Change My Story

The pictures hung on the wall in a row all in black and white, motionless yet seeming to come to life. I looked at their weathered faces that at first glance seemed emotionless, yet the longer you looked, the more emotion you saw. Each face reflected a story of profound strength, hard work, and resilience in suffering. 

There were three rooms in the dagara museum - one told the story of women, one told the story of men, and one told the story of religion. Each room exhibited objects, photographs, and descriptions that told a story that many in the world have never heard. Even our team of dagara people meandered slowly in and out of the exhibits, pausing, pondering, and learning the story of their own people. 

When we stopped in front of a display of clay pots, one team member remarked that his very own mother possessed only pots like that, which she used to carry water from the well and to cook over an open fire. Another team member's father was a slave to the French, forced to carry heavy loads on his head for up to 30 kilometers. For my Dagara teammates, walking through the museum was walking through their own childhood. 

I was forced to remember that this country only gained its independence a little over fifty years ago, and that the pictures of shirtless women and men covered in warrior paint are not ancient Indians but rather these people's grandfathers and great grandfathers.  I realized that the "history" in this museum, the story of poverty, suffering, slavery, and difficult lives they experienced are only separated from me by one or two generations. 

It's surreal. It's humbling. It's a story of amazing courage mixed with deep sadness. 

As we walked through the section on religion, we learned the meaning of dagara beliefs and practices. The dagara practice traditional religion, which means they believe in a God, but he is distant and unapproachable, and the ancestors and spirits mediate between God and man. Therefore, most religious practices center on interactions with ancestors and spirits. They perform sacrifices to consult the spirits before planting, traveling, or making any decisions. They go through a horrible process of initiation where young men and women are taken into the wilderness and taught the ways of sorcery and divination. People mark their faces and bodies, shave their teeth, and perform other painful procedures to protect them from evil spirit's recognition. Men weren't considered real men until they have killed someone, and people had to constantly check their shoulders as they walked or they would be pierced with an arrow from a warrior tribe. It's a story of fear and darkness. 

Many people still live in these believes and practices, but amazingly, the gospel has also come and penetrated the darkness, liberating people into the freedom and light of knowing Jesus Christ. That was what our team remarked at the end of our tour day to the museum - that the gospel has liberated their people from the darkness of animism and idolatry, and they rejoice in the freedom of Jesus Christ. 

Perhaps Rebeca said it best. "I better learned the story of my people today," she said, "and I see that God has changed our story." 

God is still in the business of changing our stories. Stories of tribulation become stories of triumph. He changes suffering into salvation, trials into testimonies, disaster into deliverance, and defeat into victory. He transforms ashes to beauty and sorrow to gladness, says Isaiah 61. Give him your story, and he will take up the pen, turn the page, and write his presence, power, and beauty into your story, transforming it into the story of heroism, victory, and glory that he has always wanted for you.