The 15 year old girl who is with our family in this picture is named Patience. She became a Christian when one of our physician assistants gave a health talk on the health dangers of women joining the demonic secret society. Most children in our area join this society. One of the many grotesque things the secret society practices is genital mutalazation while canabalizing the parts of the body that are cut off. Our physician assistant’s health talk focused on her observations from a medical perspective. When Patience became a Christian, she decided she would not join the society. Later, she shared the information she learned from the health talk with another young girl. This girl went to the secret society and told them what Patience said. The secret society immediately flared up and charged Patience with exposing their secrets. As a result they took steps to carry Patience into the bush against her and her father’s will to be initiated into the demonic society. We have been told that those who expose the society’s secrets are either killed or they do not return from the bush sound.
With her father’s permission, we put Patience in hiding. After a couple months, things seemed to calm down so Patience returned home. Upon returning home, the secret society flared up again. Multiple meetings were held between the society leaders and Patience’s family. Things became so intense that Patience’s life became in danger. Patience’s father and stepmother also feared for their lives. We immediately put Patience back in hiding. That night, a strange man walked pass the house where Patience was hiding. When he saw her, he said something to the effect of, “We have found you... We are coming for you.”
We immediately moved Patience to a different secure location for the night and then moved her to our house believing it would be the safest place for her. We went to the police that morning and filled out a report. We were apprehensive about going to the police because Patience’s father feared the police were part of the society. We also contacted the women and children’s protection agency. They promised to come and get Patience’s testimony. After several days of phone calls, the man I spoke to at the woman and child protection agency told me that their leaders were part of the secret society and that they would not intervene. I went back to the police and learned that they had done nothing to intervene. I contacted Patience’s father again. He told me that Patience’s step-mother had gone into hiding, fearing for her life. It became clear to us that our home was also unsafe for Patience. I contacted a pastor friend of mine and asked him to help us find a good Christian home for Patience far from our home. He agreed to help but suggested that we wait until after the new year. I agreed. That night, I had such a vivid dream concerning Patience’s safety that I woke our family in the middle of the night and traveled to a location far from our home.
After traveling a few hours, our car broke down. Our car has not run right since we bought fuel with water in it a few months ago. I praise God that we were able to reach a large town where we thought we could find a mechanic. We waited for the sun to rise, we found a mechanic who fixed our car, and we reached our destination by Christmas Eve. Our family sought refuge in a church. The church put us up in one of their guest rooms while we waited for the LORD to provide a safe home for Patience. While moving into the guest room we met a young lady who would eventually become Patience’s foster mom. I praise God that our car broke down because we arrived at the guest house just as this lady was preparing to leave. God is awesome! Over the next few days, we regularly crossed paths with this lady until the Lord made His will known to both of us.
Our family will never forget this Christmas. We were crammed into a small one room apartment. There was no Christmas tree, no manger scene, no gifts for our children to open, and no busy agenda. Our only agenda was to wait upon the Lord until He provided a home for Patience. Christmas morning, we huddled in a circle and read the story of our Savior’s birth. While evacuating our house, one of our children thought to grabbed Patience’s Christmas gifts and put them in our car. After reading about Jesus’s birth, we all took turns giving gifts to Patience. What a sweet Christmas it was! One of the gifts we gave Patience was a beautiful 1,000 piece puzzle. We had wonderful family time as we put the puzzle together during the days that followed.
The next 6 days were full of confident uncertainty. We were confident because we knew that God was going to provide yet everything about our lives was uncertain. We did not know what each day would bring nor how long we would have to stay in hiding. It was honestly a very exciting time for our family. All 9 of us had one mission and one prayer request. We prayed that God would bring a godly family to us who would be willing to raise Patience. We knew very few people in the town where we were staying so we knew that we were about to experience God’s mighty hand moving on our behalf. We trusted God to bring the perfect family to us and boy did He!
Let me tell you the rest of Patience’s story. Much of this story I learned after returning home from hiding and talking to people in our community. I now know that before we fled, the secret society had posted someone at the house directly across the street from our driveway. This person was monitoring our coming and going to know the best time to abduct Patience. I praise God for the crazy dream I had that caused us to leave our home in the middle of the night, at a time no one was watching. God is good!
Let me tell you more! Sunday, December 27, while speaking to the pastor at the church we attended, the lady we met while moving into the guest house just happened to be visiting the church and overheard our conversation and learned about Patience situation for the first time. Instantly, this lady knew in her heart that her family was to take Patience in. Meanwhile, while we were safely worshiping at church far from home, a group of secret society members arrived at our house in Gbarnga with the community chief to force us to turn Patience over to them. Praise God they did not know where we were nor the time at which we had left. While Satan was seeking to destroy, our God was providing for Patience and saving her life. When the lady from church went home and told her husband about Patience, he immediately knew in his heart that Patience was to be their foster daughter. That night, we talked by phone and arranged a meeting the following evening. God is good!
The next day, while waiting to visit Patience’s future home, I contacted every reference I could get concerning this family. Friends, family members, church members and co-workers all talked about this couple’s strong marriage, faith, character, and work ethic. An example of the father’s integrity is the promotions he received at his workplace. With only a high school diploma, he became a CEO at a highly reputable buisness. Time and time again, he was promoted over highly educated and highly experienced applicants because his employer noticed his integrity and work ethics. After visiting this family’s home, it became very clear to us that God had answered our prayers.
While all this was taking place, the secret society was putting huge pressure on Patience’s father. They threatened to carry him into the bush to do to him all that they had planned to do to Patience. They told him that unless he revealed Patience’s location, they would put such great pressure on him that he would choose to side with them as they legally charge me with kidnapping as a means of getting Patience back. I praise God for protecting us from all their wicked plans.
That night, Melanie and I met with Patience for prayer. Patience began to weep and tremble. Not only was she overwhelmed by the trauma she had already experienced, she was also terrified by the thought of living in an area where she literally knew no one. As she cried she knew that trusting her life to complete strangers was her only hope. After meeting her foster family, Patience felt small and insignificant. She called herself a dog and said that the family was too good for her. She feared she would never fit in. As we prayed, God began to work on her heart. Through her many tears she cried out a beautiful prayer of forgiveness towards all who had sinned against her. She put her life completely in the Lord’s hands and trusted Him with her uncertain future.
I want to praise God for the end of the story. A few days after moving Patience into her new home, I got a welcomed phone call from her foster dad. He said Patience wanted to talk to me. I could feel the excitement and joy in Patience’s voice as she shared how the family had welcomed her into their home as if she were one of their own children. She praised God for answering all her prayers. Her phone call was cute because she wanted me to know that she was going to be ok but she didn’t want to talk too long. She wanted to get back to playing with her new sisters. God is good!
Since returning home, the threats against our family and against Patience father have since subsided and life has gotten back to a somewhat normal routine. I hope our testimony makes you think about God’s goodness and His faithfulness. Please put your trust in Him during your times of need. You can experience confidence in your times of uncertainty by trusting in Him. He will not fail you. He is a light unto our feet. He is perfectly faithful in revealing the next steps we are to take. These steps lead us farther into His will.
James1:5-8
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord - he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
