A young woman, Tounda, was living in a small village in the courtyard of her husband’s family, along with her husband, three children, and pregnant with a fourth.  A neighbor and his brother asked if he could borrow the husband’s moto and he agreed; but they had an accident and one of the brothers was killed.  His family claimed foul play and, according to custom, demanded the spirits be consulted through a formal ceremony.

In this case, Tounda’s mother-in-law was accused. (It is usually the elderly women who are victim.)  In typical cases, she would then be thrown out of the village, abandoned by all to live on her own.  However, Tounda’s husband packed up his mother, wife and children, left the village, found a house for them in Yako, and disappeared.  He hasn’t been heard from since.  Tounda suspects it was all just too much for him because the village had turned on him as well, cursed as the son of a witch!

A family destroyed by such ignorance!  A woman still crying three years later from the heaviness of the sorrow and the incredible burden.

There is hope in this story!  The mother-in-law visited a church near us.  We had just invited the Pastor of this church to present us with names of those in his congregation who are struggling to get by during these difficult months before the harvest.  Tounda’s mother-in-law was one of those names!  She received 100 lbs of grain and heard about our sponsorship program.  Tounda herself came to register for sponsorship.  The BFO team and I now get to visit Tounda’s humble home; we get to pray with her; we get to share the Word with her; we get to feed her family; we get to pay for her children to attend school – and all of you are a part of that!