lenten journey, day 2 — a prayer for the lobi people

Every seven years, the Lobi people of Burkina Faso in West Africa send their children into the bush for a two- to three-month initiation conducted by tribal leaders.

During this extended separation from their families, the children are put through many “tests,” which may not be discussed after the initiation is over. All the while, the children are told that an evil spirit called joro is controlling their time in the bush.

Eventually, the children are brought before an idol of the joro, where their teeth are filed to sharp points as a sign that they are true Lobis. Some children never return home, and parents are forbidden to ask what happened to them.

I can only imagine the spirit of fear that must pervade Lobi villages when the initiation time draws near. Thankfully, there are some Lobi Christians who are telling their kinsmen that belonging to Jesus is a far greater thing than belonging to the tribe. Through faith in Jesus, the Lobi may exchange the cruelty of sharply filed teeth for the absolute tenderness of His love!

Compassionate Father, I spread my hands before Your throne on behalf of the Lobi people. Forgive me, Father, for hearing many accounts like theirs over the years and feeling nothing. These are your beloved sons and daughters! I pray that you would blanket them with your mercy and kindness…that you would loose the chains that bind these beautiful people to cruel tradition…that you would rescue them from any spirit of fear or intimidation. Thank you, Lord, that as my forehead was marked with an ashen cross last night, I knew with absolute certainty that those ashes would someday be exchanged for beauty. How glorious it would be for all Lobis embrace that truth! Yes, and Amen.

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father.” — Romans 8:15

“…for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” — Galatians 6:17b