Ghana
(MNN) — Ghana's
fetish priests carve their Trokosi's faces to keep them humiliated.
Every Child Ministries' Lorella Rouster says when they liberate the slave
girls, it takes more to break the spiritual and emotional bondage. One such
girl, whom we'll call 'Esther', wanted to have her scars removed.
Esther is now working
with Every Child Ministries as a Bible teacher and counselor to help other
girls still trapped in trokosi slavery in idol shrines. For some time, she longed to try to have the
scars surgically removed.
After her liberation,
Esther was able to return to school to complete her education which had been
interrupted. She thought her days of
humiliation were over, but she was hurt when other students refused to
associate with her because of the scars.
Many were afraid of involving themselves in some kind of curse which
they feared might be invoked by the idol gods.
But after awhile, Esther noticed that the scars actually
helped her in her ministry. Former slave
girls began to tell her that her scars were a visual testimony. Every Child Ministries' Lorella Rouster says,
"All the things that they have heard have been ringing in their
ears. Things like, "Once you are initiated as a shrine slave, you
can never become a Christian. You'll die. You'll go mad."
Yet, they're looking at her, preaching Jesus to them, and with these
scars on her face, they're realizing that those things are not
true."
In fact, when they looked at her scars, they saw living
proof that they could receive Christ, and many of them have chosen to do
so.
Now, Esther realizes that her scars are a reminder to her
and a testimony to all of what Jesus Christ has done in her life. Recently, she called Every Child Ministries
and asked them to stop looking for a way to have the scars removed. "I have come to peace with my scars," she
said.
ECM helps them rebuild their
broken lives with spiritual discipleship, vocational training and
micro-enterprise. Says Rouster, "We would like people
to pray for the liberation efforts because it's a spiritual battle. It's
only by the power of God that it can be done."
To find out more about the idol shrine slave liberation
project or to donate to this ministry, go to www.ecmafrica.org
and click on Slave Children.
