Smashing idols in West Africa

“Hey demons, go home! No one wants you around here anymore.”
Christians in the African village of Ya-bo-gawn, Burkina Faso, sang those words — in their local language, Dagara — as two church members burned piles of hand-crafted idols that were buried in their homes.
The church members, named Benoit and Prosper, asked Andy Johnson to pray with them, help them dig up and smash the idols — pots, gourds, animal skins and skulls — after a recent worship service. Johnson is part of mission team working in Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation of about 16.5 million souls in West Africa.
Villagers watched as the idols burned and the Christians sang, Johnson said.
“The courage and faith of these men amazes me,” he added. “Destroying the physical presence of the gods your ancestors have worshiped for generations is a fearful thing.
“I received a phone call a few days later from one of the guys in the church, letting me know that nothing has happened to those two men, that God has protected them so far. He sounded pleasantly surprised.”
Johnson asked for prayers for the Christians “as they take on Satan head to head.”