Chasing after a Soul

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?… there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:1-7)

On a normal Sunday morning Abukari is usually preaching or engaged in church service activities. But this Sunday was different as Abukari found himself chasing after Amina in the local huts of the village of Sambu village while Joke and the boys attended the church service.

Amina is in her late thirties and is married to Sulemana and together they have seven children. Both Sulemana and Amina come from a very strong Muslim family in Sambu, but in 1997, through our ministry, the Lord led Sulemana to the knowledge and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ever since then we have prayed and shared the gospel with Amina many times but she was always unyielding to the gift of salvation. Last week we had some friends from the USA who visited and shared the gospel with Amina in her village. Like a driver finding his missing car keys, the heart of Amina was immediately unlocked and became receptive to the gospel. She was led to pray the sinners prayer and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour.

Sulemana and Amina

Sulemana and Amina's house

It was all joy and celebration for Sulemana (Amina’s husband) who had prayed and waited for this moment for 14 years! But little did Sulemana and the minority Christians in Sambu know what was awaiting them and Amina. Instead of the neighbours joining Amina to celebrate her new found faith they rather plotted against her. Like Job, all her friends upon hearing of her decision to follow Jesus came and one by one they took their turn to heap insults and intimidation on her. So great was the intimidation that before Amina had the opportunity to experience her first Sunday of public worship of Jesus with other believers, the friends and neighbours succeeded in discouraging and polluting her mind to recant her faith. On the first Sunday, as the church gathered everyone was eagerly waiting to welcome Amina into the family/body of Christ. But to the surprise of everyone, a friend of Amina who lives in the Imam’s (the Muslim leader of the village) house had smuggled her across several houses to the house of the Imam where they were hiding her. This was to prevent her from attending church that morning. Having waited in vain for while, Abukari took Sulemana in search of Amina in the neighbourhood. Finally they found out that she was in the Imam’s house. When the people heard Abukari and Sulemana were planning to visit the house, they locked the door of the room where Amina was but her husband recognised her sandals that were laying just outside the front entrance. To avoid any confrontation with the neighbours, Abukari decided that she should not be pursued further in the Imam’s house.

The next day Abukari was back in Sambu to meet with Amina and the local Pastor. Together the Pastor and Abukari spent time sharing God’s word with Amina and counselling her. Amina explained to them that “the fear of my unknown future and the heavy pressure from my friends and neighbours was too much to bear. But for your perseverance in pursuing me I want to stay with Jesus”. Since then Amina has started attending church. What a joy that the Lord’s grace of second chance can be extended to Amina through us! Please pray for Amina. Pray that she will continue to be faithful and strengthened with the power of God and that she will have great endurance, patience and above all joy in her new found faith.

Perhaps you are living or working in a setting where God is not acknowledged, where faith is mocked, where results do not come in massive numbers but in small trickles and where godless living is applauded. You may be overwhelmed with darkness. Do not be discouraged, for our witness for Christ is a light in a dark world.

As we are writing this blog, we just received a message that the 9 year old daughter of the local Pastor of Sambu died very suddenly. Please pray for comfort and strength for this Pastor and his family at this difficult time.