When i was in Gitwe, Rwanda a man told me the following the following story
Mukoadamage was an old woman who lived in Kinyaga. Many times the devil would come and say. If you hear the people of God speaking. Do not listen. If you do. We spirits will kill you
One night they took her from her thatched house to the top of a tree. If you listen to those Christians we will put you here and leave you. Mukoadamage said. I will never listen to them. Then the spirits took her to lake kivu. They put her down in the water. She was afraid she would drown.
Di not listen to those Christians or we will kill you. The spirits told her. They took her to a cave and put her away in the back where it was very dark. Do not listen to the Christians. They said. Or we will leave you here. Mukoadamage was so frightened that she promised the spirits that she would worship them.
Never. Never will i listen to the Christians. She said. A few days later some Christian young people came to her village. They went to visit the people in their houses. They stood outside the houses and sang songs about God's love. Mukoadamage was so afraid that she ran away. That night the devil came to her just as she was trying to go to sleep.
Did some people come here. He asked in the darkness. Yes. Replied the old woman. But i refused to listen to them. I do not know what they said. I knew you should kill me if i listened. The spirits lifted the frightened old woman and carried her out into the darkness. They took her out to a banana patch.
We will kill you if you listen to those Christians. They said. I won't listen the woman told them. Then they carried her back to her house. It took her a long time to go to sleep. The next week the Christian young people returned to her house. They said. Mukoadamage. We want you to come to our meetings.
We sing songs about the true God. We pray to him and we read from his true book. I can't. The old woman shook her head. Why. They asked kindly. Because the spirits will kill me. She answered. But you must come. They urged. The true God is much stronger than those spirits.
Are you sure. We are sure. Can you promise me that they will not kill me if i go to the meeting. Yes. We promise. Besides this. We can tell you how to send them away so that they will not even come to your house. Our God is very. Very strong.
Mukoadamage thought and thought. She wanted to go to the meetings. She was tired of being afraid all the time. The spirits told her when to eat and what she could eat and not eat. They told her where to go and where not to go. She was really afraid. Coud it be that these Christian young people were really telling her the truth.
Come. They said again. Will you. She turned and walked away. A little while later she heard singing. Oh. How she wanted to go and listen. She went out of her housr and they over to the place where people were singing the beautiful songs. She stood outside to listen. Some of the young people saw her.
Come in. They invited. Come all the way in. Satan will not like it in here. So she went in and sat down. The singing was beautiful. There were stories about the true God in heaven who makes sick people well. He's a kind. Loving God. The woman thought to herself as they prayed.
I want to tell God i am sorry for my sins. I want him to change my life. Then she told the young people how she felt and they prayed with her. At last it was time to go home. I am afraid to go. she told her new friends. The devil will surely kill me. You do not need to be afraid.
They told her. You belong to the true God now. He is bigger than the devil. Here. Said one of the young people. Take this stick with you. If the devil comes. You shake this stick and say. Go away. I no longer beling to you. I am an old woman of the lord. The old woman took the stick home. She lay down to sleep. Then she heard the devil say. Did you go to the Christian meeting.
The woman picked up the stick and cried out. Go away. I no longer beling to you. I am an old woman of the lord. God's angels were there. They pushed the evil angels out of the old woman's house. They did not let them come back. Mukoadamage went to the meetings each week. One day the pator went to her house.
Would you like to come to church. He asked her. Yes. She said. I would. So each week she went to church. Then she decided to be baptized. And she was. Oh. How happy she was. Never again did the spirits trouble her. For five years she lived as a Christian woman.
She was very old. But she loved God very much. Finally she died. The people cried when she died because they really loved her. They look forward to that time when jesus will come and raise her to life. Along with others who have loved God and followed him.
