Pray For Raiatea

(Yes, this blog is pretty long. I felt it best, because of the subject matter, to try to keep it in one setting. You should know before you read it that it's pretty serious in regard to spiritual warfare and not recommended for younger folks, or folks given to nightmares.)

One night in Raiatea (pronounced "Ray-a-tay-a") we had quite a talk after dinner. Tama and Herehia told me some stories about a stone idol on the other side of the island that people were worshiping and making sacrifices to as recently as 200 years ago. They said the people of this island are very spiritual -but not in a good way. Many of them believe only in the bad that can happen and find any talk of a God who loves and heals to be strange. Years ago, some families would put curses on others which they believe gets handed down to each new generation.
As for this stone idol, people would bring babies and sacrifice them there. Some who visit this place even now have said that they hear babies crying. Herehia's aunt, Titaua, took a tourist over to see it and the woman mentioned she heard a crying baby. This woman knew nothing about the history of the idol. Also the woman said she saw a man in a progue (canoe) with a baby. But Titaua saw nothing.
The pastors of Tahiti know that this place is one to be taken very seriously in regard to spiritual warfare. They have placed pastors in the church here and each one (of 3) has ended up leaving, splitting the church, with one former pastor even starting a cult. Herehia said that this man had initially been a powerful, dynamic speaker for God. But now he tells the people that only he hears from God and so they should only listen to him.

So, at the moment, Raiatea has no full-time pastor on the island. The church used to be full but has now shrunk to around 10 people. The pastors on Tahiti and Huahine take turns coming here to speak on Sundays. However, some weeks they have to cancel services altogether.
At one point, the Tahitian pastors banded together and came over to pray against the stone idol. When they got there, one of the pastors had to look away because he could suddenly see, as God opened his eyes, all of the blood that had been spilt there. People had also died by a noose hung from tree branches around the idol.
This past Sunday in church during the Communion time, I thought about how incredible it is that we serve a God who didn't demand our blood in sacrifice, but spilt His own on our behalf.

Well, as we were discussing these things, Juliette had gone to sleep in an adjoining room with no door and asked that we turn out the light. So we were left with a small kerosine lamp that was about as bright as a candle. The wind picked up and although it hadn't rained, lightning lit up the room followed by some thunder. We all laughed about it but still felt a little creepy. Then the wind swept in and blew the light out.
It brought to mind a conversation I had with Yves recently about when Jesus was in the boat sleeping and the disciples woke Him up in fear over a storm. Yves said that Jesus rebuked the wind. Why did He do this? He created the wind, clouds, rain, etc. All He had to do was say, "Stop." Yves said the word "rebuked" is used to indicate that there was some demonic activity related to the storm. It's pretty cool to me that Jesus was so unconcerned about it that He could actually nap through it. But when His disciples called on Him, He was there for them.
The light going out seemed a fitting metaphor for what has happened on this island. But it hasn't gone out completely. Juliette is a strong Christian who prays often that God will bring a full-time pastor here. The church here is suffering and her heart breaks for it.
I think that in America, Satan's deceptions are often aimed at getting people to think he doesn't exist. Christian Tahitians, however, have witnessed some blatant manifestations of him at work. They feel that he has become more empowered by the sacrifices people have made.

When Juliette realized that the legs of a footstool in her house were actually tikis, she removed them and burned them. For awhile they refused to burn and sparks flew everywhere. She told me this story herself and was very animated at this point describing the sparks with words like "Bap!" and "Zing!" A pastor had told her that she needed to burn the tikis and when they wouldn't burn she called him for advice. He told her to pray that they would burn "in the name of Jesus." So she proceeded to do this and it seemed that they resisted at first -offering up more sparks. But Juliette stood her ground praying with authority "au nom de Jesus!" and they started to burn.

This reminded me of a story that Vladymir, the husband of a cousin of Tama's, told me. His relative was working in the yard with a pick-ax and struck something in the ground. It turned out that a tiki was buried there and he had chipped a piece off of its head. He put the tiki on the corner of their deck. Later they were having lunch there and the tiki started jumping three feet into the air. I know how this must sound to American ears but he told this story very matter-of-factly, without drama, which seemed to make it all the more unsettling. After the tiki had done this, Vladymir said, "So we put it in a tree." That sounded like such an odd ending to the story to me. But many Tahitians are fearful of destroying tikis and think it may bring a curse. Tama told me that the man who had hit the tiki's head with a pick-ax developed cancer in the same place in his head where it was hit. They said, of course, it could be coincidence, but who knows for certain.
Some Tahitians who have tikis in their house don't even feel the need to lock their doors when they leave. They believe that if an indruder comes, he will be dealt with by the tikis.
Christian Tahitians do not keep tikis in their home. The souvenir shops here are full of them. Some of them look pretty cool and I'm sure many tourists buy them. A French couple bought one once and when they got back to France strange things started to happen. They didn't know what to do with it. So they mailed it to some Tahitian pastors who burned it.

Obviously these matters of spiritual warfare must be handled with much caution, prayer, counsel and divinely inspired direction. The Christian doesn't need to fear these things - but I do believe that they should proceed with caution. A dangerous mindset is one that goes seeking out these kinds of things. However, to act like they don't exist or have any power is foolhardy as well.
When the disciples got excited that even the demons submitted to them in Jesus' name, Jesus' response was encouraging to their enthusiasm for this experience. He said, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning." Yet to keep their focus on the right thing, He told them not to rejoice over that -but instead to rejoice that their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Be careful for what excites you. The focus should remain on our relationship with God first and foremost.
People come from all over the South Pacific -including Hawaii and New Zealand, to see and worship this stone idol on Raiatea. I've deliberately left out it's name here because I don't want to add to it's notoriety. But there is a movement on the islands that some people want to "reawaken" this god. It's usually inferred that people would try to do this by gifts and flowers -not human sacrifices. People are spiritually hungry but in the wrong way.

We need to pray for the church in Raiatea. I went to see the church building. It's in an absolutely beautiful setting. The building and next-door parsonage are just a few years old. And they are empty. It broke my heart to walk through this beautiful new building which was filled to capacity just a few years ago -knowing that it's barely being used now. Just that day, their evening service was cancelled because Juliette had to leave the island for a doctor's appointment.
Pray for God to send the right pastor to this church. Pray for this pastor and pray for the church here. Also, pray that people would be drawn to this side of the island to worship the One True Living God.

Psalm 16:4 "The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips."
Psalm 106:36-38 "They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood."
Exodus 23:13 "Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips."
Psalm 4:2 "How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?"