As they became Christians, Sara and her husband Luke faced a real spiritual battle. As they began to learn of Christ, their village wanted to expel them from the community for living together, unmarried, in sin. The village, afraid the sin of Sara and Luke would ignite the anger of the demons and bring diseases to the people, their crops or their animals, only allowed the couple to stay in the village if they made sacrifices to the spirits.

This young couple came to me, saying, “We will never go back to sacrifices again, teacher. We want to follow Jesus with all our hearts.”

After more than a year of studying the Bible with them and confirming through their actions that they had let go of their past and were clinging to Jesus, we began preparing to baptize them in November 2022. But because Matthai, their baby, was born on the scheduled day of their baptismal ceremony, we had to reschedule for a few months later.

Recently, we were blessed to finally conduct their baptismal ceremony. It was a magnificent Sabbath. The entire Pnong team was part of the worship program. We shared a delicious meal and performed the baptism at a favorite waterfall of the locals, far from the city and somewhat remote — so much so that some attendees could even hear wild elephants vocalizing in the distance. Amazing!

After the ceremony, many people remained to enjoy the beautiful scenery and relax in the cool waterfall on that very hot day.

Sara and Luke never returned to making sacrifices to the spirits. On the contrary, today they are a center of influence for their neighbors and family. Months ago, they offered their home for our church worship services every Sabbath. Everyone is thrilled to be there, and church relationships have deepened. Two of their friends have even begun to study the Bible with us.

It is at times like these that one most enjoys being a missionary. There is no greater joy than seeing how a person is freed from Satan and begins to live happily, without any fear, knowing that God protects and blesses each of his steps (Psalm 27:1).

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