Like the woman at the well, the people of India
are thirsting to know the One who can quench
parched souls with Living Water. |
India
Village headman decides to follow Christ
by Dorothy Watts
Associate Secretary, Southern
Asia Division
"I am the headman for six villages," Lalu Oraon
said proudly. "I have decided I will be a
Seventh-day Adventist Christian. I am going to take
the message of Jesus Christ to every house in the
six villages."
"Why is this?" I asked him. "Why do you want to
become a Seventh-day Adventist Christian?"
"I have seen the power of Jesus Christ to deliver
from all devils. I want to be free of devils in my
house as well. In my house there is an evil spirit
in the shape of a horse, and whenever I come to the
house, the evil spirit neighs like a horse. It
frightens me. Therefore, I have asked Pastor
Benjamin Bara [a Global Mission volunteer] to teach
me about Jesus Christ. And then I will teach
everyone in my six villages. We then will all have
the peace and joy of knowing Jesus Christ and being
free from evil spirits and evil habits."
That very afternoon, I had just met a man who had
influenced Lalu's decision. His name was Paulose
Bara.
Fifty-year-old Paulose Bara gave his heart to
Jesus Christ in January 2003 in the village of
Khirda, the same village where I met Lalu.
I interviewed Paulose in front of his small house.
Directly opposite the door of his home, there is an
area measuring about 4 feet by 6 feet. It is made
into an arbor about 4 feet tall. This is covered by
bitter gourd vines. Just in front of the arbor, and
directly opposite the door, is a depression in the
ground. Benjamin Bara pointed out that this is where
Paulose had kept his devil flags. Paulose had
worshiped 24 devils and had one multicolored flag
for each devil. The flags were put on the ends of
long thin poles 15 to 20 feet high. These were
planted into the ground and spread out so that all
24 flags would wave in the breeze and thus honor the
devils this family worshiped.
"I have seen the power of Jesus
Christ to deliver from all the devils."
Paulose testified that the devils often troubled
him. Once, when he was coming home, he heard a child
cry, and he could not escape the sound. It followed
him wherever he went, but there was no child there.
When he reached his home, the crying child suddenly
was silent. Another time when he entered the house,
there suddenly was a great wind that seemed to bring
the presence of the devil himself into their home.
Incidents like these frightened him and caused him
to pray and offer sacrifices to all of his 24
devils.
Once when Paulose was very ill, he called for the
village priest who told him to offer a chicken. When
that did no good, the priest told him to sacrifice a
goat. But still he was no better. He visited a
different witch doctor who told him, "You make a big
feast and feed everyone in your village." So Paulose
cooked great pots of kitcheri (rice and lentils).
Still the suffering was there.
In his hopeless condition, he at last remembered
Benjamin Bara, a nephew, who was a Christian. He
told him, "Benjamin, I am tired of these evil
spirits. I have noticed that you do not have any
evil spirits troubling you. I think I need to serve
your God. Please help me to become a member of your
church."
From that day on, Benjamin Bara and many of the
church members in that village and nearby villages
came to pray for Paulose and his family. Finally,
Paulose and his family understood how much God loved
them, and they decided to follow Him and keep all of
his commandments. They tore down all the devil flags
and threw them away. The whole church prayed that
the devils would leave this family for good.
"Since becoming a Christian, I have a great peace
of mind," Paulose told me. "I know that God is with
me and will deliver me if the devils ever come. Once
or twice they came back, but I prayed to Jesus. Now
they no longer come here any more."
And because of witnesses such as Paulose Bara,
Lalu Oraon wants the same peace from evil spirits
for himself and everyone in his six villages.
|
