Because unreached peoples tend to be very animistic in their thinking, it will be well worth my time to study the worldview and lifestyle of the group I end up working with. I may see them doing things a certain way, but not know why. A trinket hanging on the wall may just be there for decoration, but there is also a good chance it is a fetish to ward off malevolent spirits. For the time being, we are just studying general principles of animism in class. Surprisingly, there are many similarities between the beliefs and practices of groups on opposite sides of the world. Satan has these people deceived. I have heard stories of their incantations actually working occasionally. Why is this? There are probably various reasons, one of which is that such things can be a result of coincidence. In some cases, a placebo effect may be the answer. For instance, a guy may mash up a boil a root to make a special tea, and the tea might make him feel better simply because he believes it will. I've heard that in clinical tests, the same thing is true with sugar pills. But sometimes we, as westerners, look at the shamans and see them only as masters of illusion and deception. They might be tricking people into thinking they have certain powers sometimes, but I wonder if some of them actually have some sort of power. Can Satan's followers sometimes duplicate some of God's miracles? I'm reminded of the story of Moses and Aaron being told to throw a rod on the ground and it becoming a snake. The magicians did the same thing. In the end, the magicians' rods didn't inflict much harm because Aaron's rod swallowed them.
Anything demonic freaks me out. But there is consolation in knowing that Christ already triumphed over them. This message means a lot to a new believer in a village surrounded by people who live in constant fear of the spirits. Our job here is to learn how to communicate to them the message of hope.