Ministry is life and life is Ministry they tell us. So what does that mean and what does that look like?
I wasn’t sure. Actually, my first few days in Byron Bay I was quite confused about it because we had been getting familiar with the area and spending heaps of time at the beaches… the beautiful, warm, clear water beaches and suddenly life did not have a schedule and it was not work,work, work, go home, sleep, work anymore.
Why am I here? What am I doing here? I kept asking myself. I know for sure God wants me here, but why Australia and what is my purpose?
Byron Bay is a tourist hipster town with loads of backpackers from all over the world passing through. It’s also littered with all kinds of spiritual awakening paraphernalia and most people are very open to having spiritual conversations.
This month we started off with our entire squad together… 41 people (with the exception of a couple of our leaders who had to stay behind in Singapore but that’s a different story). Every morning after breakfast we break into our teams to do bible study and listening prayer.
Listening Prayer: Ministry in Byron Bay is what we call ATL (Ask the Lord), so listening prayer is when we pause to ask God if there is something he has planned for us today.
The first morning we did this, I got a brief vision of myself sitting under a tree talking with the homeless. Generic I know, but it was a very clear picture. After visiting a cafe that morning, I decided to wander and do as I was led to do. I didn’t wander far before I found a man sitting on a bench under a tree. I passed by and asked how he was and he replied with an angry tone, “I’m alive.” I sensed the anger and pain in his voice so I asked to sit next to him. At first he gave the impression that he didn’t want to talk, but it wasn’t long before he just started laying his life out to me. He was in tears and honestly all I did was make myself present.
We prayed for a good friend of his who was sick and he introduced me to another friend who sat on the other side of me. I talked with them both for over an hour and prayed with them again before I left.
Two days later I came across both of them again in the park where the man who had laid his life out to me told me I had cheered him up that day (it was the Lord). This day however, I spent more time with the friend he had introduced me to and we swapped life stories (aka my testimony). He asked me to play a bit on his guitar then told me how he never lets anyone play it because a lady had broken all his strings before… but he let a couple of my teammates play after me as well. After this, I invited them both to Panchai for dinner (pancakes and chai tea in the park – put on by YWAM, our host for the month) and one of them actually showed up.
Byron Bay has an uncanny amount of spiritual warfare, as I had encountered talking with other people in town as well, which is why I feel that heaviness. However, it wasn’t until Panchai that I sensed one of the men I had spent time with all day was actually possessed – of which he also admitted many times that night. I knew something was off about him from the moment I met him the other day, but I continued to spend time and share the Lord with him anyway.
Demonic possession is incredibly common so it does not phase me even a little bit. Although I had never personally experienced something so dark, it only built my faith even more. Also, I hadn’t studied much into it, so I did the best with what I knew and trusted God would come through.
It is written many times in the Bible that demons are real… Jesus cast them out of people and He has given us authority to do the same.
Of all the times Jesus cast out demons in the Bible, I particularly like the fact that both John Mark (author of Mark) and Matthew (author of Matthew) told the same story about Jesus casting demons into a herd of pigs. John Mark, being a close friend and scribe for the apostle Peter is believed to have written that book in Rome, while Matthew wrote his book in Syria in a different original language.
Jesus Casts Out Demons
28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “[a]What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before [b]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [c]including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region. -Matthew 8:28-34
The Gerasene Demoniac
5 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “[a]What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding [b]nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They *came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. -Mark 5:1-16
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. -Matthew 10:8
One of the things I had always been taught was that the word of God is a weapon and I saw it used when another squad mate recited scripture to him. I was hurting for the man because the demons were tormenting him, but it was also insanely cool to physically see the word of God used as a weapon.
The man agreed to let me pray for him multiple times and even asked to pray for God to send an Angel.
Ya’ll, the battle was raging.
This interaction has encouraged me to reflect on what it looks like to be bold in your faith and to study more specifically on this topic because who knows where the Lord will use me next… but let me tell you what… He is seriously persuing these men so please say a quick prayer for both of them.
Thanks for reading!
