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| As reported by BosNewsLife, Voodoo chiefs in the nation of Benin (Africa) who had previously kidnapped children of a missionary couple, then threatened to sacrifice them, have returned them to their family. Several of the Voodoo believers that were involved in the kidnapping have now become born-again Christians. In a statement to BosNewsLife Cam said that "the children's release was negotiated by local Christians in contact with the police and the Voodooist kidnappers." "Many feared that the children would be used as human sacrifices, a practice still observed by some Voodoo worshippers in Benin. Indeed, when kidnappers learned that Christians had made contact with local police, they threatened to kill the children. However, through careful negotiations and much prayer, the children have been returned to their parents." KIDNAPPING AND VIOLENCE The children were kidnapped and the violence against their parents, Jeremie and Augustine was started because the Voodoo leaders were angry that the family had decided to stay for a year near the Fon tribe in order to minister to them. "They had won 25 people, most from Voodoo backgrounds, to the Lord and started a small fellowship," CAM headquarters reported. "A Voodooist district chief arrested the missionaries along with several other converts and demanded they leave the village or reject Christ. When the Christians refused to do either, they were beaten, stripped and threatened with castration." Soon after the children, whose names and ages were not released, were reportedly kidnapped by Voodoo leaders. Cam stated that the kidnapping that occured around May 1st and the final outcome produced "another miraculous outcome" and it "led to the establishing of a new church." A CAM missionary said that the church was founded after he prayed for a dying village chief in the area where the children were being held, but where he was not welcomed in the past. VILLAGE CHIEF "HEALED" There were other Christians that helped him to find the house of the village chief. He knew the house because "God had showed" him in his prayers. "I went directly to the people gathered at the man's house to ask about him, and they said he was ill and near death. I quickly told them I had come from far away and God had told me to pray for him. The people started to look at one another [and] the man's son told me, 'He is over there in the room.' I entered and started to pray." "After seven minutes of prayer, the man awoke from three days on his death bed. He stood up and followed me, and we came out together. People started to call the name of God [and] I took the Word and began to preach." The missionary said he told the villagers, including Voodoo believers, that "this Jesus whom you resisted in this village is the same who came to you today and raised somebody, your respected great chief, from his death bed. He is ready to heal many people. Are you ready to receive Him?" He claimed that all villagers "gave their lives to Jesus," although no exact figures have yet to be released. NEW CHURCH STARTED "A new church was started in this place" and on May 4 the children were released and returned to their mother. Their father and two other believers who were injured in the initial attack were released from hospital. They are now welcomed in the new church of their former persecutors, he reportedly added. CAM said it "rejoiced to see God's hand of deliverance and restoration in this area of Benin, a country bound for centuries by Voodoo." In Benin, indigenous beliefs make up half of the 7 million strong population, while Christians make up 30 percent and Muslims 20 percent, according to estimates. |
