‘It was not the courage we had; it was the absence of fear.’” And in the presence of God, there was no fear.”
By Shannon Woodland (CW News)
The village of Wa in northern Ghana is considered the
largest village in Africa, around 30,000 people and it’s one of the most
forgotten. Why go somewhere so remote?
Debbie Jagger replies, “If you would’ve told me years
ago that we would be going and doing what we’re doing, I would’ve smiled at you
– very sweetly, but I would have smiled – and said, ‘I don’t think so.’
“To go to Ghana in the first place was God’s call. He
gave us a love for the people. He gave us a desire in our hearts to go.”
Debbie and Keith Jagger spent six years as missionaries in
southern Ghana before moving to Wa in August 2001. Many in this predominantly
Muslim community practised black magic. The Jaggers saw Wa’s small Christian
community in need of training; so they tried to settle in quietly.
Keith Jagger says, “I was spat upon on the main
street of town. I was a Christian but I was an American. After 9/11, the
people, instead of just watching as we go by, they’d stop and stare. We could
feel their anger toward us.”
The tensions increased as two watchmen were hired to
guard the Jagger’s home. Then on Oct 4, two strange things happened. As Keith
was fixing a screen door in their home, a nail flew out of the door and grazed
his face, narrowly hitting his eye. Later that day, Debbie was working in the
kitchen when a heavy shelf, firmly secured to the wall, gave way.
“It came flying off the wall and hit me on the head.
It spun me around and I hit the floor. When I got up, my head hurt so badly
that I put my hand on my head and there was blood. I’d to have stitches,”
Debbie recalls.
The local doctor treated Debbie and asked her if the
injury was an accident. She thought he was implying that Keith struck her but
he knew something that the Jaggers didn’t – a group of Muslim men had been in
Wa for several days putting voodoo curses on the Jaggers’ home. When Keith and
Debbie went to bed that night, they had no idea that five men were coming to
kill them.
“At a quarter to two, we heard this banging on the window
and screaming. He screamed, ‘Armed robbers are coming! Armed robbers are coming!’
“I could see two men running across our yard with
hoods on,” Debbie says.
Keith adds, “They had come over in military-style
attack. They weren’t sneaking around.”
Keith and Debbie heard the hooded men beating one of
their watchmen.
“So I went back into the bedroom to call the police,
but the line was dead,” Debbie says.
Keith recalls, “It was a little bit like watching the
movies, like, there’s a sense of disbelief. This couldn’t be happening.”
Was it the end of the road?
“We both knew that we were going to die just in the
way they were coming. They were coming through the door with a battering ram.
Everything was so intense. We knew that there was a purpose for them coming,
and we really believed that we would die.
“We immediately just started to pray, to pray God’s
protection on ourselves, on our property, just pray.”
Once inside the intruders went from room to room,
yelling and ransacking the house. Debbie and Keith hid in the bathroom’s shower
stall. They were so overcome by fear that they could hear each other’s
heartbeat.
Debbie continues, “Then they got to us in the
bathroom. He pushed the handle down and opened it very slowly and then started
to shut it. I thought they’re not going to find us.
“Then he stopped and reached around, looked behind the
door. He said, ‘They’re here’ in English. Just before that we’d been praying. I
was praying and I just knew that was it. The Lord said to me, ‘Debbie,
Psalm 91.’ He said, ‘You’ve been with Me in that secret place. Now
you just stand in My shadow.’”
The man ordered Keith and Debbie into the hallway.
Keith says, “When we stepped out of the bathroom and
into the hall, we stepped into the presence of the Spirit of God. The power and
the glory of God felt so strong that you could feel the walls rattling. I
couldn’t stand up.”
“Keith had to literally hold me up at one point. It
was not from fear because fear was gone,” Debbie says.
“I liked it one time when Keith said, ‘It was not
the courage we had; it was the absence of fear.’” And in the presence of
God, there was no fear.”
The men demanded money. Keith had a one-hundred dollar
bill. He handed it over and said, “In the Name of Jesus…”
I noticed instantly at that moment that he said, “in
Jesus’ Name” that both their heads – I mean it was in sync, it was simultaneous
– the power of God was so strong there that they backed up from us, and they
were the ones who had guns.”
The five men went into the living room as Keith and
Debbie stayed in the bedroom. The Jaggers waited an hour expecting the terror
to continue but nothing happened. Keith and Debbie heard the men leave the
house and drive off in their car. They never returned.
“Psalm 91 became a part of our personality,” Keith
says.
“It is just part of who we are – ‘Because he
loves Me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him. I will protect him, for he
acknowledges My Name. He will call upon Me and I will answer him. I will be
with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honour him. With long life, I will
satisfy him and show him My salvation.’
That’s what keeps us going.
Since 1993 Keith and Debbie Jagger have walked in
love, faith and integrity. MOSA’s (Missionaries On Special Assignment®) impact
around the world has helped to see multitudes coming to a strong and healthy
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. For more info, kindly go to their
website at www.mosaministries.com/aboutus.html
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