Some time ago, I read an article titled “Isn’t God Good!” by Roy Adams in the November 27, 1997, issue of Adventist Review. As he put it, “Some of us don’t have big, spectacular things to give thanks for. But we have the little things, the common things, the things that happen to everybody.”

God is so good that His goodness continues to surprise us. Elmire and I have had many occasions when we felt like shouting and throwing our hands up in the air in praise. Here is our latest bit of gratitude to our loving and caring God.
Our language helper, Amadou Desouza, is a well-known son of Kandi, famous for his athleticism. He has given the Kandi soccer club many victories over the years. Before traveling to Ivory Coast for Elie-Dana’s birth last May, we gave Amadou a camera so he could cover some photo assignments for our cultural research book in our absence. Based on our past experiences, we knew he could take pictures around the community without causing as much of a stir as we might. Among the things we asked him to photograph were the major mosques in town.

After three weeks of peaceful work, Amadou ran into trouble when someone he’d had tensions with in the past saw him taking pictures of a mosque and began spreading negative rumors about him. Most of the Dendi community knows Amadou is our language helper, and some imagine we are using him as spy in their midst.

The false rumors soon led to Amadou’s arrest. He was held for hours and peppered with allegations. A report went back to the imams that he had been taking pictures of their mosques for me so I could use them against their religion. The issue became very serious and created an uproar in town. When a friend called us in Ivory Coast with the news, the latest rumor was that we were being cursed publicly during prayer time in almost every mosque in Kandi.

When we were finally able to speak with Amadou on the phone, he was distraught. He couldn’t understand why he’d come under such attack. All his efforts to explain our work had been dismissed with comments like, “Clearly, Mr. Badé kept you in the dark about the full extent of his plans.” He had been coerced to stop working with us. They told him the money we paid him was cursed, and by taking it he was working against his religion and his people.

The news from Kandi was very disturbing to us. Other friends we contacted told us we wouldn’t be welcome to return. We had already experienced many spiritual attacks in Kandi, and we had heard threats of physical attacks, too.

As the time we’d chosen to return to Kandi approached, I struggled with what to do. Before taking my family back to Kandi, I first thought to go back alone and see how things were. But after earnest prayers and communication with many contacts in Kandi, I realized more was at stake than just our safety. A week before the incident, God had drawn my attention to the enemy’s plan. The wife of one of our senior pastors at the division office mentioned to me that she had heard we had “run away from our mission field.” I was shocked and furious to hear such an allegation. But, a week later, I understood why God had revealed it to me. The enemy was attempting to disgrace God by casting doubt on His workers. In God’s strength, we needed to return to Kandi as a family.

The enemy took up our challenge. On our way back to Kandi, the cash we were carrying mysteriously disappeared, important food and clothing items went missing, and some equipment stopped working. I had been expecting attacks like these, but I still felt very vulnerable as Elmire sobbed. I sensed the seriousness of the battle.

As our parents and prayer partners joined in fervent prayer for us, we arrived safely in Kandi, emotionally and physically exhausted. Thank God for His promises and His faithfulness in fulfilling them! Two families graciously sent us some personal money—three times the amount of the cash we had lost—so we were also able to replace some of the items that had gone missing.
My first duty in Kandi was to meet with the religious and community leaders, which I did over the following days with the eldest of my collaborators in town, the muezzin of the central mosque. I met with the mayor, the head imam and one of the leading alphas in town. (An alpha is an El Hajj who has studied in Arabic countries and teaches in quranic schools and mosques and leads in some major religious services.) I was amazed at how the Lord was using these men on my behalf.

The mayor told me that, after receiving many complaints about me and my work, he had told to the plaintiffs that he knows me and knows about my work, and he would be the first to attack me if I was a danger to the community and to Islam.
The head Imam told me that many people now view him as taking sides with me because he has never responded to any complaints against me. It is clear that he is bringing trouble upon himself by taking this position for the sake of me and my work.

Our last visitation with the alpha brought the most spectacular revelation. In addition to the muezzin, I asked Amadou to join us. The alpha spoke for over half an hour, explaining that some of his colleagues were being extremists. Turning to me, he said, “Like many of us, I have been monitoring you. If you were a danger to our religion as many are saying, I would be the first to combat you, but I have not yet seen that.” His final comment made my joy complete. “This Friday is my turn to preach at the central mosque. I intend to talk about you and explain to everyone that you have not done anything wrong against our religion.”

I was not the only one delighted to hear this bit of news. Amadou was extremely relieved. He had been thinking about asking for a chance to speak in our defense at the central mosque, but now a higher authority would do it for him. Before we parted, the alpha told me I should not worry, that he has a voice in the community.

This outpouring of support from Kandi’s government and church leaders was more than we had dreamed possible. There is no way for us to properly express our thanks and praise to the Lord for what He is doing. We feel entirely indebted to Him and wish only to act on His command and carry out His will. Again, we’ve seen that He never gives us more to bear than we can handle as we journey with Him.

“We can be happy when we see God in everything . . .When the sunshine of prosperity smiles, we recognize that the blessings flow from the fountain of life, and when trial and affliction are ours, we realize the hand of the Lord is in all our perplexities, and thus we come to understand that sunshine and shadow are needful to perfect the character of the believer, and give the true joy of perfect trust in God; for through faith [he or she] looks beyond the things that are seen to the things that are unseen” (Signs of the Times, Aug. 21, 1893).

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