Pig Heads and Prayer

“But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3, NASB Updated.

The Lua believe that it is unwise to take a small child outside the village. The bad spirit will curse a family for doing such a presumptuous act by harming the child. When Tuan became a follower of Jesus he decided that he would not follow traditions like that any longer.

“I wanted to show my neighbors that God is greater than the bad spirit,” said Tuan. He and his wife took their young child to the fields with them, which shocked everyone. They watched to see what would happen to the child, but nothing bad happened.

Later Tuan took his entire family to a neighboring village. A cousin of Tuan’s explained that Buddhist traditions of the area dictated that you must show respect to a place by making a flower offering or burning a joss stick. Tuan again refused to do those things. He said to his cousin, “God will take care of us.”

Later that night Tuan’s cousin came to him. He was visibly shaken. When Tuan asked what the problem might be this relative related that a dark shadow had come into his room while he was sleeping. He said, “I felt heavy pressure coming down on my chest. I couldn’t breath.” He asked Tuan if he would pray for him. The cousin also shared that the local witch doctor told him to kill a pig and hang its head on the door of his house.

Tuan prayed for his cousin. His cousin returned home and killed a pig, and hung its head on the door of his house. The following morning the cousin exclaimed, “The pig head worked. The shadow did not come into my house after I talked to you last night!” But Tuan knew that it was not the pig head that had protected his cousin, but his prayers to God.

Through this experience God taught Tuan that no matter where he went God’s protection would go with him. This is good news for a man raised among a people who are enslaved to fear and serve evil spirits.

Pray that:

Tuan’s testimony will help other Lua to rethink their spiritual beliefs and turn to Christ for salvation.

God will protect Lua believers from spiritual attacks.

God will remove the spiritual blinders from the eyes of the Lua.

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