Alfa and Mamadu and their families are hungry. In these last few weeks before harvest, food is scarce. They know that there is meat available for the taking. They just have to go and get it.
The meat has wings and lives in the deepest part of a large cave. They believe the cave is also inhabited by demons.
Mamadu’s father had gone into the cave many years ago, but had been imprisoned by demons for five days. Under such circumstances, how hungry would you have to be before you would go into this cave?
Alfa and Mamadu were hungry enough to go. They found batteries for their flashlights, cut a couple of suitable sized sticks, and went. They hiked deep into the cave where the large bats are. Alfa began throwing his stick at the bats. Mamadu picked them up and stuffed them in a sack. They continued working for some time.
Finally Mamadu said he was tired, he wanted to go. Alfa said he had hit three bats and needed to get them first and then they could go. He collected the bats, but when he turned around to tell Mamadu to come with the sack he was no longer there!
Alfa called to his friend. No answer. “Perhaps he started back and is waiting for me,” Alfa thought. He headed toward the cave entrance but saw no sign of Mamadu. Though it was strange that Mamadu would go home without Alfa, there seemed to be no other explanation. So Alfa went home alone.
That night Mamadu’s younger sister came to Alfa and asked, “Where is Mamadu? Didn’t you two go to the cave today?”
“Yes, but he left the cave before I did, and I thought he must have gone home. I was going to go to your place tomorrow to get my share of the bats.”
“Well, he never came home! Where is he?”
Alfa returned to the cave. Near the entrance he found Mamadu’s shirt, shoes, and bush knife which he had left there before entering the cave. He realized that Mamadu must have never come out. A search party was organized. Several men went into the cave to look for Mamadu but they found no sign of him.
Karfalo “knocked” verbally as the Landumas usually do. NTM missionary, Kirk Rogers, greeted him. He told Kirk about how Mamadu had been lost a couple of days earlier and said they were going to his village the next day. Did Kirk want to go into the cave and take a look?
At Mamadu’s village Kirk found a group of men. They had come from several villages in the area and included religious leaders and teachers, adherents to the majority religion of Guinea.
The group of Landuma men were all convinced that demons in the cave had imprisoned Mamadu and would not let him go until the demons were properly appeased.
They sent for several diviners, men who knew how to deal with demons. A collection was taken because diviners demand a large reward.
Alfa wasn’t present. He was being held by the authorities. Unless the demons released Mamadu, Alfa was the prime suspect in Mamadu’s disappearance. The authorities would also have to be paid a large sum for Alfa's release.
The men said they were not going to search in the cave again, but would wait for the diviners. If Kirk and his companions wanted to go look, that was fine.
As Kirk walked to the cave he asked a religious teacher whether he would be going into the cave. “Not me,” he said. “I’m afraid of caves. I don’t dare go in there.”
The trail to the cave ended at what appeared to be a cliff. With the help of some conveniently located trees, Kirk climbed down to find the cave opening under the cliff edge. Before entering the cave he prayed for safety and help in locating Mamadu.
Karfalo and Burama accompanied Kirk into the cave. They had asked some of the others if they would be going too. “No way,” they said. “We know all foreigners work together with demons. We’re afraid they might take us in there and trade us to the demons for something they want and we would never come out!”
Karfalo and Burama just chuckled. “We have known these people for a long time. They wouldn’t do that.”
Just inside the entrance of the cave there were two sticks stuck in the ground with a piece of cloth tied between them. “That’s a sacrifice to appease the demons,” Karfalo said. Nearby was a dead chicken. “Yep, another sacrifice. But the demons didn’t want those sacrifices.”
Kirk proceeded into the cave and soon came to a little stream. The stream ran along the main passageway of the cave. From this main passage branched several smaller passages. Each branch of the entire cave was explored.
As Kirk explored, thousands of bats were almost continually flying past. The breeze from their beating wings was refreshing in the hot humid air. It was obvious that their sonar was working well because none of them collided with him even though their wings occasionally made contact.
There was no sign of Mamadu. The Landumas later explained that he must either be in another room Kirk couldn’t reach or he was covered up by the demons and hidden from his sight.
After emerging from the cave Kirk returned to Mamadu’s village. “Mamadu’s father is here,” someone said. “Would you like to meet him?”
Mamadu’s father is old and sickly. He told Kirk his story of how he had been kept prisoner in the cave by demons so many years ago. “I went into the cave and was collecting bats. I was in a large passageway which I had to crawl to get to.
"After a while I lay down. I slept for a long time. I awakened and went to the stream and drank some water. Then I slept again and after a long time awakened again and drank some more water. I tried to leave the cave but the exit was closed to me. I couldn’t get out.
“Meanwhile, outside, a diviner was talking with the demons and he found out that in order to appease them, the villagers had to get alcohol and food and have a big party, eating and drinking and dancing with drums. They had the party and after that the demons let me leave. I found the exit and came out of the cave. I had been there five days.”
After leaving Mamadu’s father, Kirk rejoined the group of men. They were discussing the fact that Kirk had come with his family and been willing to go into the cave unafraid. “Yes,” Kirk said, “we were willing to go in and search for the man. We wanted to try to help you find him. We weren’t afraid to go in because we aren’t afraid of demons."
"Jesus is with us and He has power over demons. God will protect anyone who will believe Him and His message. That’s why we have come here, to tell you Landumas this important message.”
Later that day a diviner arrived. He went to the cave to inquire of the demons. Afterward he reported, “The demons met with me. They said they have Mamadu. He is healthy; nothing bad has happened to him. But he provoked the demons and they are not happy. One of the bats Mamadu and Alfa bagged was not a bat, it was a demon. Also, the demons said Mamadu had shined his flashlight in the eyes of one of the demon children. They don’t like that. They tried repeatedly to stop him from annoying them, but he wouldn’t listen. So they grabbed Mamadu.
“They also said they don’t like the foreigners. ‘Don’t let them go into the cave again!’ they warned.
“The demons don’t want the chicken sacrifices you all made,” the diviner continued. “They want you to make a sacrifice of a brown goat and a white rooster. The rooster must be released alive, but the goat must be slaughtered and cooked along with a lot of rice, and you all must eat it and have a big party and make merry. Then the demons will be happy and they will release Mamadu to you. You must put on this party this coming Thursday.”
The people made the sacrifice and put on the party as instructed, but afterward Mamadu didn’t appear as expected. Several days passed and he still didn’t appear. It has been almost two weeks since the party and Mamadu is still lost.
It is clear that the Landuma people are living in fear of Satan and his “angels” and they are willing to appease them when necessary to get their problems solved.
Animists tend to be more concerned with dead ancestors, spirits, and demons than with the Creator because these powers are perceived to play a more prominent role in their physical well-being. An animist does what he must to solve his problems even if it contradicts the precepts of the “high religion” he claims to follow.
It is only the message of the Gospel which will deliver the Landumas from their spiritual blindness and fear, and bring new life, peace and security. It is not only Mamadu who is lost, but also 17,000 other Landuma people.
Please pray that Mamadu will be found alive. Pray that through this ordeal more Landuma hearts would be opened to the teaching of God’s Word.
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