The scorching sun had not yet peeped over the horizon when Fatou awakened to the mournful prayer call of the local Moslem priest at 5:00 a.m. Of course, this was her summons to awaken only to a burdensome day of work, as she, being a woman, was not allowed to pray in the mosque. If she could participate in the Moslem religion, it would be only to pray, bowed in the sand beside the little one-room hut she occupies with her six children (and her husband, if he happens to spend the night with her). You see Fatou (pronounced Faw-too) is his third of four wives. His first wife divorced him before he married Fatou. She was brought to live in the same compound with his second wife who already had children. Here the two women lived and worked, each having her own hut.

As the years passed, many children were conceived. Soon eighteen children occupied the compound, which supported only three one-room huts. The family continued to grow, but the income of the father was almost the same as when he took his first wife, so provision for their very basic needs was not met.

How does a mother face each new day knowing that soon the rice and oil will run out even before the end of the month? Most mornings there is not enough money just for bread for breakfast or even a cheap gruel for the evening meal. Then, too, she must set her face toward the toils of the day. She must carry eight to twelve No. 5 washtubs of water on her head through the deep sand to her hut, as there is no running water. She may also make a three or four mile walk daily to the market and back, to buy perhaps a couple of potatoes, carrots, and a piece of fish to go with the rice for the twenty people she must feed each meal. Then there is the washing of clothes by hand. If no money is supplied to buy charcoal, she must go out and search for firewood. Fatou’s daughter had to drop out of school when she was eight years old in order to help her mother at home. As Fatou hears the last of the five prayer calls that evening, she must finish her tasks and get the children settled before dusk turns to the dark of night. She has no electricity, and most nights she doesn’t even have the kerosene to light her lamp.

Fatou became pregnant with her seventh child. She looked very worn and tired as she came into her eighth month. During this month her husband took a fourteen-day vacation to the capital city. He had money for the trip but did not leave his wives a dime. Soon the food ran out. Fatou’s twins became critically sick with malaria. “I must take them to the clinic!” Having no taxi money, Fatou began to walk with the boys. One son fell onto the hot desert sand, too sick to walk a step farther. Fatou, in her eighth month of pregnancy with a mother’s concern and love, bore the seven-year-old son on her back. An African woman had pity on her and gave her taxi money to get to the clinic. There the doctor donated the shots necessary for her sons to live.

Several days later the missionary learned of Fatou’s plight. She sent nourishing food so that the boys might regain their strength and health. The following day, Fatou’s husband returned, and the second wife walked out on him. She took two of her smaller children with her and left the other ten for Fatou to care for along with her six. Thus her workload more than doubled.

As Fatou had come to the missionary’s house for the past two years to visit her sister who worked there, she had heard many things about Jesus, God’s only Son. One night the Lord burdened the missionary to witness to her the next time she came by and to give her a definite opportunity to accept Christ as her Savior. She felt that Fatou might not live through the delivery of her next baby. Many African mothers die during delivery. The very next day the Lord sent Fatou by. Very carefully and clearly the Gospel was explained. She heard that God loved her so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to die for her sins, that He had paid the full price for her sins, that salvation was a gift, and that by accepting Christ as her Savior she would be saved and have a home in Heaven. Her sister, who had been saved a year before, translated the Gospel with enthusiasm and a real desire to see Fatou saved. Disappointment showed in her face as Fatou said, “I must think it over. I am not ready to make that decision now.” Not long after, Fatou’s baby was born. It was a safe delivery.

After two more months of carrying the workload at home, caring for a newborn and not fully regaining her health, Fatou fell gravely ill from overwork and high blood pressure. After seeing the doctor and getting the needed medicine, she took her two smallest children and went to her sister’s to stay until she regained her strength. The following night she was so sick she did not think she would live through the night. Her brother-in-law went to summon her husband, but when he arrived at their compound, only the children were there. He reported to Fatou, “Your husband took another wife today and is sleeping at her house now!” As the real meaning of these words penetrated Fatou’s mind, she fell back on her straw mat. She fought for each breath, thinking it might be her last. The grip of death took a firmer hold as her desire to live was being shattered.

The following day, the missionary went to visit Fatou hoping that she might want to be saved, but her husband, a staunch Moslem, was standing over her the whole time. Because of Fatou’s fear of him, the missionary had no opportunity to talk to her about the Lord. Many were praying that Fatou’s life would be spared until she could be saved.

Fatou became very discouraged and despondent when she found out all her labor was in vain in trying to be first and most loved in her husband’s eyes. All her hard work, loyalty and faithfulness had gotten her nowhere! Her recovery was slow, but after another month passed, she came again to the missionary’s house.

Fatou had been confronted with death. She knew she did not have peace with God. Again the missionary shared the Gospel with her. She said that she believed it was the truth and the way. However, her dreaded fear of her husband still possessed her. This fear is derived from the fact that all a Moslem has to do to divorce his wife is say three times, “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you” in front of a witness, and the wife is thrown out on the street. Many times she will turn to prostitution as a means of survival as she is uneducated and basically illiterate. “Must I go home and tell my husband if I accept the Lord as my Savior?” The missionary told her no, that when the time came for him to know, the Lord would give her grace and boldness. In the meantime, she should pray for his salvation and live a submissive and obedient life before him. Fatou was gloriously saved!

Fatou had come to the missionary’s house wanting work. She was told that she needed to be home with her children. The Lord surely would meet her needs in another way. The day after she was saved, the Lord sent a school teacher to her home asking if she could take Fatou’s ten-year-old daughter to work for her five days a week. The teacher would feed her, clothe her, let her come home on weekends, and pay Fatou the same amount of money that she would earn if she worked herself. In a few days Fatou came to the missionary’s home with this testimony and joy in her heart. She said, “I have been different inside since the day I was saved. I have peace for the first time in my life.”

Fatou has claimed God’s Word in Revelation 2:9 for herself: “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich).”

(Donna Bragg is the wife of BIMI Africa Director Ron Bragg. The Braggs served for 16 years in Senegal, West Africa.)