Stories Behind the Songs: Little Girl
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
Romans 10.13-15
In the Volta region of Ghana (the original home of the voodoo cult), some little girls are given over by their families to local the priests to pay for the sins of others-for up to three or four generations. These young girls are called trokosi, which is Ghanaian for “slaves to the gods.” They are enslaved for the rest of their lives, imprisoned within the temple walls until they are told to come or go. Their babies, fathered by the priests, belong to the temple, and can be taken from them at any time. If they run away, they are made to believe their whole family will be cursed. This burden weighs heavily on their shoulders and keeps them doing as they are told. Most die very young, abused from years of malnutrition, rape and hard physical labor.
This is their song. They live a life of slavery and abuse because they (and their families) fear the alternative-the curse of the gods as punishment for sin. If only they knew that someone has already paid that debt.
How will they know if no one goes?
- Kaitlin
