They Took My Pigs Away
A Sovereign Move of God in an Unreached People Group (by LK)

I was born in 1950 in a tribal family. We live in a remote forest, which is about 90 km away from the nearest province, and about 300 km away from the main city. I have four brothers and sisters, plus my parents. Our livelihood is farming. Our family used to be steeped in ancestral and idol worship. I studied until Grade 7. I was a witchdoctor and became heavily addicted to alcohol and tobacco. Because of these addictions, my health deteriorated and I had constant stomach ailments.

During 1998, one of our tribal people came to know Christ in a far away province and brought the Gospel back to our tribe. He is the first person in our tribe who came to know and receive Christ. When this Christian returned to his village he shared Christ to a woman (named N) who was visiting his village at that time. N too came to receive Christ as her personal Savior and Lord in May 1999. She in turn brought the Gospel back to her village. N’s family also came to accept Jesus. She underwent GCI trainings in 2003 in another province.

N and I are from the same village, so I got to hear the Gospel too. I received Jesus in October 1999. Immediately I was healed from my constant stomach ailment too. After I received Jesus, I attended my first church service, held in N’s home. The authorities caught us and interrogated us. We were not allowed to hold any Christian meetings in N’s home. So we had no choice but to shift our worship base to another village in November 1999.

When the tension with the authorities died down, we shifted our worship base back to our village, but held the services in my home instead of N’s. The reason was because since the meeting in N’s home, she and her brother had been constantly beaten by the authorities. I was not spared either. I was caught many times by the authorities for holding Christian meetings in my home. The authorities would interrogate and detain me at the police station. They would fine me. Because I had no money, the authorities would take my pigs away.

One day I was in the field trying to pump up a generator. I got electrocuted, and died in the field without anyone knowing. It was 9:00am. No one found me until 11:00am. The church then gathered together to pray for me. Five hours later I rose up alive!!! What a miracle! I then pledged my life totally to serve the Mighty and Living God. Since then, I have been praying for healing for others. One person was healed from leprosy. One boy got food poisoning and the hospital doctor declared him dead. We went to pray for him and after hours of prayer, the boy rose from the dead. Praise the Lord!!!!

The persecutions from the authorities are very great. It is very difficult to share the Gospel to the villagers but I still persevere for the sake of the Gospel. So far, I have brought 36 people to Christ and 19 of them have been faithfully attending the Sunday worship in my home. My daughter is helping in the children ministry. My wife is teaching the believers and me the local language so that we can read the Bible (Tribal people have their own dialects). Now, I am able to read the Bible, which is written in the local language. The more I read the Bible, the more I hunger for the Word of God.

The authorities are always on the lookout for any Christian movement and we Christians have been facing constant persecutions from the authorities. When the authorities are providing monetary support to the poor villages, they by-pass us simply because we are Christians. But all praise and thanks be unto God. God is still faithful despite the difficulties that we are facing. I am undergoing the GCI trainings now in the main city so that I will be equipped to serve God more effectively.

Post-Script: GCI has the privilege to train this UPG top leadership and graduated them in the year 2004 and is now training the 2nd echelon leadership.

Summary of Events:

1.) 1998 – First convert in this UPG. It was a sovereign move of God. No Christian among them in their village. Listed as a top UPG by Joshua Project.

2.) May 1999 – Went back to village and won the first convert in village and then family saved.

3.) 2003 to 2004 – First GCI training for 7 top leaders. 30 subjects were taught.

4.) 2005 to 2006 – Second GCI training for 2nd echelon leadership. Graduating end of the year or early next year.

5.) Today they are about 500 strong.