Eighteen-year-old Kiry sat up on the hospital bed. His pulse was racing, and his breathing was rapid. He looked up into my eyes, and I could see he knew that he did not have long to live. He had seen his younger brother die the same way a few months earlier. My heart ached for this Pnong boy who had asked us to come and pray for him.

Would God perform a miracle on his behalf? How I wanted Him to! It seemed to me that Kiry’s was a worthy case. If God healed him, surely it would bring many more Pnong people to Him and maybe even the doctors. We prayed earnestly, asking for his physical healing and, most importantly, for his salvation and Christ’s peace upon him. We prayed for people to come to salvation through his situation. Finally, we surrendered our opinions of how God should handle the situation and simply asked Him to work in the best way for Kiry and his family and to glorify His name.

All through the afternoon and evening, Kiry remained steadfast in his faith and his desire to have us continue praying for him. Not once did he revert to seeking help from the spirits. By the next morning, we knew God was not healing Kiry the way we hoped, and he passed away a little while later.

The family decided to honor Kiry’s trust in Jesus and give him a Christian burial. They asked us to help show them how, so we invited the school staff and church members to pitch in and help with the arrangements.

After the graveside service, the family asked our group to come worship with them every night during that first week. Now we are studying with three young men from the family who want to be baptized. Others often join in the study as well. Please pray for these young people as they seek to find the faith Kiry showed in the face of death.

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