Just the Bad Spirit

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27-28, NIV.

I grew up in Pha Pae in Northern Thailand. Many families worship the bad spirit in my village. To worship the bad spirit a family will often build a shelf on one of the walls inside the home to use as an altar. If anything bad happens like an injury or illness, the family will sacrifice a chicken or pig. If the sacrifice is a pig, they place the head on the altar. If it is a chicken, they place the whole chicken carcass on the shelf. This offering is supposed to appease the bad spirit and help things get better.

Often times a family will make the required offerings, but nothing gets better. When this happens, people just shrug and say, “Ah well, that’s the way of the bad spirit.” I think the bad spirit is a way to have something to put the blame on when things go wrong.

As a Christian I know that the ways of Jesus are far more helpful than the ways of the bad spirit. My neighbors clearly understood the need for sacrifice, but if only they’d realize that the perfect sacrifice has already been made for them when Jesus died on the cross.

*Testimony of a Northern Thai Christian worker.

Pray that:

The families of Pha Pae will realize their need for a perfect sacrifice and will turn to Jesus with saving faith.

The spirit worship that holds many Northern Thai and tribal people in spiritual darkness will be overcome by the love of God expressed through Jesus.

Many wall altars will be taken down as Northern Thai families turn to faith in Jesus and accept that the perfect sacrifice has already been made for them.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.