The Missionaries 7

So You Want to Go to Borneo?

The little Fokker F-28 sped down the runway and lifted off quickly. Through my window I gazed
 longingly at Jakarta. The plane climbed rapidly, piercing the cloud cover. I turned back to
myself and the anxiety brewing within my heart. Several moments later I glanced out the
window. I saw displayed in every direction the shimmering splendour of the heavens. The
awesome glory beforeme shook me out of my gloom and I finally remembered my God.
"Lord, I've really done it this time. We're heading for Borneo without knowing a soul there.
We've jumped off a sheer cliff with nothing visible below to catch us. Help us, Lord!
If you don't, we're done for...."
Throughout the flight I clung to the Lord for His reassurance. My imagination was running wild,
stirring up fearful scenarios of having no place to go or stay after arriving in Borneo. The
plane flew on relentlessly, bringing us closer and closer to our rendezvous with the unknown.
With each passing minute, I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. Suddenly the
loudspeakers came to life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in a few minutes we will be landing at Supadio Airport in Pontianak.
Please fasten your seatbelt and return your seatback to its upright, locked position." The
announcement jolted me and sent my heart racing. I peered nervously out the window. The
ocean which had monotonously passed by underneath was now receding as we came over
land. The land looked different from any I had ever seen before. As the plane circled the
airport before approaching for landing I was able to look all around. In every direction, as far
as I could see, I saw what looked like a thick green carpet.
"O God," I cried, "it's just as bad as I thought it would be. "It's all jungle!"
The plane came to a stop after putting down on the single runway of the airport. We waited in
our seats, watching workers outside push a staircase toward us until it rested against the door
of the plane. The door opened; passengers already long queued up in the aisle with bags in
hand bustled out the door and down the stairway to the tarmac. Laura and I, still in our seats,
watched with resignation as the last passenger disappeared out the exit. There was nothing
left for us to do but to follow.

Once on the ground, we trudged helplessly toward the terminal building, at that time, a
colorless, small-town affair suitable for the slow pace of Bornean life. We stepped through the
entrance. A tall middle-aged Chinese man stood right at the door as if to welcome an arriving
guest. He smiled at me, almost warmly, as I walked by. Hope flickered momentarily in me,
then died. I returned the smile but continued walking. God couldn't possibly have sent this
man to pick us up; it would have been too good to be true. Suddenly he called out behind us.
"Po Lan." He did not shout, but the words were clear enough to be understood. Po Lan?
Didn't that sound familiar? Po Lan? Oh, no. Po Lan is Laura's name in Chinese! Hallelujah!!
Praise the Lord who will never put to shame those who trust in Him! The God of Abraham was
faithful to us. The man who came to pick us up was an elder in a local Pontianak church. He
had heard from his brother, a member of my father-in-law's church in Jakarta, that we were
coming. Though he did not know what flight we were taking, he came to the airport that day
and met us. We were chauffeured into town where his church hosted us for a week. The Lord
is faithful.  During that week the Lord opened the door for us to meet with the head of a
regional church denomination. One of his churches in the interior had recently lost its pastor.
When he heard that we were available to minister, he invited us to visit that church. If we liked
it there, he said, we could stay on as pastor of the church. Knowing God was opening a door
for us, we happily accepted his offer.

Karel had been a witchdoctor before he became a Christian.  Now and then, Karel would feel
a push or a shove, as he walked by the side of the road, next to a ditch or oncoming vehicles.
But there would be no one nearby who could have touched him. No one human, at least. And
Karel could often see things which were invisible to the physical eye. He could see the
demons in their true forms, frequently grotesque and repulsive creatures that lurked in
shadows, waiting for opportunities to do their master's will. It was not easy or physically
pleasant for Karel to follow Jesus Christ. But he felt a great joy in sharing his testimony, and
this village sorcerer, it seemed, was interested.
"What do I need to do to follow Jesus Christ?”  he asked Karel. “I would like to become a
Christian," he said.
"You must turn away completely from your present masters and burn everything you have that
belongs to them. You must believe in Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Savior and trust in
Him in everything."  Karel had neither the time nor the patience to soft-pedal the steps to the
Kingdom of God.  A clean, hard break had to be made with the former things. No slow,
gradual approach to please the faint-hearted. Karel kept encouraging the man and answering
his questions for some time.  Finally, he came to a decision.
"Praise the Lord," beamed Karel softly. "Would you have your things burned today?"
There was a whole roomful of occultic paraphernalia to dispose of: altars, big and small, large
incense sticks, large fetishes hanging on the walls, enchanted daggers, big charms crafted by
skilled woodworkers, scrolls with cantations, to name just some. A shadow flitted across the
man's eyes at Karel's suggestion.
"Uh, let's, uh, I would feel better if we wait until tomorrow."
"You can have supper and spend the night here. Tomorrow morning we'll burn the things."
Karel was happy to accept the man's hospitality. After supper had been cleared away that
night, a straw mat was laid on the wooden floor for Karel. He stretched out on the hard surface,
praying that he wouldn't feel the itch from the swarming mosquitoes already preparing to
receive the newcomer. Mercifully, he was soon fast asleep. (Karel noticed something strange
that night.)  A heaviness that would not lift, a darkness that could be felt, and in the background
the sharp accusing voices of once familiar spirits threatening to spill over into a horrid violence
from which he could not awaken. Fully conscious in his deep sleep, Karel tried to open his
mouth to call on the name of the Lord, but could not move a muscle. The nightmare he had
was not just a bad dream as westerners understand it.  Karel sensed that a struggle had taken
place in that night over the decision of his host to leave his familiar spirits and turn to Christ.

He saw the sorcerer standing in the doorway with a faint, almost embarrassed smile on his
lips.
"Did you sleep well last night?”
"I, uh, slept very well, thank you. My teachers visited me last night.  They told me that if I
wanted to leave them and follow Jesus Christ, it's all right with them. No problem. But they said
that I shouldn't just burn up all of their things. That would not be right.  They suggested that we
hold a ceremony for them, offering animal sacrifices to return their things to them in a proper
and dignified manner. They really didn't like the idea of our burning their things.  In fact, they
said that if their things weren't given back to them in the right way, I'd better watch out. They
threatened me." Oh no, not again, Karel said under his breath. I shouldn't have waited.
Satan doesn't give up his servants that easily.
"So what do you want to do?" asked Karel uneasily.
"I think I'd like to do what they say. I still want Jesus Christ, but I ought to leave them on their
terms. If we hold the ceremony they are asking for, then they'll leave me alone. They won't
bother me anymore, and I'll be able to follow Jesus Christ without them hindering me. But if I
don't do as they say, they would not leave me alone. Besides, I have my family to think of."
The sorcerer knew what his masters could do. Through voodoo he used their power to cast
terrifying spells on people. Some had died horrible deaths. He certainly didn't want those
things to come on him!
"But Jesus will protect you!" protested Karel. “They won't be able to hurt you as long as you
cling to Jesus!  Besides," Karel continued, "we can't come to Jesus on Satan's terms! We can
only come to Jesus on his terms. And that means we unconditionally sever our relationship
with Satan, breaking whatever promises we've made with him. No apologies. No farewell
parties. Just a clean break. That's the only way you'll be set free from him!" Karel knew how
true this was from his own experience.

Lo-Ap invited us to sit down. Karel and I began to share the gospel with him. In the course of
our conversation with him, it came to light that he had some Christian background as a youth.
"Then why are you in this business?" I asked incredulously.
"It wasn't my idea. I was never taught about sorcery.  Spirits just came upon me one day and
forced me to do their bidding.  And so I became a sorcerer. It's a way of making a living, too.
But frankly, I don't care for it. Even if my own children get sick, I don't consult the spirits for
them. I send them to the medical technician." Weird, I thought.
"Jesus wants you to go back to him. He loves you and will forgive you of everything if you
renounce this witchcraft, and ask Him to save you....." Sensing that his heart was open, we
continued sharing, encouraging him to repent. Lo-Ap listened receptively, not resisting us in
any way. "Would you like to receive Jesus now, Lo-Ap?"
"Uh, yes, I think I would." Praise the Lord! It was almost too easy. This witch doctor wants to
believe in Jesus!
"Lo-Ap, would you like to pray to Jesus now and ask him to forgive you?  Let's close our
eyes, bow our heads and pray.  Heavenly Father," I prayed, "I come to you in the name of
your Son Jesus Christ."
"Heavenly Father," Lo-Ap repeated, "I come to you in the name of your Son Jesus Christ.”
"I am a sinner. I have committed many abominations in your sight." Lo-Ap repeated my words.
"I repent of my sins and ask you to forgive me." Again, Lo-Ap followed obediently.
"I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son, who came down from heaven to become a man to die
for our sins.”  I continued to pray, pausing after each sentence for Lo-Ap. "Forgive me of my
sins through your shed blood, Jesus." I paused. Silence.  I opened my eyes. His head was
still bowed, but there was something strange about his posture, as if his whole body was
tensing up. Then his head came up slowly. "Lo-Ap? Lo-Ap? Are you alright?" I looked at him.
He was in the stance of a kung-fu master, hands extended out and up, fingers curled, ready to
attack.  The face was not the soft face of Lo-Ap, but with parallel rows of bared teeth exposed
by lips drawn back, brow jutting forth over eyes glinting with fury, it was the face of an enraged
monkey. Oh, no! Lo-Ap's monkey spirit had returned! What followed was a surrealistic
twenty-minute clip from a martial arts movie. But it was not a movie. From his kung-fu posture,
Lo-Ap suddenly flipped over in the air, somersaulting backwards and landing on his feet. It
was a fitting introduction to what was to follow. Hissing and snarling like a monkey, he lunged
at us like a human juggernaut. We backed away from him and countered with the name of
Jesus Christ. "In the name of Jesus Christ, we bind you, demon!" we shouted. It had no
immediate effect. He continued thrashing and legs flailing through the air with
familiar kung-fu movements. His head lunged at us now and then with jaws wide open,
snapping and biting. Most of his attention was directed toward me, perhaps because I was the
apparent ringleader of the group trying to take Lo-Ap's soul for God. I kept my eyes riveted to
his movements, not wanting to get hit or bitten. My mind was blank. Nothing had prepared me
for what was happening. "In the name of Jesus Christ, come out of him, you demon!"
He backed away from us. He looked at us, one by one, as we advanced, all the time snarling
and hissing at us.  Then again he took the offensive, forcing us to backpedal. This scene
played itself out again and again over the next several minutes.  During all this time, we kept
shouting at him in the name of Jesus Christ, binding and trying to cast the demon out, until my
voice tired and grew hoarse. Something appeared to be restraining him as he lunged at us.
He did not charge at us like a raging bull as he should have. Instead, he would lunge at us
and pull back, lunge again and pull back.  There was something in us--the Holy Spirit of God--
who could not permit this evil spirit to jump on us to overpower us. Neither were we able
quickly to overpower the evil spirit. In fact had I not moved back swiftly on some occasions,
Lo-Ap would have struck me. With a powerful leap, Lo-Ap suddenly landed atop a table
in the room. Turning to us, he began to scratch his torso exactly as a monkey would, at the
same time shrieking. We moved forward, surrounding the table and binding the demon in the
name of the Lord. Suddenly, he hurled himself off the table at me. I couldn't move back
quickly enough; the demon was sure to get me. But moving quickly Elias threw himself
between us and blocked Lo-Ap with his back. In a rage, Lo-Ap began to destroy whatever he
could find standing in the room. He overturned tables and chairs, knocked over altars,
breaking glass and mirrors and scattering his sorcerer's effects over the floor. We watched in
amazement.  Several moments later, he collapsed and in utter exhaustion from his frenzied
rampage passed out on the floor amidst the wreckage. We stood around him, our bodies
shaking and our minds numb.

"Please leave. Please go home."
We turned to see a man standing.  He continued, "Lo-Ap's wife requests that you leave now.
You've caused so much trouble already. You've made him destroy the whole room. And look
what you've done to him." We could say nothing. Certainly we did not want to leave not only
failing to lead Lo-Ap to Christ, but also indirectly participating in the havoc he wreaked. It would
be a poor witness to the small crowd that had long gathered to watch the spectacle and
also to others in the sawmill who would certainly hear about it. To leave now would be to leave
undone and unresolved something for which we were responsible. But the family was asking
us to leave right away. We left promptly and quietly through the crowd. On the way home in the
water taxi, no one spoke a word.  What had gone wrong? Had we lacked wisdom in our
approach?  Should we have proceeded slowly with him, sharing just a little each time over
several occasions?  And what about Karel's experience with the sorcerer in the interior? Was it
just another dramatic tug-of-war between us who came in the name of Jesus and Lo-Ap's
master?  I was not able to answer these questions to my own satisfaction. Of one thing we are
now sure: it is not a simple matter to lead a sorcerer to Christ. Satan will not readily give up his
servants. A few days later, Lo-Ap's wife came to see us.  The spirit was angry with him for
wanting to leave and believe in Jesus. As punishment, Lo-Ap would not be released from the
forest until we, the instigators of the incident, provided certain sacrifices to be offered up to
appease the offended spirit. Lo-Ap's wife pleaded with us to agree to the demands.
Unfortunately, although we were very concerned about her husband lost in the jungle, we told
her firmly that in no way could we give in to the demands of a demon. She went home. Some
time later, we heard that Lo-Ap had finally emerged from the jungle. When he tried to
re-establish his witchdoctor business much of his power was gone. The spirit had
been grieved. Eventually, Lo-Ap packed up his bags and moved his family to Jakarta.