A young girl in Laos named “Alani” was extremely sick from a pain in her stomach, to the point that she couldn’t even eat. Her parents first took her to the hospital where they spent a large sum of money running tests, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her.
After this, her parents believed Alani must be possessed by an evil spirit, so they took her to countless witchdoctors, spending more of their money, but none of them were able to help. Finally they took her to the most powerful witchdoctor of all. Before he would even see their daughter, he charged them an enormous sum of money; they drained all of their money to pay the sum, as they certainly thought it was their last hope.
While the witchdoctor was with Alani, a snake was seen crawling behind her, and the witch doctor was terrified! He called Alani’s parents and told them he could not handle this kind of spirit and that they should take her to see the Christian’s God.
Alani’s parents took her to a pastor in a nearby village who they heard knew about this God. They were shocked when upon meeting the pastor he didn’t ask for any money. The pastor started by telling Alani and her parents about Jesus Christ and his power for casting out evil spirits and healing sickness. Then he told them about how Jesus wanted them to be saved and have eternal life. The parents refused to accept Christ for fear of their village but they allowed Alani to because they wanted her to be helped in any way.
They stayed with the pastor for the next four days where the small church joined and prayed for Alani. At the end of the four days, Alani was completely healed from the evil spirit and the pain in her stomach!
After returning home, the communist party members of their village would not allow Alani to go back to the Pastor’s church and neither would her parents, but Alani is still trusting in the Lord who freed her, healed her and didn’t charge a dollar for it.
This recent testimony is a reminder for all of us. We may not be suffering from an evil spirit or be tempted to seek out a witchdoctor. Yet how many times are we tempted to seek help from a solution other than Jesus? Like Alani’s parents, it can be so easy for us to look first to other people or things that capture our attention, time, energy and finances. Instead we should remember that Jesus is always standing with his arms wide open, telling us to lay down our burdens, fears, worries and problems- free of charge because He already paid the debt.
Please keep Alani in your prayers, that her faith would be strengthened. Pray also for the salvation of her parents and for openness to the gospel in her village.
"Grace Taylor" serves on the staff of VOM. She was first introduced to the ministry of VOM by her parents and grandparents, who received the VOM newsletter, and through the VOM book Jesus Freaks. She has served in 12 different countries and is passionate about helping expand God’s Kingdom throughout the nations of the world.
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