Buying Your Wife Back

David Kaya, shown here, is our national leader in Southern Sudan.

Where's your point where you'd cry uncle and give up on what the Lord has instructed you to do?

David left his first denomination in Sudan, went to Seminary with another evangelical denomination, and returned to Sudan to plant churches that preached the Word. Let's say the denomination he left was none to happy about this.

In his tribe, a father can recall a daughter at any point and place an additional dowry upon her. It just so happened David's wife's father was not a believer. The "other" denomination went to the father and convinced him to recall his daughter from David. They'd been married three years when this occured.

When David told me this, he stopped here, looked at me and said, "It's not like in the U.S. No one tithed in my church. They had no money." In other words, he couldn't buy his wife back. He was living in a one-bedroom apartment and his lone asset was a bicycle.

He pressed on, continuing the work.

He said this action hurt his reputation greatly, but the Lord blessed his little church and grew it. After some time, the Lord called him to go work in a city where he interacted with a number of churches. They banded together, having more money than out in the bush, and raised the funds for him to buy his wife back from her father.

I wish I had asked him what the timeframe was on the entire ordeal. I will when I see him again.

To read another account of David and persecution, click here and go to page 2.