News & Stories

Prayers for Abraham

December 2, 2008

“Abraham became verbally abusive and began exhibiting frequent convulsive, emotional outbursts last spring,” says Kevin Oberg, Alliance missionary to Burkina Faso. Although his family had taken the 16-year-old to a medical clinic several times and had tried traditional animistic healing methods, none of the treatments had had any effect.  
 
Desperate, the family approached Pastor Samuel, a local Alliance minister, to ask for prayer for the troubled youth last April. Since they didn’t know how to handle the teenager’s frequent outbursts and bizarre behavior, they also requested that Abraham live with the minister’s family. Pastor Samuel agreed.  
 

Healing Begins

 
Immediately after he moved in with Pastor Samuel, Abraham began to show marked improvement; so much so, he moved home to live with his family in June.  
 
When he contracted a stomach ailment, the teenager became more ill when his parents took him to the village witchdoctor for treatment. Abraham began exhibiting the same behaviors he had prior to moving in with the pastor and receiving prayer.  
 
Once again, Abraham’s parents brought their son to Pastor Samuel, who received him back into his home and promised to pray for the youth. “Pastor Samuel also shared the message of salvation with the extended family,” says Oberg. As a result, Abraham, his parents, and his five younger brothers have since made decisions to follow Christ.  
 
All of the family members now attend church regularly, and Abraham’s father often testifies to how good God has been to them.  
 
Abraham continues to live with Pastor Samuel and his family. “Though the teenager still struggles with mental health issues,” says Oberg, “I can’t believe the improvement in Abraham since I met him last June.”  
 
Please pray. Abraham is not out of the woods yet; he still struggles with mental health issues, and he needs prayer for complete and total healing.  
 
Learn more about our Alliance work in Burkina Faso.