This year, we accepted four students at the school who are from the same ethnic minority area where there are no known Christians. This area is a stronghold of animism and is resistant to the Gospel and even to development assistance. Animism holds the people in fear of so many things. There are certain dates when they believe they can’t leave their village or something bad will happen to them. They fear and respect shamans—witch doctors—who are in touch with the spirits and can both heal and curse. Fear even drives them to kill their own babies if they happen to have twins, as they believe twins are a sign of strong evil.

On September 5, 2013, all four students accepted Christ.

Zhi’s parents died when he was young, leaving only him and his younger brother. He has always taken care of his brother. Relatives have helped them, but for the most part they have been on their own. Zhi never got to be a kid. He dropped out of school after second grade. Coming to SDC is an opportunity to change the course of his life. God used a fellow student to begin to open Zhi’s heart to Him. This fellow student laid hands on Zhi and prayed for him, and his headache went away.

Cheng’s family has been drawn toward Christ for some time, but they fear retaliation from their village. Now that Cheng has taken this step of faith, he believes that his whole family will accept him (many young people feel they must choose between family and Christ) and will become Christians themselves.

Zhen and Min are very young—only fifteen and sixteen years old. We weren’t going to accept them at the school because of their ages, but the missionary who sent them said their fathers were going to marry them off. So what could we do? They are typical fifteen-year-olds—GIGGLY! But behind their childlike exuberance and silliness, there is a dark reality. Both of their fathers are witch doctors. Both of these young girls have many questions about what believing in Christ will mean for them and how their families will respond. Please pray for them as they embrace Christ. We have asked two spiritually-mature students to come alongside them, speak into their lives, and lead them in studying the Bible.