TANZANIA – When Johnson Odoyo and Amos Komanya last visited the Datoga in November of 2024 their evangelism efforts were successful, leading many to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus. Among the newborn converts were three young maidens. They had never experienced such joy in their lives as they did when they finally met the only true God who took away their sins and gave them new life.
Not everyone was pleased. The witch doctors in that community were losing their influence. Fewer people were coming to them seeking curses against their enemies, blessings for themselves, or help in finding a marriage partner. While this wasn’t true in every Datoga community, this particular one depended heavily on the witch doctors to assign marriages. Angrily, the witch doctors declared that the three young ladies would never marry and cursed them with barrenness—but God had other plans.
Faithful Christians here in America joined the spiritual battle in prayer, asking God to raise up Christian young men for the young women who had been cursed. The Lord answered those prayers when Johnson and Amos traveled to another community, resulting in the conversions of several young men. On a recent return visit to the Datoga, they discovered that these new followers of Jesus had found one another—and married.
The witch doctors’ anger turned to rage. They made death threats to our evangelists, but those threats were overwhelmed by the growing numbers of newborn Christians who were ready to defend them. Finally, the witch doctors called on the help of government officials with the complaint that these men were upsetting their culture, insisting that they be arrested. Four officials answered that call and arrived at the Datoga village that Johnson and Amos were visiting. They brought with them two armed policemen, fully intending to take the evangelists into custody. But when they spoke with Johnson and Amos, they realized that such an action would be a big mistake. They saw in them the goodness of the Lord, heard the gospel of freedom in Christ and gave THEIR hearts to the Lord Jesus. Johnson and Amos placed their hands on them as they surrendered their lives to the Lord.
The policemen, who had been observing from a distance, came over to be brought up to date. “No, do not arrest these men. They are men of God,” they were told. The policemen, when they had been given some time to speak with Johnson and Amos, removed their hats, bowed their heads and asked them, “Please, pray also for us.”
How does a writer end such a story when the story does not end?
“And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples … multiplied greatly” (Acts 6:7)
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