The Witchdoctor

Another side story from our time in Moz:

Andy was one of the parent chaperones of the South African team that was at Bethel. He shared his unusual story with us one evening.

He had been unsure if he wanted to come to Bethel on this trip. However, prior to making a decision about the trip he had a dream one night that he was supposed to come to Xai Xai to give a message to someone who was of importance and power in the community. This nagging feeling that continued after the dream could only be described as a message put on his heart by God. He needed to go to Xai Xai to pass along this message. The question for him was no longer whether or not he should go on the trip to Bethel, but rather who was this person in the community, and what message was he to deliver? He didn't mention his dream to anyone, as he felt it would likely be looked on as being a little crazy.

On day one in the village where we were building the school/church, Andy had a feeling that this was the community where the person was to receive the message. He looked long and hard at all of the people from the village, and had narrowed it down to three people. An older woman, an older man, and a younger man from the community. The next day he was still unsure who exactly was supposed to receive his message. He asked God to give him some sort of sign. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he saw only the younger man from the village. Wanting reassurance that this was indeed the man God wanted to get the message, he asked for a confirming sign. He turned his head in the opposite direction, and when he opened his eyes, he again saw the same man. Still not completely convinced he asked the Lord for yet another sign. When he opened his eyes, he saw only the same man off in the distance...and then the man turned around and looked at Andy straight in the eyes. He knew that this was the man.

Unable to speak either of the native languages, he turned to Les to help him translate his message to this man (still unsure of exactly what the message was to be, but putting faith in God that he would speak through him). Later on, Les let Andy know that this man, Francisco, was the leader of this community and, as is often the case of village leaders, the witchdoctor. It also turn out that the other 2 he had initially been considering as the message recipients, were his family members (his father and a cousin). Les and Andy went over to Francisco, and Andy began to speak the message the Lord was giving to him. "You must decide on a path. You can either continue following the dark path, or you can lead your people into the light through Jesus Christ. But you must choose". Les began to translate to Francisco in Portuguese, also adding in her own words. Although Andy couldn't understand a word of the conversation between the two, each time he spoke his words were the perfect extension of the conversation as if he knew exactly what was being said.
Les had been praying for weeks prior to this day, in hopes that Francisco would give up his witchdoctoring and ancestral worshiping ways so the community could grow and be strengthened. As an outsider, with a distinguished look and an authoritative but gentle voice, Andy was the perfect messanger to further press upon Francisco the importance and urgent need to make the choice to follow Jesus Christ.