Sena (left) was one of the rst
Christians in Tienbeh, and her faith
was tested when the villagers
forced all the believers to sign an
excommunication document
(opposite page, left). Today they
have much more freedom, but even
recently they faced much opposition
during the construction of their
church building (opposite page,
center). Kavin (opposite page, right),
who is now pastoring the believers in
Tienbeh, nds strength to serve the
Lord and encourage his congregation
through his times of prayer and
Bible study.
‘I Would Have Been
Dead by Now’
Like Amal, many people in Tienbeh used the
cheap, abundant, home-brewed rice wine to numb the
pain in their lives. Amal’s sister-in-law, Sena Sherpa,
found herself addicted to the alcohol after her husband
died and she was left to raise three young children
alone. She drank in hopes of finding worry-free sleep.
Suraj visited Sena, encouraging her to look to
Jesus for her hope.
“I used to tell him, Okay, I would believe in
Jesus, but let me finish drinking the brew that I have
prepared at home. Once it is gone, I will believe in the
Lord,” she remembered. “I repeated this same thing
many times.”
Sena’s house was more than 100 years old. When
Suraj started to visit, he noticed a large amount of
idol worship paraphernalia around. Old statues and
items considered to be holy were stored in the rafters.
So Suraj was not surprised when he heard that evil
spirits were harassing Sena.
The demons, taking different forms—even those
of her own children—would come into Sena’s home
at night. Not understanding at first that they were
demons, she felt compelled to be hospitable to them.
Soon, these “visitors” were robbing her of all her
sleep. Sena grew frightened when she realized they
were spirits and not actual people.
She heard that her brother- and sister-in-law had
become Christians, so she asked Amal and Tendral to
bring Suraj to her house.
“I had heard that if we prayed to Jesus and read
the Bible, all the evil spirits would go away,” Sena said.
So Suraj, Amal, Tendral and a few other believers
held a prayer meeting at Sena’s home. The nighttime
visitors showed up again, but this time they were
taken aback by the Christians.
“I could see the spirits were not able to enter the
house. They stayed outside,” Sena recalled. After the
prayer meeting, Sena was able to sleep all night—her
first good night’s sleep in weeks. In the morning,
she awoke to two different noises—a rooster’s crow
and footsteps. She saw the spirits walking away from
her house.
“They said they didn’t like what I was doing, so
they were going,” she said. “Since that day those
spirits left my house, they have never come back.”
A week later, Sena chose to receive the Lord as
her Savior. She got rid of all the old religious articles
in her house, and now the century-old home is a
haven for Christian worship and fellowship. And the
neighbors are taking notice.
“Many in my village marvel and tell me that if I
had stayed in our old customs and traditions, I would
have been dead by now. They have seen my life
testimony, and they wonder at God’s power,” she said.
Not Even a Cup of Tea
Some villagers in Tienbeh grew worried as they
saw Suraj’s fellowship growing into a full-fledged
church. Seeing Christianity as a threat to their tightly
knit village and culture, the local leaders decided to
ritually expel all the believers from their families and
from village social life.
