Casting Out Demons in Cambodia

Casting out Demons in Cambodia

 

This was a crazy story that happened in Cambodia a few months ago.

I sent it via email to a few people and they encouraged me to post it as a blog — so here it is!

 

—

February 21, 2013

 

I've witnessed a miracle. 

Like an Old Testament miracle. 

The ones you read about but don't think still happen.

Well… they do.

 

It happened when we visited this girl named J'Na and her family last week. (pronounced Jenna but with the emphasis on the 'a') We went there to pray for her. Immediately when we laid eyes on her we knew she just wasn't right. When we asked what was wrong with her, they told us she "lost something" and that she was sick… mentally.

 

They went on to tell us that she has been depressed for many years, ever since she gave birth to her son 7 years ago. (We assumed from there that it her 'sickness' all started with post-partum depression that went untreated.) And because she was so 'sick',  her husband left her. They said for years she couldn't even get out of bed.  Her mom told us that in addition to being severely depress, she is also scared- because of the 'bad things that she sees in her head' and the 'dark spirits' that torment her at night.

 

That's when we realized her eyes were off.

There was a darkness in her eyes that sparkled. She smiled this wild, kind of crazed smile and she looked very unkempt- not only physically but mentally.  Her eyes were taunting and menacing -almost like she was on acid or maddenly drunk or enraged, but she was sitting perfectly still. There was a demon inside her. 

 

And when I looked in her eyes, it was almost as if that spirit inside her was taunting us, saying "go ahead- TRY me". At one point she hissed at her son while shooing him away. She was possessed…and we all knew it, without even discussing it out loud.

 

But, I am here to testify that God got rid of that demon that day. 

 

We spoke with J'Na and asked her if she wanted the dark spirits to leave… if she wanted to be free. She nodded, still in a daze, and her mom urged us to pray for her. 

 

I was expecting something scary to happen– for her to 'manifest' and freak out. As we gathered close to lay hands on her and pray, I found myself fixated on her long fingernails and thought to myself, "She is going to scratch me before this is all over." The thought scared me a bit, but I knew I still had to do this.

 

We all were so sure it was gonna get weird and scary that we sent the kids away to play, with one of my teammates Kylee, who was super wigged out by the whole thing. But nothing scary happened. We prayed and we prayed and we prayed. As we finished praying, J'Na moved moved her hand and I felt her long nails softly graze my arm.  It sent a chill down my spine. It was almost like a sign: she had 'scratched me'… and somehow I knew at that moment that it was all over. 

                       * Photo of our group praying over J'Na *
 

When we were done praying, her eyes were softer, lighter, browner. The menacing darkness was gone. She now looked like a child. Smiling oddly — still– but it wasn't scary anymore. The evil spirit was gone.

 

After that, our translator told her about Jesus and she prayed a prayer asking Jesus to come into her life! THAT was another confirmation that anything evil that was inside her was now gone — otherwise she would not have been able to utter those words to God. The darkness inside here would've never let her pray those things. It was gone.

 
                          *This is me and J'Na just after her 'deliverance' *
Note: I was taught it's called a 'deliverance' in Christianity (Evidently 'exorcism' is a term used specifically in Catholicism. And let's be honest, 'deliverance' just sounds better!)

 

We have continued to visit her and she even came to church on sunday! She is doing sooo much better. 

 

When we visited today, she told us the dark spirits are gone and she doesn't see anymore 'bad things in her head' anymore. But that she's still scared at night. And all she wants to do is sleep. She sleeps all day.

 

God has put her sooo heavy on my heart. 

 

She is my "person" from Cambodia that will stay etched on my heart. 

 

Pray that God will show her what she can DO (because she hasn't worked or contributed in any way  in years- she used to never even get out of bed.)  But I see God is slowly breathing life back into her. 

 

Pray He will giver her energy and the will to live and to contribute and a passion for life!

 

I was hesitant to share with you the details of J'Na's story … but I feel like the world needs to know that Old Testament miracles still happen!

God is soooo good.

 

Please pray for my new friend J-Na'. 🙂

 

—-

 

Update on J-Na':

 

Before we left Cambodia, J'Na had come to church for a few weeks in a row and she was starting to make friends with other young women at the church. One young lady in particular, Yaz — who is such a sweetheart– really took J'Na under her wing. So I know I left J'Na is in good hands. God is slowly giving her back something to live for, I watched her come alive playing with her 2 small children (who she used to completely ignore), and she now has friends and a community around her to encourage her. She really left an impact on my life…and I hope her story impacts you, as well!