Adapted from an article by an Alliance worker serving in West Africa
Aminata was seriously ill for months. She had a high fever and infection in her legs, which caused them to swell. Desperate to find a cure, this wife and mom purchased medicines and sought advice from physicians and witch doctors.
Nothing worked.
Eventually, Aminata and her husband ran out of money paying for her treatments. She was then told to make a sacrifice to the evil spirits—give two fat, healthy chickens to the witch doctors to reverse any curses upon her.
Aminata still found no relief.
Death Threat
One day, a neighbor told her, “You need to convert to Christianity before the evil spirits kill you—they are trying to kill you.”
Aminata’s neighbor and her extended family members are believers, and she has seen their testimony over the years.
When the evil spirits continued to bother her, Aminata had had enough. She finally said to her Christian friend, “Nothing is working. I must find relief.
“I need to believe in Jesus—He is stronger than this sickness and the spirits.”
In the spring of this past year, Aminata came to faith at an Alliance women’s seminar in a neighboring village. Soon after becoming a believer, she was healed.
“What medicine are you taking?” a villager asked her recently. “You look so healthy!”
“Only Jesus!” she replied. “He’s my medicine!”*
She laughs now, knowing that because she is healthy, she can keep her chickens.
Aminata’s husband is not a believer. But he recognizes Jesus’ power and does not prohibit her from attending the local Alliance church. Other members of their household are interested in her new faith as well.
She brings her youngest son to church, but Aminata is praying for the salvation of her other children—some of whom are estranged from her.
Jesus Fire
Recently, a village sorceress told her, “Stay away from me! There is fire on your head coming out at me!”
Aminata didn’t know what to say. She asked the pastor’s wife what it meant and was told about the tongues of fire reported in Acts 2. Aminata was so encouraged that this “Jesus fire” was visible as a sign of the healing in her life.
*Remembering Jesus is our Healer, we celebrate God’s healing arsenal that can also include the use of pharmaceutical medications and doctors’ interventions.
Learn More
Read “The Battle Is Real” to learn more about the very real spiritual battle that is part of ministry in places like West Africa. As Alliance workers seek to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind (Luke 4:18), they depend upon the intercession of the church back home.
Pray
Use the weekly Alliance Prayer Requests to join the Alliance family in interceding on behalf of our global workers, who serve in some of the world’s most spiritually oppressive places.