Tragedy in the mission field – Benita’s story – part two of four

Benita, a missionary, lost her husband and son in the mission field. She shared her story of pain, confusion and her journey with God, and we are sharing it in four parts.

Recap: Benita and her husband were working with the Avadin and Dukawa people group of Niger state, teaching the children and helping the community manage their finances and crops better.

Part 2

As was their custom, the Fulani Herdsmen were busy raiding; they often go from village to village, stealing people’s cattle. Normally when we saw them approaching, we left our house and went into hiding. On this particular day, the soldiers intercepted the herders first, so the Fulani began looting the community. The old man in the village who gave us land for farming invited us to shelter at his house, but I felt uncomfortable with the arrangement. I told my husband we should run to a neighbouring village, but he disagreed so we hid in the old man’s room with our two children. After some time, a number of Fulanis came to this house and asked the old man about us. Initially, he gave them the impression that he did not know our whereabouts; however, when they put pressure on him, he gave in. By this time, I had become so weak, but my husband, who had our son in his arms, was busy praying and singing.

When they came to the room, my husband begged them not to kill us, and they started demanding our phones and money. We gave them our phones, but when they asked for money we told them we had none. Right there and then, they shot at my husband but the bullet hit my son, and I saw his intestines come out. On seeing this, my husband shouted, so they aimed the next bullet at his head and took his life. I was carrying our three-month-old baby; one of them came to me still demanding that I give him the money my husband gave me. I told him I didn’t have any money; he kept on threatening me that he will kill me if I don’t bring the money. I repeated that I did not have any money and that he could do whatever he liked with me.

At that point, one of them brought out an axe to butcher me, but another one came to the rescue. He stopped him, reminding him that they do not harm women in their operations. Later, I managed to escape. I started running with my baby but the same man who wanted to kill me caught up with me, still with the mind to take my life. Again the same man who prevented him the first time showed up to stop him. I began to run again, not knowing where I was heading.

Excerpted from an interview by Rhoda Oluwakemi Appiah. She is married with three children. She is a pioneering missionary of Fullstature Missions International together with her husband, Rev. Daniel Hyde Appiah. She is a lover of God and His word, with an overwhelming desire to see God’s kingdom advance in every sphere of society. Rhoda can be reached at kemiappiah@gmail.com.