First let me tell you that each member of our team had a different experience and can tell different things they encountered than I. This is my view of what happened and what I saw and felt the Spirit do.
So the race is over. That is what we thought after our last day of ministry ended in South Africa. We were heading to final debrief. It was going to be a time of reflection, fun and celebration. Our Taxi was picking us up to head to the Bus station at three PM.
Earlier that week at our cell group. We met Meryke. She grew up in South Africa in a Christian home, but her family fell away. She had just returned to church and was invited that night. Chrisly, our team leader, felt led to talk with her that night. We learned she was being attacked by Satan since returning to church. He did not want her there. We invited her to come hang out with us.
Over the week we played card games, invited her to dinner, and poured into her. We wanted to show her the Father’s love as much as we could before we left.
So ministry ended and we were packing and waiting for our Taxi. Meryke came over to say goodbye. We were glad to have the chance to pray for her one last time and encourage her. We gave her pages full of scriptures to look up for encouragment. We told her how much Daddy loves her and wants to see her walk in freedom from Satan’s attacks. Then she chimed in.
“I just feel like I need to share this with you. I have alot of things that happened to me, but I feel like I need to tell you guys this.”
She then proceeded to share that when she was younger, one of her mother’s boyfriends was a satanist and made her do blood rituals and chants. This opened the door to something terrifying and that she has been plauged with depression and fear since then. We then started asking some questons about what happened and who this man was. We soon learned that this conversation had just turned into a deliverece.
We discovered that she was possessed by several demons. WHAT?? I knew that angels and demons were real. I believe that there is sp;iritual warfare everywhere, but this was my first direct encounter. Don’t believe me? Thats fine. I know what I saw, heard and felt. The demons spoke instead of Meryke at times and were making her body shake. My team mates and I felt them all around us. They were so heavy and just made you feel sick.
This was the first time any of us had dealt with something like this. We were all new to deliverance. We had heard of how to go about helping her, but how to effectively implement it was not so easy. We prayed, saught the Spirit, asked what she was holding on to in her heart that was allowing them space. We were there for hours. I knew that scripture says we can cast out demons in Jesus’s name, and that it can be instantaneous. However, God was using this opportunity to teach us and grow us. We needed to learn by experience.
We made some mistakes, we were unprepared, and we were scared at times. We did, however, know that our God was behind us. He would show us victory. Our host stood back and let us take the opportunity to learn. Him and his friends that were there, I am sure had more experience with this than us. But they were watching God’s children grow and become mighty.
Eventually, after three had come and gone, our team leader, Chris, went to our hosts for help. We were all exhausted. We had made significant progress, but had no idea how much longer it could take. Sadly we had to get going to make our bus. We were not going to leave her where she was, vulnerable and weak. So we reached out to our brothers and sisters to help.
They began to intercede for us and Meryke. They annointed the house and us with oil. Almost immediatly, the Spirit informed Molly that we needed to begin praying from her head to her feet. So we did. We prayed over her head, arms, chest, and back. When we got to her leg, it began to shake and bounce. Almost out of rebellion. Then we moved to te foot and out the toes.
As soon as we prayed out her toes, I felt a woosh go across the room. Not a wind, but a presence. Accross the room from me there were two crosses leaning against the wall. Both of them went crashing to the ground with a loud crash. We were not sure how they fell, but im sure that the demon left in anger at the One who sent him out. Meryke snapped back to us at that point. It was like she had been asleep. She was free.
We prayed one last time for her and were forced to be on our way. We did not want to leave now. She needed support. We asked our hosts to please keep in touch with her and get her involved in a small group and community that will encourage her.
We made our bus and headed to debrief. The crazy thing about this. Meryke was not a poor black orphan, or an asian prostitute, or a witch doctor. She was a young blond haired, blue eyed woman in a well off community. Just like every one of us encounter every day at home. Hah!!
We had just gone through the most intense moment of the entire race, and the race had been over. God was telling us it was not over. It was just beginning. This is Life. Go live it.
Please continue as we are to pray for Meryke as she battles to follow Him and that her community continues to surround and encourage her in Jeffrey’s Bay.
