As you can see from the picture, this house is leaning. It is being braced by two logs to keep it from falling over. The man who owns the house, Joseph, has been saying for quite some time that he needs to build a new house. He has even gathered some of the materials. So, why isn’t he building yet? His wife is in the last month of her pregnancy, and the sound of hammering is forbidden. Agutaynens believe that loud noises made by the expectant parents, like hammering or chopping wood, will cause the baby to go back up, resulting in a much more difficult childbirth.
The Agutaynens often don’t have reasons for their beliefs. They do things simply because it’s what their parents and grandparents did before them. We pray that one day, their faith will be in the Solid Rock, Jesus, and they won’t rely on the shifting sands of their traditions.