![\"11698552_10153129881643515_2516065786991176762_n\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/files\/2015\/07\/11698552_10153129881643515_2516065786991176762_n.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIt\u2019s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in our day and age someone could be accused of witchcraft \u2014 and condemned without a shred of evidence.<\/p>\n
Yet here I sit, my heart burdened for a family on the other side of the world, for a family I don\u2019t even know. My heart breaks for the brother who thought he could protect his sister \u2014 and realized too late that he could only stand helplessly by while men from a neighboring village brutally murdered her. I can\u2019t begin to imagine the agony of that moment. The helplessness.<\/p>\n
It all started when an outbreak of measles brought death to a Hewa village in Papua New Guinea. Blame had to be assigned, and in Hewa culture that someone would be a woman or child accused of being possessed by evil spirits.<\/p>\n
But Mifila wasn\u2019t the only one accused of witchcraft. And if nothing is done, those other innocents will meet the same fate as Mifila. Thankfully, an intervention is underway. One family has already been evacuated by plane to safety. But another family remains.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where things get complicated. For this second family, the extended family is arguing against the evacuation. The family of the husband of the accused woman insists that the wife\u2019s family must first pay a \u201cdeath payment\u201d because it would be like their son has died to them if he leaves. But if they don\u2019t leave\u2026. Well, I think you get the picture.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the possibility of the final evacuation taking place tomorrow. \u2026 If the people will go. \u2026 If they can go.<\/p>\n
I really don\u2019t like those \u201cifs\u201d thrown into the equation. But what we can throw into the equation is prayer.<\/p>\n
Would you pray for changed hearts that encourage the falsely accused to evacuate \u2014 rather than burden them with impossible demands? Would you pray with me for this Hewa family right now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in our day and age someone could be accused of witchcraft \u2014 and condemned without a shred of evidence. Yet here I sit, my heart burdened for a family on the other side of the world, for a family I don\u2019t even know. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":247,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/247"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/valdecio-dasilva\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}