Some prayer needs of Burkinabe people

During our stay in Mahadaga, each of us on the team took turns joining a pair of caseworkers from the Handicap Center going out into the bush on motorbikes to visit the homes of Burkinabe families, who have a child with an identified need. In my experience, we met three families having a child crippled with Cerebral Palsy, and one family having a case diagnosed as Epilepsy. In the latter case, according to his mother, the child has just had another seizure before we came to visit, and was very despondent, lying on a mat, during most of our stay. To make matters worse, we learned that the father, who greated us a little overexuberatently at our entrance, is an alcoholic who had already had to much to drink at mid-day. After discussing the boy's case with his mother, and checking to see that he had been taking his prescribed medications, we learned that his seizures were not getting any better, rather they were getting more frequent. His mother was frustrated. Both his mother and father treated him with less than gentle care while we were present. Even the seasoned case workers were at a loss to know what to do next. It came out that when the boy has seizures, he runs around screaming "Save me, save me!" Not surprisingly, the case workers believe something may be going on than just Epilepsy. Taking this as a cue, I suggested we ask the mother if it would be alright if we pray for the boy. She agreed, and right away the father came walking over. The case workers directed the father to sit down on the mat next to his son. I led in a prayer thanking God for the father and the son, and asking in Jesus name for each of them to be healed.

Please continue to pray for this family, that God would not only show the power of his healing hand, but reveal their opportunity to have their sins forgiven, and come to know him in a personal way as their Heavenly Father. Please also pray for the other three families who deal with a child crippled with CP, one of whom knows Christ, and the other two do not. Without the knowledge of God's love, these families really lack the motivation and enablement to meet the needs of a disabled child, casting the child to the perifery. Please pray also for the caseworkers, that they might continue to show God's care in a tangible way by their therapy, and continue to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have not yet heard, understood, or received Him.

by Harold Underwood