A Tale of Two Brothers
The Young Lions youth movement held a conference in the province of Ratanakiri near the Laos and Vietnam border. This part of the country is heavily entrenched in animism, ancestral worship, and witchcraft. There were over 150 people in attendance, not including the leadership team who traveled from Phnom Penh.
On January 4th, a man from the Prau tribe traveled to Ban Lung in Ratanakiri province to receive medical care at a local hospital. The hospital however would not accept him because they didn’t know what had happened to him and they thought perhaps he was mentally ill. The man was mute and drooled uncontrollably. After the hospital rejected him, he had nowhere to go so he just sat outside of the hospital gate and begged to survive. His family had lost hope as they did not know how to help him and they would come to check on him from time to time. At the commencement of the Youth Conference a local church member from Ban Lung saw the possessed man and his brother, who was in a similar condition and came to join him, sitting outside of the hospital. He invited them to come to the conference, explaining, "Our Young Lions (youth from the Chom Chao Church) are leading and they will know how to heal you through the power of Jesus." The bold member went on to tell the family, "There will be lots of prayer, miracles, and healings, especially for people without hope, because Jesus is our hope". After the family heard this, they decided to bring their sons to the church the next day. When they arrived, their minds had been clouded by spirits trying to remain in control. Even though they were brothers, they no longer recognized one another or knew where they were.
The older brother was the first to receive Jesus. After hearing our Young Lions pastor Thany, speak about the mightiness of God, he decided to follow Jesus. Our pastors began to pray and cut off the spirit cords that animists wear to keep them safe from evil spirits. He was instantly healed! His drooling ceased and he was able to speak coherently for the first time in 5 years. His mind was opened and he was able to once again recognize his family members. The church began to find out how the men had become possessed.
The younger brother had once studied to be a Buddhist monk. His family practiced animism and worshiped trees. One day while in the woods, he cut down a large tree and when the tree fell all of the spirits from the tree went into his hair and head causing his mind to become confused so that he could no longer speak. Somehow this demonic entity also infected his brother. Pastors began to pray for the younger brother and cut off his spirit cords; he began to speak! One pastor asked him to repeat a prayer and he did so over and over again; each time with greater boldness and fluency. He remembered who he was, where he was from, and recognized his brother and other family members. As he was being prayed for, he said he felt a heaviness on his head. He asked our pastors to cut his hair. As they prayed and cut his hair, the man spoke with increased clarity. The more they cut, the more demons were coming out of him and releasing their control. His brother joined him and was delivered as well. They chose to be baptized in water later that day as a public declaration of their faith. To this day, the men have remained at the church refuge center because they want daily prayer and to be with God. After being delivered from evil spirits and miraculously healed, the brothers called their family to come and meet Jesus. The entire extended family has now received Christ.
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