Guardian Spirit

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” James 1:22, NIV.

Big is a good-natured, 10-year-old Northern Thai boy. For the past four years, he has come to my home for weekly Bible lessons along with several other children from the neighborhood. He listens attentively and answers questions correctly, but when he recently got scared he retreated to the traditions of his people.

While picking fruit from a nearby tree, Big fell into an open well. He had climbed onto the concrete rim of the well in order to reach the fruit, but lost his footing and fell in. The well was dry and he landed on his feet in the mud at the bottom. Other children, who were playing with Big, saw him fall. One boy had the presence of mind to run and get help.

Eventually, Big got hoisted out with a rope. Thankfully, he only suffered minor scrapes and bruises. This incident scared him and his friends badly. A few days later, Big’s family invited a monk to perform a special ceremony to call his guardian spirit back into his body.

Northern Thai believe that traumatic events are caused by a person’s sin. If the event is severe enough, it can cause the person’s guardian spirit to leave. If this spirit leaves, it must be called back, or the person may actually die. The ceremony involved chanting and tying strings around Big’s wrists.

I later asked Big, and several of the other children who studied the Bible with me, if the accident was caused by sin in his life. Without hesitation they all answered, “Yes.”

I was amazed that four years of Bible study had made absolutely no impact on their beliefs about sin and the spiritual world. After pondering the reasons for this, I concluded that these children had knowledge without faith. It is faith that moves a person from knowledge about God into a living relationship with God. So, how do you impart faith to a child? I cried out to God, “LORD, have mercy on these children and draw them to Yourself. Help me to be faithful in teaching truth to everyone you send to me. Teach me how to intercede for the Northern Thai people.” (*)

*Excerpt from the newsletter of a worker in Thailand.

Pray that:

The children from the Bible study will respond with faith to the truth they have already learned.

Believers living among the Northern Thai will have wisdom to witness to and intercede for this people group.

God will strengthen believers to persevere, even when the response seems slow in coming.

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