Seven Times the Unimaginable

"People are talking... they think it was me."

The women of Mfura have many children.  Almost all of them currently have an infant.  The infants are thin and looked dehydrated.  Their skin is dry and sunken around their bones and their eyes look swollen on their emaciated faces.  Having a child of my own I wonder how they survive at all.  I knew these women must have lost children so when it came to speaking to them I wanted it to be about the heart God gave them.  How Malawian women can be so strong but no matter how strong your body is your heart remains soft.  My only goal was to pray for the things that hurt their hearts.  For God to comfort and strengthen them.  It wasn't until I started hearing prayer requests that I realized how much pain lingered in the hearts of these villagers.  It wasn't until I started praying that I saw how the enemy was torturing their already battered souls.  

It started as a line.  I told them whoever wanted prayer was welcome to come up and I would pray for God to be with them.  I heard some arguing among the women and was informed that others were trying to listen in on their prayer requests and they wanted it to be private.  We moved away and that is when the prayers became very personal.  It was when the prayers revealed the spiritual war that was going on.

Most of the women wanted me to pray that their husbands would come back from South Africa.  Apparently many of the men had told their wives they were leaving to South Africa to make money but they never saw them again.  For years.  

Almost every woman wanted prayer for their hearts.  They said they feel like their are choking and can't breath.  Their hearts beat fast and they are weak.  They are afraid of dying.  I'm sure dehydration and being malnourished doesn't help along with any of them suffering from AIDS or other diseases that are prevalent there.  Also it seemed to be anxiety and sleep deprivation which I found out soon enough why that is.

A woman comes up for prayer and you can see on her face she only has a few breaths of hope left before it's gone.  "My children are dead and I'm sad."  I had the translator ask how many children have passed away.  "Seven children, my husband, and my recently my brother."  She starts to cry.  

"People are talking... they think it was me."  

 I took my hand off her shoulder and hugged her.  I've had anxiety about having Zahara here with so much disease and lack of advanced medical care and this woman has lived my biggest fear... seven times.  She has one child left and begged me to pray for his life.  She doesn't know what is happening.  It is the talk of the village that she is doing something to cause them to die and no one is helping her with her grief.  She said she can't bare it any longer.  

I know most people know somebody has lost a child in the U.S.  Maybe someone knows someone that has lost 2.  Imagine meeting someone that has lost seven.  And their spouse.  And sibling.  It is unimaginable.  And the lack of expression on her face other than the tears that roll down her cheeks tell me she has had enough of life.

Another woman comes up and is holding a baby.  The baby looks sick and has a witch craft necklace on that dangles a little pouch of whatever inside of it.  The first time we came to Mfura I saw maybe two of these on the children.  This time almost every baby had them on.

Witch doctors have no mercy.  In case you are unaware of the practices of witch craft, at least in Malawi, I'll give you some insight.  Witch doctors will say and do anything for power and money.  Lets say you want to be rich.  You've had a tough time and end up at the witch doctor to ask for something to help make you rich.  The witch doctor will charge you a certain amount of money and do some kind of ritual to initiate a curse.  He then gives you instruction which has been DOCUMENTED as rape of a child, whether it be your own or someone elses.  The news paper had a case the other month of a witch doctor instructing someone to rape their own elderly mother.  Women's body parts have been cut off as well as the private parts of little boys which a real case was documented in Madonna's I am because We Are film which you can see online.  If someone dies in the village, the witch doctor will take credit.  "I did that.  My curses are powerful."  And people absolutely fear him.  Many people fall victim of his instructions. 

So here this woman is with a baby that has a witch craft necklace on and I ask her...  "Why do so many children have these on now?  Before there were few, and now many.  Why?".

She looked nervous to answer me.  She was silent for a while but eventually answered.  "It is to keep the babies alive."  She looked as though she wanted to say more but didn't.  Something was going on.  I asked her "Someone is coming here?  A witch doctor."  She looked at me with slight surprise.  "Yes."  She answers.  I continue "Every one is afraid of him.  He is seeking people out and making them afraid so you buy these?"  "Yes."  

"Where does he live?"  She showed me by pointing off to a near by hill.  The location that all the women would confirm he lives at.

The witch doctor must have heard of our previous visits.  If we empower people that means he loses power and he was seeking to get it back.  I told her that God's love and grace lives inside of her and that He give us the authority over evil.  I prayed over her and her child for safety, strength and protection of God.  I then gave her a choice.  She could either cut off the necklace and rebuke the spirit of fear or keep the necklace and we would pray and love her no matter what.  We were not here to force anything on anyone.  These people needed to know they are loved.  They deserve the basic needs that every one has.  And most of all they needed to know that being a Christian meant loving them even if what they did was the exact opposite of what we believe.  She cut off the necklace.

One after another the women cut the necklaces off their children and we prayed over each one of them.  Some decided to keep them on but still wanted prayer.  We prayed that God would give them the strength to find their inner faith and authority.  That they don't need to fear.  

With the witch craft necklaces in my hand I waked in the middle of the crowd and shouted boldly as I held them up "I am not afraid of the witch doctor."  People gasped at the simple proclamation.  "He has no power here.  God is a God of love and gives you power over those that inflict fear and harm over others."  

Yes we were there to give them food because God wants us to feed the hungry.  We are raising money for a well because God wants us to give water to the thirsty.  We pray over their hearts because God wants us to spread His love to all people.  People deserve to live in His peace and not be terrorized by evil.

Prayers that came from the village:

• Spirits come at night.  I'm afraid
• Please pray for my heart, it feels like it could stop.
• Please pray for my body, I feel like I am suffocating.
• Pray that the other women stop gossiping about me.
• Please bring me a husband
• Please bring my husband back
• I don't want my baby to die
• At night I see dead people with torches, I never sleep.
• I don't want to die
• I have no food, I need food.
• My child died and I can't stop grieving

I think we saw just the tip of the iceberg of what is happening in that village.  These people are desperate in every way shape and form.  Please keep them in our prayers.  We recently had some fundraisers and are close to our goal for the well A Lighted Path is going to put in this village.  As you can see, physical needs are not the only needs these people have.  

1 Corinthians 13:13 
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Thank you to everyone that has and continues to support Mfura village projects.  So far we have donated 12 months of maize and sugar, dried beans, 2 goats, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, soccer balls, Bibles, and lots of love :)