The Lord has been moving crazy amounts here in Johannesburg. Most days we go out into the squatter camps and evangelize, which is seriously the best. There is so much need and so many lost and hurting people here. I don’t think there has been a day that we’ve gone out and haven’t seen at least a handful of people come to know the Lord.
The other day I was sleeping and woke up at 12:36am and I couldn’t move or talk. Every time I tried to lift my head it felt like someone was holding it down. I kept trying to pray out loud and say the name of Jesus but I couldn’t get any words out so I just kept praying to myself. This lasted for about a minute until I was finally able to whisper the name of Jesus, then I could talk normal and move again.
I’m gonna be honest I was a little freaked out. I mean I’ve dealt with spiritual warfare before but never like that. So I was praying and immediately I heard read your Bible now. I was like Yup, Okay! So I got up and read my Bible for a while and continued to pray. Then God told me that I was going to meet somebody that had spirits in them and that they needed to go! He showed me that this is what the person felt: trapped, heavy, and out of control and that they needed freedom.
So I went to back to bed after a bit and the next day we went out to evangelize at a camp called Thabo Mbeke. There were four of us in our group, Vanessa, Gary, Joe and I. Gary and Joe started talking to these two men and Vanessa and I went next door to talk to this woman. We talked for about 30 minutes and helped her with her laundry. She was a believer but felt far from God so we just prayed for her relationship with the Lord, her family, and her business she was trying to open.
Once we were done we went next door where the men were and one of the guys invited us in. We decided to talk to the grandmother that was there since the guys were already in deep conversation with the two men. During this time I noticed that one of the two gentlemen that Gary and Joe were talking to was a sangoma, or witch doctor. In listening to the conversation can you guess what they were talking about…spirits living in him. Yup! So he was telling them how there are lots of spirits in him and they talk for him sometimes. After talking to him, he wanted to get rid of the spirits, but was afraid since his family also believed these things. Meanwhile the grandmother was trying to curse us so Vanessa started praying over her.
I told Vanessa what happened that morning and she was like you need to tell him. So I jump into the the conversation and tell him exactly what happened and what God told me. I told him that he was the one God wanted me to talk to and that He showed me how he was feeling and the weight that he carried. He was very surprised and overwhelmed then got up and walked into the house. Buuuuut as he was walking in he said “I’m coming to Christ.”
He wouldn’t let us cast out the spirits right then or cut off his bracelets, that represented the spirits of his ancestors. He said he wanted to tell his family first but that he promised he was going to church on Sunday and that if we came back Monday the bracelets and spirits would be gone. He said that he now knows Jesus is the way and the truth. His brother was there and accepted Jesus that day and was so excited to start going to church and follow the Lord.
Even though we didn’t get to see him take the bracelets off or see the spirits leave, I believe the Holy Spirit is going to continue to work and move when we’re not here.
God is so good! He knew I was going to deal with spiritual warfare and that I was going to meet that Sangoma. God used the spiritual warfare I experienced to relate to him on a deeper level. To not only have greater love and empathy for him, but to truly have the heart for him that the Lord does.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. – Matthew 9:37
