“Clement, what were you and the church members talking about?” I asked the lay evangelist in the village of Koutie-Tchatidoh (pronounced Koochay-Chateedoe). Eric Anderson translated into French.

Ulrike Baur, Eric and I had gone to the village as part of their culture-study work, and also so I could see life in a real Otammari village. Koutie-Tchatidoh is the home of the largest Otammari Adventist church, consisting of about 50 members. After welcoming us and talking with us for a while under a nim tree, Clement had rung the church bell (an old steel truck rim) and, within half an hour, the Adventists from Koutie-Tchatidoh had gathered for a church business meeting. They had a lively discussion in Ditammari for a couple hours.

“We were discussing a problem we have been having in the church,” Clement told me through Eric. “The sorcerers in Koutie-Tchatidoh have determined to kill one of our church members each year by sorcery, and they have been successful for several years. Youth who do not commit fully to God’s way are especially targeted, as Satan does not want them to become true followers of Jesus. What do you think we can do to prevent this?”

You can imagine my shock at his words! The sermons I have preached in the past in Africa, often using Western ideas, surely don’t deal with such matters. Not only do we need to learn French and Ditammari, we also have a lot to learn about how real the spiritual battle is in Benin.

Please join us in prayer for the Koutie-Tchatidoh church and all the Otammari Adventists, that the devil and his agents will not have their way among God’s people.

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