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Liberating the Sovigbenor Shrine at Aflao--2005

Mama Lorella reports about the liberation of trokosi slaves at Sovigbenor shrine

Throughout 2005, ECM worked with community leaders of the Aflao area for the liberation of the Sovigbenor Shrine.  That momentous event finally took place on December 9, 2005.  To God be the glory, and thank you to everyone who prayed, gave generously, and worked for the liberation of the Sovigbenor shrine slaves.  The former trokosi are now free, and believe me, they are deeply thankful for your efforts.

The liberation effort makes a strong beginning
From the beginning we were aware that many of the chiefs, elders and other community leaders really wanted to end the practice of trokosi or shrine slavery in their area.  Even those who practice traditional religion realize that ritual servitude has no place in modern society.  Of course, it is also against the law in Ghana.  Since 1998, it has been classed as a criminal offense carrying a minimum three year imprisonment term on conviction.  No one has yet been convicted, as most government leaders do not wish to do anything that might make it look like they oppose anything to do with traditional religion.  Rather than prosecuting priests and shrine owners (people who own the idols in the shrines), they would prefer to work with NGO's (non-governmental organizations) like ECM to negotiate community agreements to end the practice.  This settles the issue peaceably and does much more to create good will than if they had to hunt down and prosecute those engaged in the criminal practice.

Why trokosi shrines cooperate with the liberation effort
Those in the shrines can see that the mood of the country is changing and that there is no more tolerance for the practice of slavery.  They know that eventually, when the NGO's come to the end of what they can do, they will likely be prosecuted if they are still holding shrine slaves at that time.  Then they would lose everything and be thrown in prison besides.  This is one of ECM's selling points.  When they agree to liberate the shrine slaves, we do everything we can to present them as heroes to the community, and although we differ with them on religion, we certainly do see the freeing of slaves as a heroic act, no matter who does it.

For many months, the negotiations proceeded smoothly.  Everyone was in basic agreement.  It was only a matter of working out the timing and the exact details.  Every Child Ministries had agreed to provide a corn mill and some cows the former slave masters to make a living without taking in human beings as slaves.  The local representative of the Department of National Culture was our chief negotiator, with one of the area chiefs as his assistant.  The paramount chief of the area had agreed to the liberation, as well as those associated with the shrine.

Then--PROBLEMS beset the liberation effort
Before the liberation, we normally interview each of the trokosi slaves.  This gives us infomation that enables us to follow them up effectively after the liberation and helps us to understand what needs we must address.  Our staff was in the middle of this process when the tornado struck.  We were actually interviewing the slaves in the courtyard of the palace of the paramount chief, which is just across the road a block or so from the shrine.  We had not invited news coverage.  Normally we do that only at the liberation ceremony.  But the media heard about what we were doing, and wrote an article about it in one of the most widely-read newspapers of the country.  They followed it up with a second article about conditions in some of the other shrines, complete with unbecoming pictures of a demon possessed woman in a trance and two initiates cowered over ready to receive a "cleansing" beating from the priest, just in case they might have sinned.  The articles created a pandemonium.  Those whose sympathies lay with traditional religion were angry and upset, especially one group that is devoted to extending the influence of traditional religion.

That group is greatly feared.  People understand that the method of operations in many of the shrines is cursing people to bring about their death.  Some of the chiefs were fearful that if they cooperated with the liberation, the opposition group would look for ways to "eliminate" them (their words).  Some of them got letters from that group reprimanding them for cooperating with Christians instead of upholding traditional religion.  There was so much turmoil that we were forced to stop the interviewing of the slaves in mid-stream.  For some time we were uncertain what the outcome of the project would be.  There was nothing we could do in those days except to pray, calling on the name of the God who is above all others, Creator and ruler of every spirit, the Lord of Hosts, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We simply invited everyone to pray--for the liberation, for our staff, for the priests who wanted to support the effort but who wavered in fear.

I went to Ghana in November to prepare to lead a vision tour, acquainting people with the various aspects of ECM ministry.  I was supposed to also speak at the liberation, which was originally slated to occur in November.  For some time after I arrived in Ghana, the outcome was still uncertain. 

I personally appealled to the Paramount Chief.  He knows English well--has taught African culture in the States.  He was congenial, listening carefully and joking with us.  When I concluded he looked directly at me and said with a smile, "Your request is denied."  I tried to prepare both my own heart and our supporters for the idea that this liberation might not take place, even after all we had invested in it.  I went home discouraged, but by God's grace I was able to put it in His hands.

Success at Last--Shrine Slaves liberated Dec. 9 !
The next morning I was barely out of bed when our driver Daniel came running up with a cell phone.  The chief had requested that negotiations begin again.  In the end the liberation did take place on December 9.  Aflao is a very busy place right on the border of Togo.  Because many strangers are always coming and going, there is a noisy, carnival-like atmosphere there.  We let the community choose where to hold the liberation ceremony.  It took place out on a quiet sand bar (accessible by vehicle, but off the beaten track), away from the crowds.  It was a great place!  We agreed not to invite the national news media, although we were careful not to promise that we would not report the event to our supporters and on the internet.  It was to be simple and low-key, basically a dignified signing of documents to which we had all agreed.  I had written a speech for the event, but since it was to be low-key, I left the speech at home.

Mr. Ben Acolatse, the representative from the Dept. of National Culture who had acted as our chief negotiator, acted as Master of Ceremonies.  A representative of CHRAJ, The Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice, spoke.  I was surprised when Mr. Acolatse turned to me and said, "Mama Lorella, your speech will be next."  Well, no matter.  I had thought about it a lot in preparation, so I gave my speech extemporaneously and it seemed to go well.

There were seven copies of the liberation documents to be signed.  That took longer than I could have imagined.  I kept thinking about the 126 Liberation Certificates in my hand.  I was sure it would take forever.  However, we created an assembly line approach with every person signing the document lined up in a row.  I fed the certificates to them as they either signed or affixed their thumbprints, in the case of the priest and shrine owners who were illiterate.  We were able to complete all the certificates in only about 45 minutes.  Our hearts were full of rejoicing.

Attacks and Victories concerning the Liberation
Following the liberation, I was with the staff on the first day they continued the interviewing of the former slaves.  We completed quite a few interviews, and the staff was to continue the work.  Before we finished, I suddenly felt very sick.  I begged our driver to take me back to the hotel to rest.  I am not sure whether it was the heat, excitement, hard work and long hours without eating, or a spiritual attack.  At any rate, after prayer, food, and a short time of rest, I felt fine.  However, it was not long before the staff did experience spiritual attacks.  Mary had a motorcycle accident and was laid up for a couple of months, and Judith got seriously sick as well.  Both recovered after intensive prayer.  This delayed the completion of the interviews, but other staff were able to step in and help complete the interviews.  Only a few remain.

How the Sovigbenor Shrine was Different
Sovigbenor was the fifth shrine Every Child Ministries has helped to liberate in Ghana.  It was also the most different from the others.  Shrines do vary in the fine points of their practices, although we see many similarities.  In the other shrines we had liberated, the reason for getting the girls into bondage was almost always the perceived or alleged transgression of some male member of the clan--often a grandfather.  In a few cases the girls' bondage was the price their families paid for favors sought from the shrine.  The main reason for most girls getting into bondage at Sovigbenor, however, was healing!  Many of them were brought to the shrine sick, their families seeking healing.  When the priest was consulted, he made it known to the families that the girls were sick because of the curse of the gods of the shrine.  For a price--their daughter's slavery--he would lift the curse and cure the sickness.  Whether the illness/healing was a matter of poison and antidote (priests often have great knowledge of herbal powers), or whether the sickness was cast and then lifted by spirits, in many cases the priest was able to bring healing.  The amazing thing was, then the family and the girl herself saw him as a hero and a savior, forgetting that it was the curse of the same gods who made her sick in the first place.  This approach seems to have brought about much greater loyalty to the idol gods than in other places.

The work meted out to the slaves in the Sovigbenor Shrine was much less severe than in the other shrines we worked with, and rape was less frequent.  Punishment was still severe, though, and the shrine had its own ways of humiliating the girls.  They were actually forced to go naked within the fenced-in walls of the shrine, but donned a white cloth whenever visitors were present. 

A few months before the liberation I entertained a visitor who was researching the practice of trokosi.  She asked what ECM's goals were and what kind of compromise we would accept.  I stated that we were not interested in any compromise.  We were interested in the total liberation of every slave and in the abolishment of the practice.  We are not interested in reforming the system.  We are interested in getting rid of the whole rotten mess.  Our answer is still the same.  We are talking about the practice of trokosi, of course.  NGO's have no authority to stop traditional practices in the shrines themselves, and as champions of religious liberty, we could not support that anyway.  We CAN and we MUST support getting rid of the practice of slavery.

Now what?  Please pray with us for each of these points.

• Pray for God's protection over the chiefs who helped us.  Pray they will live and not die, that those who curse them may know that there is a God protecting everyone associated with this project, and that God is far greater than any of their curses or the gods of the shrines.  As these chiefs experience God's protection, those in other areas will know that they, too, can free their slaves for the good of their communities.
  
• We have placed a second Bible-teacher/counselor on staff specifically for this project.  She is a former trokosi herself.  For several years ECM has been sponsoring her education and grooming her for this effort.  Judith is now visiting the former slaves in their homes and communities.  Please pray for Judith. Pray for God's protection and an effective ministry.  Judith needs monthly support and a motorcycle, as well as another woman ministry partner.  Please pray for the provision of these needs.
  
• Judith often uses the "Gospel Cube" to present the good news of God's love and grace to the girls.  The girls of this shrine are more deeply tied to idolatry than the others we have seen so far.  Please pray that even the first time they hear the good news, some of them will respond and "let Jesus in" to their lives.
  
• School ministry in Aflao is part of our follow-up strategy.  After a strong beginning with an American-Ghanaian team in June 2007, we ran into many difficulties and the school ministry came to an impasse.  Recently there was a breakthrough that has allowed us to begin again.  Pray for the continuation and effectiveness of this vital ministry.
  
• None of the slaves know how to read, so we are giving several groups of them hand-wind tape players and cassettes of the Bible on tape in their own Ewe language.  Please pray that they will listen faithfully, show great curiosity, understand what they are hearing, and begin applying what they learn.
  
• Some of the enslaved girls were young pre-teens.  They grew up in the shrine from the time they were little without education.  Now one of them has learned to read, write and do basic math.  Pray for her as she is now in vocational training.  Pray she will continue to grow & learn.
  
• Pray for the next projected liberation efforts that are now in the preliminary stages.  Please pray that God will open the doors to fund the next project.
  

Dear friends, thank you for praying, and to God be the glory!

Follow up efforts after this liberation:

The survivors each received firect material aid and a financial package to help them start or expand a small business.  Many chose pepper farming, which is popular in the area.  (They grow hot peppers, dry them and wait for the off-season demand to cause prices to rise.)  Our counselor Judith has been traveling around the area constantly to visit them, offering friendship, acceptance, encouragement, guidance, and Bible teaching.  Two of the younger girls from this liberation are now thriving at ECM's Haven of Hope home.

Needs to help strengthen follow up efforts:

Funds to help with Judith's transportation to see the women and for a ministry partner to tavel with and assist her.  Contact ECM for the latest information on this need.

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