UPDATE ON
EMERGENCY PRAYER REQUEST
Let me first tell you, thank you so much for your prayers
lifting up the mother, the family, the community, and the missionaries – Ben,
Rachel, Dave, Ellen, David & Ursula.
Thank you for the comments and emails of encouragement and prayers. Thank you for standing in the gap with them
and us. Thank you for showing me God is
REALLY at work. Please do not stop
praying. Please do not stop lifting all
of those involved up in prayer, covering, guiding, and comforting!
You know, I had been behind on updates, but I have to be
honest…I wasn’t really sure much more than handful of people were reading
them. I was thinking, the email I sent
to ask you to read these blog updates were “bothering you”. Shows how much I didn’t trust how God uses
even these simple acts. I was seeing
this as if it was about us. What I mean
is I was thinking no one has time to read what I am writing about. Thank
you for reminding me, that is true, no one has time to read about what I am
writing about…they have time to read about what
God is doing. And, this is about
God after all, not me, not us. Don’t
misunderstand, or misread my tone. We
are excited in this reminder! This takes
the burden and weight off of us to get the work done. It takes the burden off Ben, Rachel, Dave,
Ellen, David & Ursula. They are the
hands and feet, we are the hands and feet, going and doing what God is calling –
the way He is calling, and
how He is calling. So, it IS
what He is doing. Thank you for reminding me of that.
I spoke to Ellen and wanted to share a little more
information to help with how to pray.
Please, this is not shared in a gossip, “can you believe those people”
kind of way. It is super important to
all of us…that you understand. These
people are NOT evil. I couldn’t have said it any better than Ellen
did…”These people, this community have all been deceived.” Satan is EVIL. Satan has deceived these people. The prayer here (among many other obvious prayers
here) is “What is God doing here? How
does He want those involved to step next into this journey?” It is hard because the flesh wants to rage
against the EVIL. To step in and SAVE
the world…from the EVIL. Comic book
style…Batman and Robin. But, God wants
us to love, and right now that is going to be a struggle for all involved. That’s just the facts of how our flesh
battles against the wrong doings in this world.
Let me share a little history lesson taught to me by a
friend who shares a love for Ghana, who although we see rarely, her and her
husband mean the world to us, and we know regardless of time-availability-and
even lack of history together…God has placed an awesome love for her and her
husband in our hearts. She saw the work
God was doing, using us, and wanted to ensure we understood the historical
components and obstacles we would encounter.
Because I desire for you to not hate these people, I’m gonna share a
tidbit that will come in handy later in the update. In Ghana there are two different traditions
of authority, for lack of a better way to introduce. Patrilineal and Matrilineal. For those history buffs, Google it for more
info. To get to the point…Bolga is
Patrilineal. Inheritance, property,
titles, etc all are through the male line.
Children are considered much like property, and are owned and controlled
by the father side of the family. Keep
this in mind.
Here is the update: Felix
had been taken to the Soothsayer, for certain reasons we are not sure of, but I’m
sure include the physical health reason they were able to “see”. Something just wasn’t quite physically right with
him. He couldn’t hold his head up
correctly, etc. The Soothsayer calls
upon the gods and the gods told him, yes he is spirit child, and yes he is
evil. At some point, Ben and Rachel were
engaged and they began to help Felix and Edna (mom). One of the first things among many we have
done with our children, and what they did, was to find out what is medically
wrong with him. He had mild case of
Cerebral Palsy. Since then, not sure of the
timing, he had become ill. He was in the
hospital with diarrhea, etc. He was in
the hospital about a week, or so. When
he was well and ready to leave the hospital, his mother returned to the family
home, with him. Now, many people have
asked, why would she do this? I am not
sure the temperature of the family and community when she came to Ben and
Rachel for help. So, I can’t answer that
part of the equation, the part that says it is assumed the mother knew Felix
was in danger. I don’t know if she did
or not. I will tell you, we have one of
our supported spirit children who lives with his mother, ostracized from her
husband for the choice of keeping him alive, but still in the family
community. Edna does have another child,
a 6-year old daughter. She returned
home, Monday night, because she has another child. She began cooking dinner, and had to step
outside to “relieve” herself. When
finished going to the bathroom, she stepped back into the family home to find a
room full of men of community. They took
her, locked her up, took the child and he was gone. Her sister said they put his body in a
termite mound. Not sure if you are
familiar with the size of these in Ghana, but they are pretty large. Feel free to Google that as well. She hasn’t seen Felix since, as it is
important to them to ensure the “evil spirit” has gone and will not return in a
future pregnancy, he was put away.
Evidently, since Felix’s spirit child diagnosis, two people
in the family or community have fallen ill, one to include the husband’s
mother. Being sick, in one of the poorest
areas of the world is not like being sick in America – in the Western
World. Being sick has life threatening
possibilities. Being sick affects
livelihoods of all those involved – family & community. Sickness invokes fear. There are 5 or so adults in their family
house. There are several family houses in
their community. ALL of the family units
came together for a meeting, with the elders in whatever fashion and process
typical for that community. They ALL
agreed the child was putting them at risk, they all agreed they were afraid of
him and what he evil he could bring to their lives. They all agreed he must die. Again, it is hard to understand, fathom that
people would be capable of believing such things. Yet, I’ve shared, poverty is real in
Africa. In these communities, all they have
is what they farm – in some areas fish, etc.
If someone is unable to work the land, it reduces what they can bring
home to support the family in food.
Right now, there already is an issue in Ghana with shortages in these
villages, not enough. To fear sickness
coming into the families, as a result of what they are deceived to believe – an
evil spirit child, it is REAL to them. My
prayer for our family is to feel LOVE for them, see them the way Jesus sees
them, even as they killed this child. My
prayer is for Ben and Rachel who have poured LOVE, SWEAT, TEARS, TIME,
FINANCES, and so much of themselves into this mother and child to find comfort
and guidance in how God will use this for good.
I am reminded of the story End of the Spear. Google that too. The woman who lost her family at the hands of
those people, LOVED those people and through that brought them Jesus. And, that truly has to be the prayer
here. ONLY Jesus is going to be able to
make change in these villages where the deception is so strong.
To answer a lot of questions we have received, here is some
information. If Edna chose to leave – to
flee - with Felix, she would have had to LEAVE her daughter behind. She would have to choose between her
children. Let me ask, how many of you
could do that? It seems a no brainer,
return home and live continuing to push forward. Believing there is hope…the hope Ben and
Rachel were hands and feet providing. If
she were to have returned home, snatched her daughter and fled, the husband and
his family would have hunted her down until they found her. The daughter was the father’s property. Remember, they are patrilineal. To the mom, the answer was to return home, to
live life and push forward…hoping for a solution for her son.
Some asked was it the involvement of Ben and Rachel that caused
this or was their involvement somehow expediting his death. NO! It is just cultural - a tradition and believe built on deception led by fear. Seems heartless said that way. But, that is the truth. If anything, their involvement gave the
mother more time with Felix. We pray it is
much more than just more time, but at the very least as it relates to his life – Edna had
more time with him – hopefully saw him the way Ben and Rachel did…as a child of
God. Not an evil spirit. And, today, we believe Felix doesn't have Cerebral Palsy or any other problems - he is healed today. I’m sure Troy and I will learn more on this. For
now, God called us all to do His work and we can’t allow this to harden our hearts. They can't allow this to harden their hearts. We can’t allow this to stop what He is
doing through us. We need to live, continue to have
hope, and listen for the next steps, pushing forward - doing what He asks, how He asks, when He asks.
I will share, it is believed, EVEN if Edna had chosen to
flee with Felix, leaving her daughter behind…the community/her husband would
have likely hunted for them to ensure he was put to death. Edna is not locked up now, and she is not in
harm’s way (from what we understand). The family and community
have all continued to tell her, you will have more children, move on. There is no mourning a spirit child.
I think you can see there are a lot of areas of prayer. I’ve shared some, and I hope God leads your
heart on what to pray and how to pray…
Don’t hesitate to respond, comment, email or however you
feel led - actually - PLEASE do! It is encouraging to know we
are all covered by your prayers and we are all on this journey together – each doing
our part…you praying with us. I’ll be
sending the comments, etc to Dave & Ellen to share with those there as
encouragement. So, please…if you can…send
some encouragement & prayers!!!
