Ami is a single mother of five children, ranging in age from 2 to 13. The father of the children went to find work. Two years ago. She hasn’t heard from him since. She has a garden and grows cassava, potato leaf, and crain crain (each common in Sierra Leonean cuisine). Her older children walk past the MKM pharmacy with large plastic containers of her produce on their heads when they head for the market to earn the few leones they manage to use for basic survival.
Bridget became their customer when they walked by one day a few months back. She asked about their mother, their schooling, their Muslim tradition. And she asked to meet their mother. One day she did. She met Ami, the strong woman who speaks only Mende, carrying the youngest strapped to her back. And as Bridget always does, she took time with this woman, to know her, to hear her, to invite her to church. Ami told her they were leaving for the village in a few days. She needed to find her husband’s family and insist that they keep the two older girls; Ami simply could not provide for them all. Suspecting the worse, Bridget prayed for these girls and prayed for Ami. And then they were gone. Off to the village.
Weeks later Ami returned, thankfully with all five children. The relatives had tried to persuade her to initiate her daughters into a secret society, which Ami feared. She told Bridget she heard from God in the village that she should return to Kenema ……and come to church. This mother’s sweet spirit had spared her daughters pain and suffering at the hands of the secret society, still not knowing how they would manage to survive as a family of 6 back in Kenema with just a garden to support them. Shortly after her return, Bridget and Solomon visited them, prayed for them and again invited them to church. And they came. All six. Smiles on their faces. Not knowing what to expect, but somehow sensing that they were now ‘home’.
Bridget continues to meet with Ami. She has asked for a Mende audioBible so Ami can hear God’s word for herself. She will be invited to join the fellowship of women in the church. She will find support, friendship, and prayerfully, JESUS.
Why fear the village?
In West Africa, female genital mutilation (FGM) is still a common problem. Although many are working to prevent it, it is still practiced in multiple West African countries. The mutilation commonly takes place during the initation into a secret society. The fear mentioned in Ami’s story is the fear that Ami’s family in the village would initiate her daughters into the secret society, which would also mean they would undergo this mutilation.
Additionally, the secret societies in West Africa are closely tied with witchcraft and manipulation of spirits. In America, the spirit world is largely hidden, and we do not often think of the spiritual battle going on around us. On the contrary, in many areas in Africa, everyone knows that spirits exist and traditionally, people’s response has been to control the spirits through rituals and sacrifices. Praise God that in Christ, the spiritual battle has already been won! Pray that believers in Sierra Leone will reject this manipulation of spirits and instead trust in Jesus for provision and protection.
