“What?” the woman jeered. “He says the Bible is holy? There’s nothing special about that book!”
It was our first night teaching in the village of Layaban. For over a month, I had been guiding my Tawbuid members as they held Bible studies there. The villagers of Layaban have combined their ancient shamanism with modern occult practices, and the woman who was mocking the Bible was the wife of the sect leader, who is currently in prison. Nonetheless, a number of people had been eager to study the Bible. When they asked me to come personally and explain more fully the things they had been hearing, we decided to hold a series of meetings.

That first night, I was so focused on explaining that the Bible is God’s word that I hardly noticed the disturbance in the back. The crowd around the woman tittered as she again taunted, “If that book really is God’s word, then show me its power! Where’s God’s power? Ha!”

“Don’t you fear God?” The question came from a young woman named Nilia who had grown up in Balangabong near the Adventists. “I heard about that book when I was a girl. It is indeed God’s word, and you had best not mock God.”

“What do I care?” the lady replied. “There’s no power in that book. And who is this God anyway? If He is powerful, and that book is His Word, then show me the power!”

The meeting finished without further incident, and the people filtered back to their houses. Less than an hour later, Nilia heard shouts from a nearby house. Going to investigate, she found a crowd gathered around the lady who had so recently been mocking God’s power. She was doubled over, vomiting up blood.

The people around her exchanged knowing glances. Someone suggested they call for me. “No!” the woman choked out between retches. “I don’t want anything to do with His God.”

As I write this, one week later, the woman is still in the hospital. God never gives us so much evidence that we have no room for doubt. Neither, though, does He leave us without witness to His power. I praise God for showing Himself powerful in Layaban. As a result, a small group is very interested in His truth. Please pray with me for their salvation and that God will overthrow the Devil in the very seat of His power.

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