MISSIONARIES: ROBERT AND PRISCILLA "JING" TALISIC

A sad yet inspiring story comes to us from our project among the Buhid of Mindoro. There is a 40 year-old Buhid man, who subscribed to spirits and laughed at the missionaries when the latter attempted to share their faith with him. He had refused to attend the worship meetings which the missionaries have been conducting for several years.

One time, his mother fell ill. He and his immediate family initiated an elaborate pagan ceremony where they sacrificed pigs to the spirits and asked for healing. His mother still died. Next, his wife fell ill. Again, he and his family sacrificed to the spirits and asked for healing. Again, the spirits did nothing. His wife died. Then his 2 year-old son got sick and died as well. With each consecutive illness and death, he slowly came to realize that all his spirit charms are useless. Contrary to his belief, they were unable to ward off death and sickness. Instead of laughing at the missionaries, he began to listen. He was especially interested in the stories of Jesus healing the sick.
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He decided to leave Spiritism and adopted Adventism. He saw that when the missionaries prayed over the sick, they got well. He has since then surrendered to the Lord and accepted Jesus Christ to be his personal Savior. He now believes that the Holy Spirit who answers prayers is more powerful than the spirits he once trusted in.