Prayer for Ferke Mountain

We stand here on a rock 
you pushed out of the earth, 
a mountain of granite 
and colorful quartz, 
cracking apart over centuries 
so that trees take root, 
spread out, grow tall, 
and bushes thrive. 

Creator, your art is magnificent! 
The wind blows across it 
singing your praise! 
And yet there are remnants 
of desperation, humans begging 
for intervention from a god 
who made nothing, 
who has no love. 

He can’t wipe away tears, 
and has no intention 
of bringing healing— 
just grabbing attention 
with constant pretention 
that a dark spirit 
can calm their fears 
and answer prayers. 

Take back your mountain, 
Great King of the World! 
Sweep away strongholds 
of demons exulting 
in food that is offered, 
snidely chuckling as these, 
their slaves, come  
begging for peace. 


We were at the rounded summit of Ferke Mountain, relishing the cool breeze and sunrise on the horizon. The six of us had conquered the slope of broken rock and slippery gravel, some grassy areas burned to facilitate the climb. I was now searching for a certain spot where four of us teens had left a memorial of our eleventh-grade year, studying by correspondence in Ferke: we had gathered stones and lined them up as “FHS,” for “Ferke High School.” I’ve heard that some other MKs later wrote their names with stones up there too.

I had not known it when I was young MK (missionary kid) growing up in the area, but after years of studying the local Nyarafolo culture I had learned that this was a “sacred high place.” Just like the Canaanites who worshiped the gods of land areas, mountains (high places), and certain trees, the traditional religion here required the same practices. So when I had climbed the mountain with my family as an adult, accompanied by some Nyarafolo friends, I was intrigued when I saw a strange object hanging from the limb of a tree. One of the young men explained that it represented a kind of pact with the local god.

Later another friend told me that when he’d been in elementary school his teacher had taken the class on a field trip up there. The kids had found stones laid out like words, and the teacher had told them never to touch them: those were “sacred stones”! What had we done?!!

When I found the extended flat rock area where some of the lines of stones still existed, a sacrifice offering was nestled there, a bowl (one-half of a calebasse gourd) that had once held something liquid and a line of cowrie shells and kola nut shells. The bowl was leaning against some of those stones once forming letters put in place by us ignorant foreigners.

On the other end of the summit we saw chicken feathers near a dip in a rock that would have cradled the sacrifice. And hanging from a tree there was a string that had once held a piece of cloth; another tree had a small can left balanced between branches coming out of the trunk. Yes, they all represented sacrifices.

Pastor Fouhoton Pierre, our long-term friend from Tiepogovogo, had climbed the mountain with us this time. I asked him to refresh my memory about this “god” that people came to worship and to beg for help. He said his name is Weliefoli, and is believed to be a god of protection and provision. Each different offering we had seen represented a certain kind of petition.

Right now I am working on translating the Book of Isaiah into Nyarafolo with Moïse, and Yahweh God warns his people repeatedly that the idols they worship represent false gods who cannot predict the future or do them any good:

²⁸ I look but there is no one– no one among the gods to give counsel, no one to give answer when I ask them. ²⁹ See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion. (Isa. 41:1 NIV)

Yahweh warned them about the trap they were in because he was calling them back to himself, to the Almighty God who was indeed the Sovereign One and could protect and help them.

Here we were, on Ferke Mountain, seeing the evidence of ongoing worship of a useless “god.” There are certain trees considered sacred spiritual portals as well, and villages or clans make annual sacrifices to the god of their specific property in order to renew their covenants with whatever god “owns” that area. I’ve heard so many stories of the spiritual oppression that results from this kind of worship, and of how Jesus is the one Rescuer who changes everything.

So the six of us gathered in a circle there on the summit, and prayed to the Creator to take back this mountain he had put in place, to show himself to the people who live around it, to sweep away these agents of the Enemy who love to keep people in bondage to useless rites.

Then we scattered to enjoy the beauty of the ancient trees that stretch long branches across the rock face, almost as if they were roots above ground, and to look out over the countryside at the villages and Ferke town in the distance. I couldn’t help but think about how when Glenn and I arrived as missionaries in 1979 there were so few Nyarafolos who knew Jesus—just one small group out in the village of Pisankaha. And yes, God has been at work calling this people group to himself. Now there are five village churches and multiple other small group gatherings, and in Ferke town there are three churches using Nyarafolo in services, and others making plans to do so. Here beside me on the mountain was Fouhoton, rescued from spiritual oppression as a young teen by coming to Jesus, now a leading pastor in town. The Lord has indeed been revealing Truth to them, bringing them out of darkness into the Light of the Good News!

There are still many who do not know Jesus yet. The Nyarafolo qualify as “least-reached.” But they are “engaged.” Churches are reaching out in new ways, using their language and the Jesus Film in Nyarafolo. Teens are being organized to be missional and go to villages that have not heard the Good News. Certain Nyarafolo leaders are making videos of their testimonies so that the power of the Savior can become known. One is a pastor who used to be a thief, another is a pastor’s wife who once had to hide from her first husband to save her life, others are getting ready to tell their stories of how Jesus set them free.

They have two-thirds of the Nyarafolo Bible in print and available on phones. And we are working on the remaining books of the Old Testament! The God of the Universe truly loves all peoples, including those looked down on as irrelevant—which was formerly true of the Nyarafolo! He says these powerful words to foreigners in Isaiah, long before Jesus came to save us all:

This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. ² Blessed is the one who does this– the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.” ³ Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” . . .  ⁶ And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant– ⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. (Isa. 56:1 NIV)

And Jesus said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20 NIV)

I am one of those foreigners, now a child of the King. So are these precious Nyarafolo believers who have joined the royal Family. Our Father is not only taking back something like a misused mountain, he is also calling to himself whoever will listen and come. May there be many many more!