Amina (not her real name) was born in 1995. She is my wife’s niece and grew up with my daughter Georgiana. During her mother’s pregnancy, the doctor’s report showed that there were twins in her womb. At the time of delivery, her mother gave birth to a single child, Amina. It was a mystery to many.
In 2007, when Amina was about twelve years old and in junior high school, she had a dream that someone was trying to hurt her, but two women appeared to protect her, one with the same name, Amina. When she woke up from her sleep, she was sweating as if someone had poured cold water on her.
Around this time, some patches began to appear on Amina’s body. Her mother took her to the hospital. They performed many tests, but nothing was detected. They visited another hospital, did the same tests, and the result was negative once again. After visiting six different hospitals, and the cause of Amina’s sickness remaining unknown, Amina’s mother turned her attention to traditional healers who told her someone had cast a spell on Amina. This traditional healer began treating her with some magical charms, but her condition deteriorated.
Then one day, one of Amina’s friends came for a visit. While they were playing, Amina fell and hurt her knee. Overnight, it became swollen to the extent that she could not walk. Amina’s mother was distraught and did not know what to do; she had an appointment to cater a wedding that day. She asked Amina to please excuse her because she needed to honor her catering commitment to avoid legal action, then said that she would be back soon.
When her mother left, the swelling disappeared. After some time, it appeared again. This time, it was a sickness commonly known as elephantiasis, an infection that occurs when mosquitos transmit filarial parasites to humans. Amina’s uncle took her to another traditional healer who told him that an evil spirit had attacked her. Trying to prove how powerful he was, the healer started predicting things that would happen to Amina’s family, and she became afraid to return home.
Over time, and after numerous hospital visits and about ten traditional healers, none of whom could heal her, Amina‘s mother turned her attention to God. Unfortunately, her family was in the right place but met the wrong person, a so-called pastor who told them to offer a duck as a sacrifice. Can you imagine that?
Amina then went into a coma. Everyone gave up, believing that it was time for her to sleep. But one person didn’t give up on Amina, and that person was Jesus.
Her mother took her to the hospital again. The doctors suggested a blood transfusion. Having already spent all her resources, Amina’s mother had not a single cent remaining
I traveled from Guinea to see how she was doing. At my arrival, I met her mother, who was crying. She asked the doctors to treat her daughter, telling them that she would pay the bill, but the doctors refused because she could not immediately afford the blood transfusion. The Spirit led me to pray for Amina. In James 5:14-15, the Bible says, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” After praying, I found myself prophesying that she would not die of the sickness but that seven years of suffering were allocated before being healed. I paid for the blood transfusion and helped with the cost of some other medication.
Since then, my family has been praying for Amina.
Fast forward to 2015, when AFM asked me to move to Mali and direct the Malinke project. Now being called to serve as career missionaries, my family and I traveled to Sierra Leone to make the necessary changes to our documents. During our month there, we stayed with Amina’s family, who received us warmly. Our two families spent time catching up on the happenings in our lives over the years we were separated. We also initiated morning and evening devotions, gave marriage counseling and encouraged them to find the true church. After securing our documents, we left Sierra Leone for Mali.
In 2016, while in Mali, we obtained our visas for travel to the United States. While in the U.S., I continued to encourage Amina‘s parents to commit themselves fully to God and gave them Bible passages to read so they could find the true church. Because the sheep were without the Shepherd, they joined a different denomination. We continue to pray that God will open their eyes to see what the true church looks like by comparing the Scriptures to what they see around them. As the psalmist says in Psalms 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of your law.”
In 2019, Amina’s mother was called to rest. As my family attended the funeral service, my heart went out to Amina and I shared in her pain. Her eyes were swollen and she couldn’t eat. I consoled her with the truth that, in the future, when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, He will wipe away the tears from her eyes, that death will be no more, and that neither will there be mourning, crying or pain. I shared with her that He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new,” and that she should hold onto the hope that, in the new heavens and earth, she will see her mother again.
After the burial, family and relatives wanted Amina to stay with us since her father is a retired worker and cannot afford to care for her. I told our relatives to give us time to think and pray about their requests. After a good season of prayer, we brought her to our home. She is happy with the new life she is experiencing in Jesus Christ. As she studies the Bible, she discovers many glorious truths that she confessed she had never heard before — lessons like the state of the dead, the three angel’s messages, love, the stories in the book of Daniel, and the seventh-day Sabbath. Please pray for Amina as she has a significant decision to make.
