Father Martouka was the chief and leading fetisher (animistic religious leader and healer) of his village. The reason he had assembled everyone there was to publicly profess his faith in Christ, burn his animistic idols and amulets, and then be baptized.
Martouka’s adult children are all born-again Christians. The lives of his sons, who are now pastors, were changed by the strength of the Holy Spirit in the 1990s, and his daughter was saved in 2013 after witnessing the healing power of prayer and the compassion of ABWE’s hospital staff during a life-threatening illness. But Martouka continued to put his trust in the family idols and spirits. His children prayed for Martouka for 25 years until his heart finally softened to the gospel and Christ.
With the local church closed due to COVID-19 regulations, the family and many villagers met outside, and Martouka shared his testimony. I was asked to pray for the Holy Spirit’s protection against the demons he had rejected. Then they poured gasoline on the pile of idols and spiritual objects. After ensuring that Martouka’s past was consumed by the fire, his sons baptized him.
