Earthquake smashes altar
Joshua Obgo is a SOON reader from Nigeria.
In his village, any boy of 17 years old must
be initiated into the worship of the god of the
River Oturkpo.
Joshua was 17 when he did his final exams
at secondary school. His father asked him
to go to the village for the initiation ceremony
as soon as his exams were finished. For
Joshua this was a big problem – he worships
the Creator God and loves Jesus Christ as
his friend. He knew that he could not worship
any other god. He wanted to learn more about
Jesus, so he read the Bible and studied the
SOON Bible Course.
He went to the village because his father told
him to do so. Joshua tells us what happened:
Dressed in goat skin
"When I arrived there,
the first person I saw was
the witch doctor (the one
who would do the initiation
ceremony). He said he was
expecting me. I told him in
my own language, "It is not
me you have been expecting
because I have no business
with you."
This must have made the witch doctor angry
because he spoke an incantation. I must have
then fainted for a long time. The next morning
I woke to find I had slept on the altar where
the god of the Oturkpo River is worshipped. I
was dressed in a goat skin and was lying on
top of a lion skin.
I sat up and my grandfather came to me.
When he saw me, he fainted too. I could do
nothing to help him. My grandfather never said
anything because he was afraid of the witch
doctor. The whole village was afraid of him.
"My egg broke"
I was one of a group of seven waiting to be
initiated. I could only ask
Jesus Christ to help me.
They brought an egg that
each of us had to stand
on. This was part of the
ceremony. I felt someone inside me asking,
"What are you doing here? Can't you stand up
and go away, this place is too dirty?"
I was the last boy and also the thinnest in the
group. The others were all heavier than me.
One by one they stood on top of the egg – it
did not break. Then it was my turn. I stood on
the egg, just as all the rest had done, but for
me the egg broke. The witch doctor was very
angry – it was as though he became mad.
At that moment God's power came into me.
The witch doctor was shouting but I answered
him with words from the Bible.
I went to the altar, took my
clothes, threw the skin off and
went home.
Every villager, even my
grandfather, was afraid of me.
No-one had ever spoken to
the witch doctor like that.
Taken at night
At midnight I saw six big men come to take
me from my bed down to the river. I tried to
escape but they were too powerful for me. I
heard the witch doctor shout, "Bring him here."
I stood on the sand by the river.
Suddenly there was an earthquake.
Everywhere shook. The witch doctor and all
the powerful men fell down. The altar broke
into pieces.
Then everything became normal again and
I heard the witch doctor, who thought I was
dead, shout, "Take this one away before he
kills me – this is the sort of person I don't
like dealing with." The big men were afraid
to touch me but I told them to take me home.
They did and I slept peacefully all night.
The next morning, news of what happened
went around the village. All the
boys – those who were going to
be initiated – turned away from
the witch doctor's religion and
trusted Jesus Christ.
It was difficult for me to say
"no" to the witch doctor, but God
showed that he is powerful and
will help us when we ask him.