January 10 is a date we will never forget as a family. Every January 10, millions of Beninese prepare for the annual voodoo festival of prayers and animal sacrifices. We witnessed this festival for the first time as a family on January 10, 2007, having arrived in Benin two weeks earlier. We felt a sense of palpable evil that day, and our daughter Eliora suffered a mysterious burn. Before that, on our first night in Kandi, dogs barked all night without stopping, and our room was filled with a strange smoke. Though we don’t buy into African folk traditions and superstitions, we have noted mysterious events every January 10 since then, and we recognize we are on the front lines of a real spiritual battle.

This year, I forgot the voodoo festival day was approaching until the morning of January 10 when Eliora and I discovered a black cat trapped in our window between the outer screen and the inner glass. There was no hole through which it could have entered, and the windows were closed. As Eliora and I were contemplating how the cat had gotten there, Elmire came into the room and immediately said, “They are defeated in the name of Jesus.” Right there, our family knelt in a circle to pray. We asked the Lord’s protection on everyone and thanked Him for shielding our family these past three years. Then we opened the window and freed the cat.

Satan is very active here, but his activities are limited to the territory where we allow him to operate. Please Lord, help us never to give a place to the devil in our life and ministry (Eph. 4:27). Thanks for your support in prayer.

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