“I met someone who is really interested in the Bible,” a brother shared with us one Monday in our leadership training. “I gave him the little book Le Grand Espoir (The Great Hope), and he would like to know more. I don’t know exactly where he lives, but he is called le ticketier, and he lives somewhere in your neighborhood. Could you go visit him?”
Here in Benin, it is very common to know a person for years without ever asking his real name. There are people called “le menuisier” (the carpenter), “le maître” (the teacher) or even just “le togolais” (the Togolese). Le ticketier is someone who collects booth fees from market sellers and gives them receipt tickets.
We started asking around to find out where le ticketier lived. A boy told us that he was living in his family compound, and Toussaint went to visit. But we quickly discovered that le ticketier was a hard man to find. He was always traveling to various markets in the area, coming home late at night. Weeks went by. Then we heard that le ticketier had a bad abscess on his foot. But before Toussaint could go visit him and offer to treat the abscess, he was gone again. His mother had taken him to a traditional healer. Every now and then, we asked if anyone knew how he was doing, and the answers weren’t encouraging. His abscess wasn’t healing.
After about three months, we learned that le ticketier had returned because his healer had died. In traditional belief, that was a sure sign that his infection would never heal.
Le ticketier’s neighbors and family were ready to give up on him. The old men decided to do a sacrifice for him, but since he was leaning toward Christianity, they knew he would resist the idea unless they caught him by surprise. One night, they prepared the ceremony and then performed it over him before he had fully awakened.
Toussaint went to visit le ticketier several times, but he was either sleeping, or the people in his courtyard would say he wasn’t there. We decided to wait and keep praying for him. Meanwhile, the boy who had helped us find him kept telling him that we could help.
One morning, I was working in my office when Toussaint came in and said, “We have a visitor. Le ticketier is here.” Indeed, he had limped the half mile to our house, leaning on a stick, his swollen food smeared with a traditional poultice of pounded roots and leaves. He introduced himself to us with his real name: Justin.
We took a quick look at the infected wound and decided to start with charcoal poultices. But first we told Justin that we serve only the One Almighty God. God was able and willing to help him, but He would not share His glory. Justin must give up all the treatments and ceremonies related to the ancestor spirits and fetishes. Justin readily agreed, saying he was done with all that. It had only done him harm, and he wanted to put himself in God’s hands.
We started treating Justin with charcoal, then general wound care and antibiotics. He came every other day for a new dressing and would stay for a while afterwards to chat with Toussaint. The wound cleaned up and started to close. He was in much less pain and could walk around with the crutches we gave him. Things looked brighter, and we praised God. During this time, we held an evangelistic series in our little classroom, and Justin attended the meetings.
After about three weeks of treatment, Justin’s wound was much improved on the outside, but his foot was still very swollen. I suspected it was a bone infection, beyond our capacity to treat. I asked Suzy to take a look at it, and she confirmed my suspicion. We advised Justin to see a doctor.
At a nearby hospital, the doctor did a brief examination and then told Justin to go to the big hospital 30 miles north and get his foot amputated. He didn’t even bother taking an x-ray. Justin came straight to our house with the bad news. I wasn’t willing to give up so easily. We brainstormed other options, and Toussaint remembered hearing of a new small clinic. The person working there was a retired nurse, a wound-care specialist with lots of experience. Also, he was a Christian.
Justin went to the clinic, and the nurse sent him to get an x-ray and blood tests. The x-ray showed that the infection was confined to one joint. The nurse said he could perform surgery to clean out the infection. We helped Justin buy all the medicine necessary for the surgery and subsequent treatment, which cost 20,000 Francs (about 40 dollars). The surgery itself would cost the same, and I was willing to pay for that as well, since Justin wasn’t working and had very little money. But Toussaint suggested, “Let’s ask him if he can contribute at least a little.”
Toussaint talked with Justin, and Justin said, “You have done so much for me, more than any of my family or friends. I’ll come up with the money for the surgery.” Wow!
The operation took place a few days ago. The following night, Justin was in a lot of pain, but today he is doing much better. This morning his mother came by to thank us. She told us that the whole village has more or less turned their backs on them, since Justin refused their “help” with further spirit ceremonies. People are hoping that our treatment and the surgery will fail. Some expect Justin to die soon. As I was typing this, Justin sent us a text message, blessing us and wishing us a good night.
Please pray for Justin. Pray for his physical healing if it is God’s will. Pray also that Justin will come to know Jesus better and turn his life over to Him completely. Please pray that God’s mighty power will be revealed to the whole village. This is a power encounter between God and Satan. Several ladies and young people who attended our recent evangelistic meetings are facing persecution from their fathers and husbands. Satan is afraid to lose ground, but we trust in our Lord to lead the battle!
