Our New Family

"The stranger's eyes are wide open, but he doesn't see anything." As we begin to move from being a stranger to an everyday part of the community, this Senufo Supyire proverb rings true. At first glance, our village home is a happy community exhibiting family closeness, unity in work, and caring for each other. But as our eyes are opened ever so slightly, we begin to see the darkness and fear that our friends live in. We are told that there are spirits that work the field at night. The sacrifice of chickens and goats to gourd bowls that are referred to as 'gods,' animistic funeral processions, ash sacrifices left in the road to harm one's enemies, masks and costumed roles assigned to specific people at certain events - these are all glimpses of the "beneath the surface" world in which our friends are deeply rooted.

However, The Lord is at work here. He has healed many people in our village after we have prayed with them in the name of Jesus, and now our neighbors thank us for our prayers. Recently when we offered our 'village father' and our family chief the monthly payment for our hut in the village, our 'father' replied, "Your presence here and your prayers for the village are a gift to us." They would take nothing. Then we asked permission to celebrate Easter in the village. A large smile came upon our village father's face as we explained that they were now our family and we wanted to celebrate this important day with them.

We prayed that Easter would be a real celebration and not just a meal with our village family. We were able to meet with the few Christians in our village and pray with them the night before Easter. On Easter morning when we met with the village chief and elders, we were given a goat! They thanked us for being there and celebrating with them. A feast was prepared and people from our entire village came to our compound and shared it with us. Later we worshipped under the village 'meeting tree' and prayed boldly in the Name of Jesus for the villagers.

Join us in praying that our village family here in Mali will soon become our family in Christ. Our presence and prayers are unworthy of being called a "gift." The only real gift we desire for our village and the Senufo Supyire is the gift that the Lord offers to them. Pray their eyes will be unveiled to the gift of life that the Lord extends to them with open arms.

Monica Maxwell and Krystal Hutchinson
OneStory SENUFO SUPYIRE Team