I told them that I would not paint my door with blood. I had Jesus to protect me. I convinced three other families in the
village to forgo the ritual and trust in the power of the lord. The village leadership was not pleased. I didn’t care, I was going to show them the
foolishness of their pagan beliefs. This is Audio Stories with J. B. Simien and this is the story “Forsaken.”
Decades ago, I was a missionary on an assignment to a small
village in the pacific islands. The
people in the village were generally Christians. However, they practice some pagan rituals
that I objected too. Once per year, the blood of a goat would be painted across
the door of the houses in the village to protect the inhabitants from a demon. The villagers would paint the blood strip and
say a prayer for protection. If it was
not done, in the morning, the inhabitants of an unprotected house would be dead.
I was warned about the ritual by the previous missionary that
I had relieved. He told me to ensure that
I also painted the blood on my door. It
was something I had to do to be safe. I lost my respect for that man. I told him that I was disappointed in him
before he departed. I said, “A true man
of God has no fear of Demons.” This was
a perfect time to teach the villagers a lesson about the powers of Jesus.
I informed the village leaders that I would not be painting
my door with blood. I had the blood of Jesus
to protect me. I convinced three other
devout families in the village to forgo the ritual and trust in the power of the
lord. The village leadership was not pleased with me. I didn’t care. I was determined to show them the foolishness
of their pagan beliefs. The night of the ritual, I carried on as usual. The next morning, I was, of course, still
alive.
As, I was departing my house to go to the church, I notice
that someone had painted my door with blood.
I was angry. Some superstitious person
had upset my lesson in the power of Jesus. After I calmed down,
I went to visit the other three families whom had chosen to trust in the
strength of the lord. They would have to
be the examples for the village.
At all three houses, the families were dead. They had been ripped apart by some powerful animal. The village leaders said that I was the cause
of these family’s deaths. They said that
I had painted my door (which was a lie) to save my life but I had let those
people die.They turned the entire
village against me. I had to quickly leave
for my own safety. I never did find out
who painted my door.
I met with the previous missionary, a few days later, at our
headquarters in the capital. He was
being posted to the village until the church could find a new missionary. He told me two things that cleared up the
mystery of what happen in that village.
First, he had arranged for one of his friends in the village
to paint my door because he said that I am an arrogant fool. I had to be protected from my own ignorance
of human nature. Second, he said, in isolated areas, strongly held beliefs in
and strongly held desires to continue religious or cultural traditions can turn
good neighbors into savage killers. The
incident in that village is the proof.
Lean human nature or you will fail every time.
That concludes the story “Forsaken.” I hope that you enjoyed it. If so, please click the thumbs up symbol
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take care.
