m white.) I say yes again. And I quickly think – hmm, when *Adama called a little after 11 saying he was coming over, I heated up leftovers. Now we’ll share them three-way. We won’t all get full, but at least I have something to share with people coming over at lunch time today!
So soon Ibrahima comes over and joins Adama and I in our meal. After Adama leaves, Ibrahima sticks around for a bit, but wants to reassure himself that I wasn’t needing to go anywhere. I tell him that I wasn’t planning on going anywhere until maybe later in the afternoon, when I may go visit an old guy from his village who is sick and in town. (Here, when you hear someone is sick you go and visit; people aren’t afraid of germs.) And that’s when I learn more culture.
Ibrahima tells me that he never, or at least rarely, goes to visit old sick people. Young sick people, yes. But old sick people, no. He said that they can do something to make the sickness come off of them and onto you, and you’ll die and they’ll get better. He said that they do it especially when young moms come to visit with their babies; if you hear that a baby dies in the extended family of an old guy who was sick, you’ll automatically know that the old guy is better, since the baby died instead.
And from there we get into a conversation about sorcerers, “medicine” and “protections,” how you have to watch out for these kinds of things, who you have to be careful of because they could try to harm you, etc. I even bring the conversation back to the city, and he says that these are things you have to watch out for in the city, too – ways to for sure get a job at a job interview through “good sacrifices”, medicine you can use to make sure that if you were fired, the person who replaces you won’t be able to succeed either, etc.
As I hear Ibrahima tell stories and explain things about how this works, my mind wanders to comments I’ve heard from those back home: “They’re better off the way they are.” “They’re happy the way they are.” “They all live in peace and unity.” “Why are you going in to change their culture?” And my heart breaks again at the bondage that Satan has them in. By the end of Ibrahima’s 1 ½-hour visit, I’ve heard of broken relationships; pregnancy out of wedlock; disillusionment with the system because of “cheating” through bribery and sorcery; fear of even those close to you, not knowing what “medicine” or special powers they have; ways to try to protect yourself against the powers of others; etc. And I long for the day when the gospel will break in and offer real, deep change on levels that as westerners we often don’t even understand. Freedom from fear and bondage. Peace and joy, not suspicion and distance. And a power that is greater than the power of any of the “medicine” that they can use.
Would you pray with me for that day? Satan isn’t going to want to let them go, and even now I see him trying to stop what is going on. Pray that God would tear down strongholds, and that He would open their hearts. Pray that my language ability would continue to grow, and that the other steps would be taken that need to get done before we can start translating. Pray for the few believers already among My People, that they would be bold and strong and courageous, and that their lights would shine brightly and break through this ugly darkness that is just under the surface. This is a spiritual battle, and we need you to stand with us in prayer.
Thank you for your part in bringing light into the darkness!
*Names changed for security reasons
Leave a Reply