CHAPTER 16 HAUNTED HOUSE
Another interesting story experienced by Perry and Leries during their time in Sedau was related to the house they rented while serving at the Seventh-day Adventist Clinic in Sedau. At the time, they were living in a fairly large and well-built wooden house—considered a fine house by local standards—in Kampung Pematang (Pematang village). The house was entirely made of wood: the framework, walls, floors, and roof. It had a front veranda, and the kitchen was built separately from the main structure. The yard was spacious, surrounded by coconut trees and tall grass. Their house was somewhat isolated, standing apart from other village homes.
As far as Perry and his wife knew, the house had been rented by the Seventh-day Adventist Clinic in Sedau for five years at a very low price. Privately, they often wondered why such a good house was being rented out so cheaply. Later, they discovered the answer to their question.
It turned out that previous tenants had never lasted more than six months in that house. The reason was that they constantly felt disturbed during the night—hearing noises from the attic, experiencing nightmares, and so on. Many of them terminated their lease early, even though the rental fee was non-refundable. Upon learning this, Perry and his wife finally understood why, when the Seventh-day Adventist Clinic proposed a five-year lease, the owner readily agreed to lower the price—expecting the new tenants wouldn’t last either. But the owner was wrong. Several years had now passed, and the Clinic was still using the house.
Indeed, during the early period of living there, Perry and Leries heard noises from the attic at night. The disturbances continued for some time until one day they decided to open the attic hatch to find out what was going on. What they found was surprising: many chicken bones, fish bones, and other scraps littered the attic, and it turned out that rats were the source of the nocturnal commotion. They cleaned out the attic, and from that point on, their sleep was never disturbed again by attic sounds.
Another memorable story from their early life in the house was equally fascinating. When they first arrived, they found the yard full of garbage and overgrown with weeds—typical of a house that had been vacant for some time. To clean it up, they dug a hole at the edge of the front yard, dumped in the trash they had collected, and burned it. They also dragged fallen coconut fronds from around the area. While they were doing this, a villager came to them and warned against dragging coconut fronds—especially in the late afternoon. The villager claimed that doing so might cause ghosts to follow them. He also advised against burning garbage at the edge of the yard, as it would attract ghosts to the house. The village still held strong superstitious beliefs.
While thanking the neighbor for his advice, Perry also apologized and explained that he wouldn’t be following the suggestion. He said he would continue cleaning and burning, because he believed that ghosts would not dare approach his home, much less follow him. The neighbor seemed a bit disappointed, worried that Perry’s actions might cause ghosts to visit the village. Perry told him to pass a message to the ghosts: don’t bother the other villagers—just disturb Perry and his wife instead, since they were the ones “responsible.”
Given the situation around the house, Perry also felt it necessary to light fires in the yard during the evening to repel mosquitoes, which were abundant in that area and known to spread malaria. Just as he suspected, nothing bad ever happened to them as a result.
Another curious incident happened one day while Perry was sitting in front of the house. A group of young men greeted him and asked if he had ever had dreams at night in that house. At first, Perry didn’t understand their meaning. Jokingly, he replied, “Yes, of course we’ve had dreams—sleeping without dreams isn’t fun! It’s even more exciting when we dream of meeting angels,” he added with a laugh. The group left without pursuing the conversation further.
Time passed until one afternoon when the same group of youths returned and asked if Perry and his wife were doing well in that house. They explained their concern: a few nights earlier, around 2 a.m. on their way home from town, they had seen what looked like flames coming from the roof of Perry’s house. Perry told them he didn’t know what they were talking about, and they again walked away.
The strange events didn’t end there. Not long after, a neighbor asked if Perry and Leries had ever felt disturbed in that house. She explained that a few nights ago, after midnight, while passing in front of their house, she saw three figures dressed in all white standing on their veranda. Perry responded that what she had seen were angels of the Lord guarding their home. He then told her to let everyone in the village know not to try anything harmful against them or their house, because angels were watching over them.
Following those encounters, Perry began to suspect there was more to the story. Why had they received three strange questions in a row? Eventually, after many conversations with villagers, he learned that the house they were living in had a notorious reputation for being haunted. Previous tenants’ stories had only fueled its eerie legend. But Perry and his wife never felt afraid to live there. They believed wholeheartedly that God was protecting them.
Until that point, nothing bad had happened to either of them in the house. They continued living out their daily routines and fulfilling their mission work. The villagers began to think they must be shamans themselves—how else could they live there so fearlessly when others were too afraid to even enter?