Every Child Ministries pushing the initiative against ritual servitude in all its forms

The Thunder god FALLS before the cross!  His servants are freed!

March 25, 2010

Fifty-two shrine slaves, servants of the Kadza Yeve (thunder god) shrine were freed on March 25 by the shrine itself. This was the culmination of five years' of patient effort by Every Child Ministries workers.

 One thing leads to another in God's program

The seeds of this liberation go back to ECM's last slave liberation in 2005. The Sovigbenor shrine which was liberated at that time, because it is located in such a public place, did not want to hold the liberation there. Therefore, the Kadza Shrine, being in a more secluded place, volunteered to let the liberation take place in the courtyard in front of that shrine. In attendance and signing the liberation certificates as head priest was Dakpahu. We saw him again when our worker Judith began working with the women who were freed. One of them happened to be Dakpahu's wife.

The message that makes all the difference
No one is ever forced or pressured to convert to Christ in this or in any of ECM's programs, but we do present the Gospel and give people the opportunity to respond. On several occasions, our workers shared the Gospel in Dakpahu's ocean front home just meters away from the Gulf of Guinea. In 2007, Lorella visited the home with Judith, and noticed that the priest seemed very intent and interested. We began requesting specific prayer for him.

Step by step
Later we learned that he had professed faith in Christ. We believed him, but we did not want to announce that publicly until he was willing to break with idolatry. Jesus is not just another god that you can worship along with the idols, called "lesser" or "small-small" gods in Ghana. He is the Creator, the Lord of Heaven, the only Savior who wants and deserves all our worship. Our staff kept patiently teaching and showing friendship to Dakpahu and his family. It was hard going during this time.  Our staff worked faithfully, but as years passed with no more liberations, funding for the project fell off significantly.  An opposition group worked constantly to undermine progress. Still our staff refused to give up.

A momentous decision
In late 2009, we learned that Dakpahu had decided to leave the "small-small" gods and their priesthood and devote himself fully to Jesus Christ. In fact, he simply found the courage to do what we know many idol worshipers would like to do.  Those who desire to leave traditional worship are subject to very strong cultural and personal pressures in an effort to turn them back.  Some call it "preserving our culture."  But Dakpahu had found the truth, so he persisted in the face of some who were angry with him.  Around the end of the year, he talked with all 53 priests under him and with his 55 shrine servants called yevesi, declaring his faith in Jesus Christ and his intention to leave idolatry and to become a Christian. Dakpahu's relatives informed him at age 9 that one of the "small-small" gods, Yeve, the thunder god, had chosen him to be a priest. By 17 he had been selected as head priest.

The priest compares Jesus and idols.  And who wins?
In one interview with Dakpahu in January, Lorella asked him a question she has asked many shrine slaves. "In your time in serving the thunder god, what good things did you see him do?" she asked. She knew the shrines claimed to heal people and help infertile couples give birth, so she expected he would say that he had seen many healings but he realized now that it was not worth being healed if enslavement to the spirit world was the price you had to pay. But no. Instead Dakpahu just laughed and shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "Not one single good thing have I ever seen in all these years." Asking why he had chosen to trust Jesus, he said, "I realize that there is life in HIm. There is no life in these idols."

Dakpahu concluded his time of testimony by officially resigning his position as head priest. He wanted to liberate all the shrine slaves right away, and Every Child Ministries began planning and facilitating the program with him and the shrine owner. We ran into technical problems, however, when we realized that our staff had neglected to keep our district NGO reports current. Immediately we began working to resolve that problem. To present ourselves as the liberating agency at a public event before our district certificate was renewed would create problems with the local powers, and it appeared that it was going to take some time for the government wheels to turn.  Therefore Dakpahu and the shrine owner agreed to go ahead and liberate the slaves in their own name.

After the liberation
Every Child Ministries is continuing to work with the former Yevesi shrine servants who are freed. That rehabilitation process has already begun by interviewing each Yevesi and creating for each a personal recommended rehabilitation plan. We also shared the Gospel on the interview days and many of the women claimed to receive Christ, encouraged by the example of the priest. They will learn more about what that decision meant as our workers Judith and Israela meet with them and begin teaching them in their homes and communities. We are also working to help each find a more viable way to make a living. For some this will involve training, for others the development of home businesses, for others microcredit loans.

The first-ever liberation of thunder god servants, we think!
Thunder god servants are often marked with 99 cuttings on their faces, upper arms and chest during the initiation ceremony. They wear wrap-around cloths and beads of red, white and blue and must go barefoot during Yeve ceremonies. Yevesi is another form of ritual servitude just very slightly different from trokosi. As far as we know, this is the first-ever liberation of yevesi or thunder god servants.  As far as we know, it is also the first liberation that took place because the priest had become a Christian and truly wanted to free them, not even asking for the normal compensation.

Former idol priest's home becomes a Gospel outpost
Through a generous partner, ECM has been able to provide the priest with a "Proclaimer"--a player that contains the New Testament in audio form, needs no electricity and is easy to use. The priest's family has been listening to it constantly and in the evenings the entire surrounding community has been gathering in his yard to listen for hours into the night. Already, his home has become a Gospel outpost in the community.   It's taken persistent prayer by many, but he are thrilled at what God has done!

Prayer Points:

• Physical protection for the priest, the shrine owner, and the newly liberated thunder god servants. If the priest gets so much as a cough, opponents of the liberation will be quick to blame it on his conversion and/or on the liberation. Many in such circumstances have felt that oftentimes they may become targets for having their lives ended in more direct ways as well.

• Pray that the priest will stand firm in his commitment and grow in Christ.

• Pray that the priest will follow through on the commitment he has made to be baptized as a Christian.  In 2011 he finally began associating with a Bible-believing local fellowship.  PTL & continue praying for his growth. 

• Pray for our workers who are continuing to disciple the priest man to man.

• Pray for ECM workers Judith and Israela as they disciple and rehabilitate the women freed by the priest.

• Pray for much-needed missionary help for this project.

• Pray that ECM workers Livingstone and Newton will have wisdom for wise oversight of the project.

• Pray that this will lead to other conversions and other liberations.

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