By Braden Pewitt, Mar 1, 2010

“My sister is being eaten alive by a jyak—a soul-eating sorcerer.”

I’m not used to speaking with Yau over the telephone. Her toothless syllables are hard to make out when I can’t watch her mouth. But finally I caught what she was telling me. Rote was in trouble. My mind whirled. Yau’s sister, Rote, has lived in Boan Village for many years since her husband died. She was with us when Yau’s husband Koin died. She witnessed our many prayers with him. She watched as we explained to Yau about the power of Chief God over the forces of darkness. And she was in the village the night Yau screamed at a jyak who had come to destroy her, “I’ve entered Jesus. You get out of here!”

Rote has often asked questions, but I always catch her knowing smile that says, “What you say is ignorance. I know evil when I see it, and there is no good god that has power to change it.” But now Yau was telling me that Rote had specifically asked for me to come and pray with her to Chief God. Something had changed in her heart.

I arrived in the village the next day just as Yau was returning from her field. She was breathless as we ducked through the low doorway into her dark hut. As we began to visit, she smiled at me. I could see a twinkle in her eye. “Chief God has indeed blessed me,” she said. I could tell she was remembering when she had chased the jyak out of her home in Jesus’ name. The evil spirit had come clawing at the bamboo walls of her hut shortly after Koin died. Everyone in the house recognized the eerie voice of the spirit of darkness coming to bring more death. But Yau called on Chief God, it fled and never returned.

Yau was beaming, her eyes twinkling with joy and remembrance. “We need Chief God to protect Rote now as He has me.”
“I will go to her home, and I will talk to Chief God about the jyak who is trying to destroy her,” I said.
As I stepped into Rote’s hut, she didn’t appear deathly ill, but she did look weak. I asked her how she was feeling. She told me how she had traveled to Phnom Penh and suddenly been inflicted with the mysterious illness. She was certain a jyak was attacking her, though she could not see it. She was certain it was angry at her and was determined to eat away at her soul until she was nothing but a corpse.

“Will you talk to Chief God?” she asked. “Will you ask Him to chase away the jyak as He did for my sister?” I again shared with her how easy it is to talk with God. She listened carefully. I reminded her that Yau had talked with God in the night, and the jyak had fled. Rote smiled. “I understand. But I would love for you to talk with Him now.”

So there in that little house on the hill, I spoke with Chief God and asked Him to hold another of His children. Rote was smiling when I finished. I then asked her if she would like to hear a story. I pulled out a copy of the first Bible story from our books. Rote is one of the few older people who have learned to read the Pnong language. She has never been to school, but she faithfully attended the literacy class in her village. She was thrilled to see the story I held in my hand.

We printed our books in large type with people like Rote in mind. Her aging eyes are not as sharp as they used to be. She has told us that books with small type are hard to read at night by flickering candlelight. “There are 22 other books already printed,” I explained. And in a few months, we will have 33 more stories.” She was thrilled.

Rote reads quite slowly, so I decided to read the book aloud and then leave it with her to re-read as often as she wanted. Her daughter leaned over my shoulder to follow along with me. Jyam, a neighbor woman, sat down next to Rote to listen as I read. I began the story, “In the beginning there was only God. Before God there was nothing. In the very beginning there wasn’t anything yet. There was only God Himself . . .” My audience listened intently, interjecting little exclamations like, “Yes, that’s right! That’s what the elders tell us! Wow! Chief God is so big!”

When we were finished, Rote was beaming. “Yes it’s true,” she said. “Chief God did create the world. And He has been watching over my sister all these years.” Then she looked up into my face with a smile and said, “And now He’s watching over me, too.”

My heart overflowed with joy as I traveled home. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a fellow human turn to face their Maker. “All who call out to the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). That, my friends, is Good News!