Streets of Penang
This blog is overdue but I felt it was very important to share for anyone who may come across my blog!
So about a week ago I did street outreach (street evangelism) for the third time. The first couple times I had gone with one of my squad mates and two women that worked with the organization we were staying with (YWAM). For those that are unfamiliar with street evangelism, it’s a way to create relationships with people on the streets, love on them, and try to tell them about Jesus if the opportunity arises. It’s actually one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. Anyway so the two ladies we went with aafka and Juhee, they led the way each time. Aafka has been in Malaysia for over 10 years and visits these streets every week (she’s incredible!). The first couple times I went were so eye opening but so heavy on my heart. The prostitution there is very evident but also very hidden deep in the dark alleyways of Penang. I had met a few of Aafka’s friends and they were so sweet. We spent a couple hours with them each time and talked for a while-it was so nice. All of them were in prostitution because they don’t have a well enough pay to support themselves. Prostitution is illegal in Malaysia but it’s still very much alive because of the economic struggles people go through.
So come week three of going back to the alleyways and streets, it was me, two of my squad mates and aafka. Before we headed out, our whole squad prayed over Malaysia and ourselves. We asked god for words, images, or anything that would guide our steps. I knew that I was going back to the usual spots with aafka so I asked god what he wanted to tell me this time. I had a sense of evil and darkness, that something was unsettling in the usual spots we go to. I’m still learning to hear gods voice and being obedient to him so I still went on my way, with my group. We got to the main alleyway where most of the business happens. Immediately I felt so scared, something in me was rejecting the atmosphere around me. As we were walking we came across three ladies that were waiting for ‘customers’. We stopped and talked to them for a while. Two of them didn’t speak very good English but they were all so sweet. The one on the end had been talking to aafka for a while. She was telling her how she hasn’t been able to sleep for two weeks, she’s sick, and she’s scared of something that’s been around her. After talking to her for a few minutes, aafka asked if we could pray over her and her sleep so that she could get some rest and feel better. The woman was trying to explain that there was something much greater there than just her lack of sleep. We had another one of the ladies translate for us so we could continue praying over her. Aafka had sensed that there was an evil presence surrounding this woman. She explained how she was not going to try to cast it out without the presence of Jesus. So in this moment, we decided to just get straight to it. We sat in a circle around this woman, and told her about Jesus through a translator. I want to point out the fear in this woman right before we started telling her about Jesus though. I have never seen someone more terrified-physically and mentally. Aafka had known this woman for over ten years and had never seen her like this before. So as we sat there around her, Aafka told her who Jesus was and what he was capable of doing. That he is the ultimate peace in life, the one who is what we call love. This woman had accepted him. I was in total shock at how quickly it happened but then again Jesus has a way of slapping you in the face like that sometimes. It was incredible. I was crying of course too. When she accepted him, Aafka explained to us that there needed to be praying over whatever evil spirit was surrounding her. We each prayed over her, calling on the name of the Lord to cast out the demon.
Side note: I’m going to be quite honest, and this goes for anyone that has known me for a long time, I love scary movies. I would watch them all the time and I would especially watch the ones that had demons in them because it excited me. But this experience was something very different and isn’t meant to be taken lightly, it is not a scene out of a Hollywood movie nor is it lies but it’s up to anyone to decide what they believe.
So as we were praying, she was moving erratically. I had my eyes closed but she had been moving so much that it caused me to open my eyes. I saw her leaning all the way back in her chair, she was growling and looking around us as if she was seeing things that were not there. Keep in mind that this woman had not slept in two weeks and her eyes were wide open as if she had just seen something that was not of this earth. Her stomach was compulsive in and out radically. She was squeezing our hands so tightly.
When I saw all of this I made eye contact with my squad mate, Hannah. We both had a sense of fear in our eyes but it didn’t stop us. We wanted to fight for this woman and her life. She explained that she felt as if there was someone sitting on top of her, causing her to struggle breathing. We prayed for a while over all of this and it was hard but it was so worth it. Towards the end she had stopped freaking out and was more calm, more aware of her surroundings. We asked her how she was feeling and she said a little better. She then said that someone was standing behind us and we asked if this person was good or bad. She said he was good, that he had long hair, and that he was cute (best part).
Okay so pause
I just explained all of this and I know it’s very quick to read this and be like eh yeah. I know this because I’ve read stuff like this, been told stuff like this, but I never fully took it to heart because it never happened to me. But I am sitting here writing this blog post on a plane because it’s all I’ve been able to think about for a week. I do believe God placed me and all of those people there that night for reasons-some that I may not understand. Something I really felt that needed to be said in all of this though is spiritual warfare. I struggle trying to explain my experiences and my beliefs but it’s something I believe with my whole being. The enemy is present but he’s no match to God- he will never be. God’s greater than any of this-greater than anything anyone faces on this earth. But the fear in that woman’s eyes, the darkness of that spirits presence, I can’t ever forget it. There’s things in this world that we cannot understand, things we cannot see, and things that aren’t in our control. But God gives us authority over these things. I alone cannot cast out an evil spirit in someone, I alone cannot be strong without him, I alone cannot live without knowing him and making him known. I’ll admit that whole experience was very scary but it makes me more scared to not use the authority he’s given me and those that have accepted him. I’m currently looking more into this part of being a follower of Jesus (will keep you guys updated) as I am not really equipped for any of this but for some reason he trusts me. I tried writing this blog post the other day and somehow I ended up writing about how my mind is a constant battle field (not sure how I got there?) But I think that life, especially spiritually, is a constant battle field. But we were not meant to fight it on our own-in fact we are not fighting it on our own. There’s battles being fought for us that we cannot see and there’s some battles we’re trying to fight here on earth. That woman was trying to fight a battle that could not be fought on her own. But It was being fought by him through us. By the very authority he gives his followers, he gave it to us in that moment. It’s easy to dwell on all this darkness, the evilness of this world, but it will never be able to match him. God’s bigger than the battle she was fighting, he’s bigger than any battle being fought.
Anyone that has read this I would ask that you pray for this woman and her well being-that she would keep Jesus close to her heart after that. Thank you for taking the time to read this, it’s heavy spiritually but intentionally written.
