(written by Lisa Kappeler, used by permission)

Early last week we heard all the people yelping and excited – similar to when someone’s shot a huge pig but the rejoicing seemed even louder than normal for even that. So all of us whiteskins headed to the soccer field where the people were to see what was going on. One of our guys had walked up to another village, Hela Dila, (different language group from our folks) to get his canoe and 15 hp motor. (How these people living out in the middle of nowhere have a 15HP motor is another story.) He had just arrived with the story of the death of one of the sanguma men in the area (sanguma men are witch doctors). Men from a nearby village of Hela Dila had killed the sanguma man – shot him with arrows then finished him off with a machete and left him on the trail. Our guys came walking on the trail and found him – it sounded like a pretty gory scene with his blood everywhere, etc. The people were so excited – they were clapping, a few were dancing and they were all talking and so excited that this man had been killed. I almost started crying as I watched them – I actually had to hold the tears in. The enemy has deceived them so well and they don’t have a clue. They really think that if all the sanguma men were killed, they could walk about freely without fearing sickness or death. In their minds, a mortal enemy had just been killed – “one down, three to go” sort of thing. They really don’t understand that they’ll continue to die no matter how many of these men they kill. I couldn’t help but wonder what their thoughts will be after they hear the Gospel and understand that death came into the world after man rebelled and sin entered in. I wonder if they’ll grieve for this man that could have heard the truth of the Gospel some day – perhaps through their testimonies. I wonder if they’ll grieve over his death and their celebration of it.