Risking 'weakness' shows Jesus’ power
by Lynda Hollinger-Janzen

Augustin Ahoga preaches at Waterford Mennonite in Goshen, Ind. Photo: Charles Jones

Augustin Ahoga wonders at North Americans’ confusion over the Gospel accounts of Jesus cursing the fig tree. For Ahoga, such activity was child’s play. Ahoga’s father, a great traditional priest in the West African nation of Benin, was training his son to inherit his position.

"I could curse trees and plants and cause them to wither by the time I was 11 years old," Ahoga said.

Jesus: "Those who want to save their life will lose it"
However, wielding considerable occult influence did not help Ahoga feel secure. An old woman in Ahoga’s village of Logozohê — everyone called her a witch — triggered fear ripples through his veins every time she fixed her gaze on him. Ahoga invented elaborate detours to avoid passing her house.

Ahoga and his father traveled frequently to other priests in faraway villages to buy greater spiritual power and more spiritual protection in the form of amulets that would protect them from sickness and death.

"We were always afraid that others might have stronger powers than ours," Ahoga said.

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Ahoga’s father, desiring to strengthen his son with every source of knowledge, sent him to Allada where he could attend high school. There, fellow students invited him to attend a Baptist youth group. Although Ahoga, with his occult powers, believed himself superior to the Christians and their naïve faith, an inner pull kept him returning to their meetings.

Out of curiosity, he began to experiment with Jesus’ power. He tried praying to Jesus to see what would happen. He threw some of his protective amulets into the latrine.

Augustin Ahoga didn't die.

Usually, Ahoga notified his father before returning to the village so the elder priest could perform ceremonies to bind all evil forces that might be unleashed to kill his successor. One day, Ahoga forgot to inform his father that he was coming home. Rather than warmly welcoming his son, the elder Ahoga flew into a rage, fearful that this would be the end of his spiritual dynasty.

But …Augustin Ahoga didn’t die.

He began to have increasing confidence in the strength of Jesus Christ that was proving to be more powerful than all the occult powers he had encountered.

After a year of Bible study, prayer, significant dreams and testing Jesus’ faithfulness and the countercultural truth of Jesus’ words, Ahoga finally surrendered all his occult powers, destroyed his protective amulets and submitted his life into Jesus’ safe-keeping.

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