Hannah's Newsletter Prior to Leaving for Ghana

June 12, 2010

Hi everyone!

First of all, I just wanted to thank each and every one of you. Your prayer, financial, and emotional support has absolutely blessed me. I am leaving for Ghana, West Africa in about 2 weeks, and there is no way I would be going if it wasn’t for YOU! So, thank you… From the bottom of my heart. I also wanted to give you the option of being removed from this email list. If for some reason you do not want to receive updates, please let me know! Also, please let me know of any email address changes or of anyone else that would like to get updates that I have not yet added to the list.
I wanted to start off and catch everyone up on the changes that have occurred in the last couple of months. Below I have attached an excerpt of a blog that I wrote about a month ago. Some of you have already read it or have talked with me about it, but I know there are some who need to be caught up!

“The Lord has called me to Africa, to love those who do not know love, and to bring hope to those who do not know hope. He has called me to the broken and to a ministry of reconciliation. Last November, I was accepted by Every Child Ministries (ECM) to work with the “forgotten children” (who have been rescued from slavery, prostitution, war, abandonment, ect.) of Africa—to love and teach them. I love children… I am comfortable with children. I am accepted by children. So, I cannot tell you how excited I was to have this opportunity!
However, recently they asked me to pray about serving as a women’s rehabilitation counselor. I would be working with women who have been rescued from slavery/prostitution in idol shrines. I would go into their homes, build relationships with them, share the Gospel, and learn how to meet their needs. I would still be able to spend time with the children, but just not all of my time like the original plan. I’m going to be honest, this scares me. Bad. It scares me because it will push me past where I am comfortable. I will have to rely on something (or someONE) other than myself. But isn’t that the point? I CAN’T do it alone. And I don’t have to…

Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, Here am I. Send me!”

That is my answer. Here am I, Lord. Send me. Whatever it entails. Whoever it involves. Wherever it leads. I will go… Please take my empty hands, my weaknesses, my fears, my inconsistencies, my shame, and my strengths and use them for Your glory.”

My new assignment is working with the liberated trokosi rehabilitation. In order for me to explain what exactly I will be doing, let me explain to you what a trokosi is…
In the southern Volta regions of Ghana and a few other surrounding countries, thousands of women and children of a certain tribe are held as slaves in heart-breaking conditions. They are victims of a practice called ritual servitude, and are held in idol shrines as living human sacrifices. Most of them are taken (or given) just before adolescence, while many are taken in early childhood—as early as 4 years old. There is a traditional African religious belief that when a tribal priest speaks to gods through divination or trances, he is the mouthpiece of the gods. These gods are believed to hold powers to give blessings and curses, life and death, health and sickness. For these reasons, these gods are greatly feared and are held as idols. These girls that are enslaved to these gods and priests are called “trokosi” or “wives of the gods”, which is a term that shows the sexual side of the practice. Trokosi are forced to serve the priest sexually in any way he demands, while being deprived of any normal human affection. (The priest’s sexual organs are believed to be dedicated to the gods). They are forced to do heavy manual labor in the priest’s fields all day without compensation, while strictly forbidden to eat even a crumb of what they raise. Most are refused all food, so they are left with no option but to beg or search through the garbage. Trokosi are also forced to chant praises to the idol gods and offer sacrifices. If the slaves refuse anything commanded by the priest, do not make their work quota, do not satisfy him sexually, or displease him in any way—they are given a choice. This is the only time they are given a choice. They can choose between a whip or broken glass. “Rebellious” shrine slaves can be whipped long and hard while others hold them down, or they can kneel for hours on large pieces of broken glass (with no medical treatment afterwards).
You may be wondering why these girls have become trokosi. Let me briefly explain what I have been taught and have read:

1) Some are given or taken because not they, but someone else (almost always a male) in their family, committed or was accused of an offense, real or alleged.

2) Some serve as second and third generation “human sacrifices” for the sins of ancestors.

3) Some are given as a persuasive payment to the priest, seeking the favor of the gods in order to assure successful crops.

4) Some are given to end a suspected or real curse occurring in the family.

5) Some are given as a way to find healing from sickness or a way to end fertility problems. The person healed or child born as a result, however, must serve the shrine god—doing whatever he asks—for the rest of his or her life. If he or she does not, the healing will end or the child will die, according to shrine beliefs.

Fear is the foundation. In each of these cases the priest consults with the spirit of the idol through divination, and almost always demands the servitude of a virgin. A fresh virgin is believed to bring blessing and renewal. So, families will go along with the priest’s horrible demands out of fear that if they do not, they or a family member will be cursed and/or die. Heartbreaking…

The organization that I am going with (ECM) works to liberate these women and children and to rebuild their broken lives…

I will be going into the homes of the women and girls who have been freed. With the saving, restoring, healing, and accepting power of Christ, I will be seeking to build relationships with these precious people. I will strive to help them heal emotionally, socially, and spiritually. They will be my friends and who I spend my time with… And I cannot wait!

But let me plead with you… I need YOU. I covet your prayers. If Christ does not do ALL of the work (using me as an instrument), nothing of value will occur. How can I relate to them? What will I say? How will I hold it together and not fall apart? How do I show them that my God is the God? This is my problem… I am my problem… Please, dear reader, pray that I will get out of the way… That I will let HIM relate us, let HIM speak through me, let HIM hold me together, let HIM show them that He is God! And pray that I will have the wisdom to know what all of that really means. Please pray for these people…

There are undoubtedly curses going against the individuals and organizations who dare to come to the aid of these people. Please pray that the curses will be ineffectual and will have an opposite effect of which they were intended. Please pray for the priests and leaders of the idol shrines as well, that they may come to repentance and salvation.

Thank you for sticking with me and reading all of this… I promise that all of my newsletters will not be this long. But I just felt like I needed to let you know what was going on and how you can begin to pray.

All I have to say now is:
Buckle up! Here we go…

Isaiah 61:1-4,

Hannah