I looked around the circle of faces as we closed the Sabbath with our Center staff. Kchay, a Tampuan young man who knows our local staff, joined our circle this evening as we sang together, prayed and shared testimonies of God’s work in our lives.

Sabin, one of our local workers, shared her testimony first. She recalled how she was the first in her family to follow Jesus. She smiled as she told how she would go to church, take notes on the sermon, then go home and tell her family, “The sermon was really good today! I learned . . . ” and then proceed to preach the sermon to them.

She told how Jin, one of her brothers, was the most resistant to listening and believing. But Jin had a problem. He was cursed by someone who did not like him, and demons attacked him every week. The demons would paralyze him from the neck down, and he would collapse, unable to do anything for himself until the witchdoctor helped him. Sabin, however, continued to talk to Jin about Jesus, His love and His power.

In time, the witchdoctor died. Unfortunately, Jin was still having episodes of paralysis. Sabin offered to pray for Jin, and when she did, he was able to move again. After this happened a few times, he decided it was time for him to follow Jesus, too. Since then, he has not had any episodes of paralysis. Sabin further shared that nearly all of her family has now accepted Jesus and are following Him.

Sabin’s testimony inspired us just as much as the first time we heard it. Still, we wondered why she was sharing it again. We then asked Kchay about his story.

Kchay shared how he is the only one in his family who believes in and follows Jesus. His parents had told him that he would not be welcome in their home anymore if he chose to be baptized, but he chose to be baptized anyway. Because he did not do drugs like other youth his age and was responsible and kind, his parents allowed him to live at home after all. Then he went away to school.

After graduating, Kchay started teaching. But because the school where he worked raised the required qualifications, he could not continue teaching there. To obtain the required qualifications, he would have to attend school on the Sabbath. Not wanting to do that, he asked his family if he could come home again. Kchay shared that he is very thankful that they have allowed him to return and work on the family farm.

Listening to Kchay share his situation, we realized why Sabin retold her testimony. Sabin has a deep burden for the youth in our area, and she wanted to encourage Kchay to keep praying for his family and working for their salvation.

Please join Sabin and Kchay in praying for his family and the youth in Ratanakiri.

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