Rahab’s House Update – 1 April 2009

by

Alli Mellon

We continue to fight the battle in Svay Pak. The wildest thing happened last Friday when I was teaching, and it was a sharp reminder indeed that “we do not wage against flesh and blood”…I was speaking on spiritual warfare, and teaching the kids that Satan is bad. You may think that this is too heavy or scary of a concept to teach to 2-14 year olds, but believe me, these kids see demons every day. They see them in the faces of the men who rape them, and in the actions of their parents who get drunk and beat them, and they feel them in the cloak of fear that envelops their village. They are terribly afraid of ghosts, and because people are way into ancestoral worship here, they believe that their dead relatives come back to haunt them…they know there is truly an enemy, they just haven’t known his name.

To set this up, I’ll tell you that the former brothel we teach in is an echo chamber-it is always loud and echo-y, and we have had to project our voices hard to be heard against even the smallest noise. If five or six kids are talking, it sounds like one hundred. For the last month or so, it’s been way better. The kids are learning! For kids who have never been in formal school, they have been so quiet and attentive, and it’s been becoming easier and easier to get their attention and be heard. We developed a system of discipline, which mainly is writing their names on the white board behind us if they don’t stop talking and listen. Three strikes, no snack. Four strikes, and they have to leave for the rest of the day but get to come back and try again the next time. These kids are very hungry, so after one strike they usually pull it together so they don’t miss snack!

So I was up in front of all the children, acting out how Jesus gives us authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the evil one. I was teaching them John 10:10-”The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that you might have life, and life in all it’s fullness”. I was excited and full of energy that day, because I believe so much in using the weapons God has given us! Things were going well, and then it started…it got louder, and louder, and louder…I found myself shouting just to be heard above the din. I looked out over the crowd, marker in hand, to see who was talking so I could write their names on the board…and NO ONE was talking. Every kid was sitting, looking at me and listening, with his or her lips pressed together. Only a couple of babies were babbling, no big deal…but there was a roar in the room, a roar of voices. I am not making this up, though I know it must sound strange to some of you. I believe that it was the voices of demons filling that place. I believe that Satan and all his forces came out in mass to stop us from speaking the TRUTH to these precious ones. The worst thing that could happen to the demons in Svay Pak is that God’s kids learn to fight against them!!!

My translator brought up the same point later, “Alli, I looked out over the room to see who was talking and to write their names on the board, and no one was talking”…

I was losing my voice up there, and it was only God Himself who kept me from just giving up and sitting down. Somehow, I kept teaching (shouting), and finally got to the part where I taught the kids how to do what Jesus did and say, “GO!” Despite the distraction of all those voices, despite how hard the enemy was trying to stop us, about 65 children stood and at the top of their lungs began shouting, “GO, in Jesus’ name!”

And I believe the demons went. What choice did they have against God’s little army?

On Monday, it was Ruthie’s turn to teach, and she started off doing a recap of what I taught on Friday. You guessed it-the exact same thing happened again! She started talking about Satan, and the same strange roar filled the room. Then, fifteen of the kids jumped up and ran out to see why some baby was crying at the door! She could hardly even get the words out, but my heart lit up when she asked them, “What do you do when you are scared? What do you do when you feel fear or evil?” and a precious ten-year-old jumped up and said, “GO!” I think Jesus understands that she meant GO in His name:)

Children of Svay Pak