Poverty needs an eternal solution.

It’s a problem that seems overwhelming—too big for anyone to really make a difference.

But a difference is possible.

The Santhal tribe is one of India’s largest tribal communities with an estimated 5 million people scattered across different states. Santhalis worship a host of spirits that must be appeased with prayer, sacrifices and obligations. They believe these spirits have power to inhabit village boundaries, trees, forests, water, and even induce disease. Maran Buru is thought to be the most powerful of these spirits. Worshippers of this spirit believed him to bring good luck and prosperity.

Ajinta, a young mother from a remote East Indian village, was no exception.

Trapped in the Power of Maran Buru

Ajinta and her family worshipped Maran Buru and other spirits and performed witchcraft to bring prosperity to their home. But instead of prosperity, she found only strife. Sickness prevailed in her home and fights raged, despite their fervent prayers and the sacrifices they offered.

In times of illness, they went to witch doctors to perform the rituals of calling upon spirits for recovery. Their lives revolved around sickness and fear. Instead of being delivered from their plight, Ajinta and Bablu, her husband, only found more tension.

“Bablu started drinking heavily. We fought every day over different issues in the household,” she says. Bablu’s drinking only compounded their problems. Although occasionally employed as a day labourer, he wouldn’t work for days at a time, and food was scarce. He wouldn’t help Ajinta with daily chores or collect fruit and firewood to sell to supplement his income—even in the difficult monsoon and winter months, when she would have to walk in the cold and heavy rains to collect whatever she could find.

But something changed in June, 2007, when a 5-month pregnant Ajinta was enrolled in Compassion’s Bal Vikas Bhavan Child Survival Program. At the project, mothers learn about God through Bible stories that eventually lead many to believe and accept God in their lives.

Who Do You Trust?

Initially, it was hard for Ajinta to believe what she heard because of the strong tribal beliefs and traditions she was raised in. However, a friend from the program, Meena, lived a few blocks away from Ajinta’s home, had been praying for Ajinta’s deliverance from the clutches of evil spirits. As she learned more, Ajinta grew close to God through the stories of other mothers like Meena and their prayers.

Ajinta’s deciding moment came when her son, Robin, became very sick. She had to decide for herself which way she wanted to go—would she trust in God or turn to Maran Buru? Ajinta took a bold step and prayed, believing that God would save Robin’s life.

“Robin got better within 2 days I was convinced it was Jesus who healed my son, not Maran Buru,” Ajinta says.

Ajinta is now an active member of the church and women’s fellowship at Bisni and an example to other women of her community of how faith in the God of the Bible can indeed bring deliverance from evil spirits. She has developed a strong relationship with God and has learned to pray and believe.

Spiritual Consequences

His wife’s transformation had a powerful effect on Bablu and his mother, who both became believers in January, 2008. The whole family was baptized in July 2008. After this, a series of disturbances began in their home.

It was already dark when Ajinta returned home with her husband after work. From a distance, they both saw what appeared to be a man. He stood near the entrance of their home, his back burning in flames. As they ran towards the house, the “man” vanished. There was no smoke. No burning smell.

There was nothing at all.

“We were very scared to enter the house; we prayed, holding hands to ward off any evil inhabiting our premises, and then stepped into the house,” Bablu says. Through experiences like this, Ajinta and Bablu learned about the power of prayer, and God’s ability to protect their family.

“Now when I wake up at night [and hear] unusual sounds in my courtyard, I kneel down and pray; after, we don’t hear them anymore,” she says.

Today, Ajinta and Bablu’s lives are much different. Since they began to believe in God, the family hasn’t sought treatment from the witch doctors and the evil spirits that only brought sickness and terror.

Ajinta’s health improved greatly as she received the care she needed during her pregnancy through the Child Survival program. “I was able to have my vaccinations and medications on time; that helped me to have a [healthy delivery.]”

She’s learning the skills to help her take care of her children and maintain her home. Learning to sew, managing the family’s meager income, and becoming a more organized and methodical housekeeper is making a positive impact. She’s even become outgoing, learning to talk and engage with others in the community.
“I am very happy to be in [the program] because of the fellowship I enjoy with the other mothers,” tells Ajinta.

Bablu no longer battles with alcoholism. Today, he leads the family devotion, and helps his wife with the daily chores before leaving for work in the morning. He looks at Ajinta with gladness, thankful for all that she has learned in the Child Survival Program. “She has learned to read and write; [I am] very proud of her,” he says.

Despite the poverty that surrounds them, their family is filled with great love and hope. Because of their faith in God, they have the strength to overcome the adversities they face as they gratefully worship the God who loves them.

“I feel liberated. My worship is not out of fear, but of reverence [for] the true living God,” says Ajinta, joyfully. “Being enrolled in the Child Survival Program was not by chance—[it was] God’s plan to deliver us from the stronghold of Maran Buru to bring us into his saving knowledge.”

By Provashish Dutta, Compassion East India, with Aaron Armstrong, Compassion Canada