God is continuing to work among the Bouyei believers. WF’s parents have been living in a courtyard with another Bouyei family who are not believers. The wife in this other family is known to have a powerful evil spirit that is said to be able to curse and harm other people. The two families have been living in an uneasy tension for the past year. This spring, WF’s older sister, her husband and four children moved into this courtyard. Three months ago, WF’s younger brother who is still single also moved in. Both WF’s sister and brother have had symptoms of demon oppression for years involving vague but debilitating physical symptoms and nightmares. This is undoubtedly related to the fact that their mother was a spirit medium for over 20 years. WF’s sister, her husband and her younger brother have all come to faith in these last few months. Through prayer, their physical symptoms and nightmares have abated. Occasionally there are relapses but time and again the Lord has answered prayer in the name of Jesus to hold back the work of Satan in their lives.

In early June the family pooled their resources to invest in ten pigs. Two of the pigs suddenly took ill and died in July. The neighbor’s pigs were fine. Because of the suddenness of the illness the way the pig’s flesh appeared when slaughtered, it was felt that the deaths were not due to real illness but to a spiritual attack from their neighbor with the powerful evil spirit. Later, another couple of pigs fell ill and were eating poorly. You can imagine the fear and consternation that were gripping this family. WF’s father was completely focused on the power of this evil spirit. It was clearly an attack on their faith. Other neighbors were starting to mock them and wag their tongues saying that their God was weak. The elder Mr. W was starting to feel there was no choice but to have his daughter and her family move out. He thought that she was much more susceptible to demonic attack because of her prior experience. The whole family was discouraged.

Christian workers have continued to visit that family every Thursday morning for a worship time and study. In one of the studies they read Exodus 14, relating the story of Moses and the Israelites with the Egyptians in hot pursuit. The lesson was to stand firm and see the hand of God fight this battle for the Israelites. The next day, Mr. W called and said one pig was still feeling ill and asked if there were any believers available to pray with them? Wanting to make clear that his family has the same access to the Father as other believers do, I encouraged Mr. W to gather his family in concerted prayer. LJ had also encouraged him to fast in prayer. The next week, the atmosphere in the home was very different. Mr. W had learned an important lesson. He had learned this was a battle they could win in God’s strength. Every night he had been gathering his children and grandchildren together to sing, pray and read the scriptures. He said, “We lost the first battle when our two pigs died but I didn’t understand then. We have nothing to fear now if we continue to resist him and not retreat an inch!” With spiritual insight he said the small problems he had faced before he could deal with through prayer on his own. With this major attack, he learned the power of joining his family together in concerted prayer. The attack is not over but the battle is won when by faith we see God’s powerful resources in Christ and we are aware of the enemy’s tactics. Praise His Name!

LJ and her husband Mr. L have started small groups in at least 3 Bouyei neighborhoods. MZJ, the young man with meningitis has improved on medication. His father has been going to Sunday worship regularly and Mr. L is meeting with them in their home on Friday evenings. WXY has recovered and she and her family have come to faith and meet with Mr. L.

A young man mentioned that he had recently had nightmares involving snakes, a recurring theme among Bouyei reporting demonic oppression. He had also had vague physical symptoms for a few years that kept him from working. He actually had already been attending Sunday worship at LJ’s church for a month and was increasingly interested in reading the Bible. Pray

A Bouyei woman was almost immediately interested in learning more about God. She returned two days later and talked for three hours. Praise God that Bouyei people hearing the Gospel now have much better opportunities to see and understand what it means to be a Bouyei believer. They have other Bouyei believers sharing their own testimonies about defeating evil spirits in spiritual warfare. They hear about a new found peace in families and healings from illnesses. They can see Bouyei believers coming together to worship, pray and study together. It is not a “foreign” religion. Praise God. The gatherings are still small (usually only a handful) but the light of Christ is shining brighter and brighter in their midst.