PREFACE: This post is 1 week old, but due to spotty wifi, I’m only now able to post it.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.”??
I’m currently leaning against the white-washed cement wall in my cozy little concrete cell that I am calling home this month. ??My roommate BG is reading by headlamp light on the sleeping pad next to mine; my pack leans against the opposite wall, and all my packing cubes have been taken out and arranged neatly (I’m not even kidding, mom!) in a line for easy access. We’ve hung postcards and photos on our walls along with a big red flag that shouts “Keep Exploring!” and have hung our scarves in decorative patterns around the room to make it feel a little more homey.??I not-so-secretly find it absolutely charming and it truly warms my heart to look at the little bit of brightness in this room and be reminded of my home that is so many miles away.
??Our life in India is more comfortable than we should be allowed, and our hearts are so full with how our hosts continue to bless and serve us this month, even though we try to remind them that we are here to serve them instead. ??We have a roof over our head, we have our own rooms with real doors, and we don’t have to use our tents. We have electricity and running water that is safe to shower in and brush our teeth in without having to live in constant fear of contamination. Our hosts provide all of our meals every single day, and the blessing of being fed 3 home cooked, locally sourced, sustainable and all-natural organic Indian meals every day is too much to even begin to describe. Every morning they provide us with the most delicious chai tea and cookies for devotion time in the dining tent, and every evening they provide a massive dinner and desert for us to enjoy. ??It is safe to explore the city and to walk to and from in groups of 2 or 3, and on the campus, it is completely safe for us to move around even by ourselves- something which blesses this natural introvert very much. ??
The people here in the Churachandpur district are beautiful. This far northeast into India, we happen to be living in one of the most predominately Christian districts in all of India. It is also one of the poorest districts in the entire country, but because of work largely done by our host organization over the last 100 years, almost 80% of this intense poverty-stricken area is fully literate. I can’t explain the subtle joy it brings to see the local children walk to and from school everyday, and be greeted in English as well as the native Hmar language that they speak, and to see Bible verses painted on street signs and hung from trees and blaring from the backs of Tuk-Tuks as they whirl down the street, dodging cars, cows and pedestrians with great fervor. ??God truly loves this region, and it has been overwhelming to me to be a witness of the depth of His love for these people. ??
On my first morning in India, our host took us on a hike to a place that the locals know as Prayer Mountain, and it is truly hallowed ground. From the top of this steep hill, one can look around at the great Sielmat valley and beyond, to the massive mountains beyond that swell and surge in oceans of green and mist. ??It was on this mountain that the man who ended up changing the entire valley by translating the Bible into the native Hmar tongue, a language which originally was strictly oral, used to come and talk with God every morning before setting out about his day. ??We were told to disperse throughout the hilltop and settle into some quiet time with the Lord, to “begin with God every morning.” ??I chose a spot looking over the various mountains and lower parts of the valley and I began reading my Bible. Eventually, I turned to prayer, and began to wrestle with the Lord as to why He had brought me to this place.
I have lived my entire life in fear of coming to India, yet God has brought me kicking and screaming to this country for a purpose- but I still had no idea what that purpose really was.??“Why am I here, God.” I began plainly, hardly even painting these words as a question- more like a contemplative statement. ??“I know that I am here, because here happens to be exactly where I am; but why am I HERE, in this valley in Manipur, this district of Churachandpur, this particular area of the world? Why did you command me so strongly and so clearly that out of all the many routes I could choose, I had to choose one with India on it? Why is this the only country I truly felt you were demanding I go to?” ??I wrestled with this for awhile, and then, as He so often chooses to, He revealed himself to me with a still, small voice in my heart. “I brought you here because I love this region, and this place, and these people. Before I can reveal to you what your purpose here is, I need you to understand the love that I have for them. I have brought you here to share with you the joy and the delight that these people bring me, so that you may begin to love them the way I do.” ??This floored me. Instead of bringing me all the way to India to change people’s lives, God brought me here simply that I may begin to understand the depth of His love for this particular people group? ??Since that day, almost a week ago, I have seen the joy of the Lord manifest itself in a thousand little ways and pour itself out on the people I continue to meet and encounter and learn from and pray with, and I have begun to fall head over heels in love with this body of Christ that moves so freely and so colorfully throughout these mountains. ??Their joys are His joys, and I see them and they become my joy too. Their suffering is His suffering and I see it and it becomes my suffering too.??My heart is pulsing with the rhythm of this valley, and it hums in tune with the Spirit.
??This joy and this journey of walking in step with the Holy Spirit does create tension, however, within the spiritual realm. ??Without going too much into detail, let me just simply say that there has been some intense moments of spiritual warfare in our dormitory building already this month. The majority of my squad has felt it, heard it, or even seen it in one manifestation or another. ??Darkness infiltrates this world- and the enemy is at work hard and fast here in this place where witchcraft has a significant hold on the surrounding villages. ??My entire life, I have been witness to some very strange things and before I began to learn about the spiritual gift of discernment, I didn’t know how to explain the things that I saw or heard or felt. As a child, this terrified me. Feeling presences that nobody else noticed, seeing shadows in places where shadows should not have been, aware of the tension and darkness at all times.??As an adult, I have learned how to identify my gift and am trying to hone my gift and learn more about discernment and how to work with the Holy Spirit to combat these moments as they crop up every so often.??God has given many chances this past week to train me in how to wrestle with these forces; at first I thought I was the only one, because I’m usually more sensitive to it than others are. However, whatever is living in these dorms with us is attracted in an ugly way to the power and Holy Spirit that 60 kingdom furtherers possess together, living in one place, acting as one unit and one body. This causes much heightened tension and aggravation in the battle that is waging around us all the time between God’s heavenly army and Satan’s minions. ??
The majority of my squad has experienced gripping nightmares that cause them to awake exactly at the hour between 3am and 4am every single night. ??I have heard distinct footsteps walk all the way down the hall, stop at my door frame, and never once heard them walk back in the opposite direction. I could feel the presence standing in the doorway, though my eyes told me there was nothing to be seen. This also happened exactly at 3:45 am. ??I myself have woken every night like clockwork, whether due to nightmares or not, at some time during the “witching hour” as I’ve been calling it- one night I felt heavy pressure on my legs and was unable to open my mouth to begin praying out loud. ??Two nights ago, the activity grew to such a height, that finally the few of us that were talking about it to each other decided to try reaching out to more people to see if they were experiencing strange phenomena also. One of my sisters brought her experience directly to the squad leader, who immediately jumped into action and organized a squad wide prayer and cleansing last night.??
All 60 of us walked up and down every level of this building, and prayed over every room in small groups of 2-3. We prayed over the basement rooms where the boys are staying, every room on the first room where us girls are living, we went upstairs to the unfinished level still under construction and even onto the roof, to extend the Lord’s blessing from the rooftops all the way to the foundation 3 floors below.??This took about 1.5 hours, and was the most spiritually exhausting, totally draining experience of my life to date. The entire time, I could feel the friction growing and escalating and our powerful act of cleansing was not appreciated nor was it welcomed by the darkness. One experience I had during prayer literally forced me onto my knees- and I felt the physical weight of another being sitting on top of me, forcing me down. One of my sisters grabbed my back and began to pray with fervor and then just as easily as I went down, I stood up and praised God for His deliverance.
The spirit of the Lord is a spirit of victory, and we knew we overcame and declared the kingdom of Jesus Christ to live in this building, and some even saw demons fleeing from the windows. We continued to pray blessings and protection over each inhabitant of these walls from now on. ???I don’t understand why God allows us to see or experience parts of the other realm sometimes, but He does occasionally allow us glimpses and fragments. Last night was draining, but it was not frightening, and I am thankful that this gift He has given me does not cause me to live in a spirit of fear, but of trust in Christ. ??Our Savior has called us to be the light in a world of darkness, and it is known and understood that darkness does not overcome the light.
As I sit here this morning, 5:30 AM blaring from my watch, trying to process what happened last night, I am thankful for where I am and how God has already shown up in overwhelming power and all-encompassing might. He is good, He is our deliverer, He is our strength and our strong fortress. ??Whatever lies ahead for this squad, and for my Sisterhood, I know He will protect us, and He will call us to do powerful things for His kingdom. ??If you would, please continue to pray for the blessing and protection of my squad during the remainder of our month in India. That we would sleep peacefully through the night, and that Satan would not retain the stronghold he once had on this building. Please continue to pray for good health for my squad- nobody has contracted malaria yet, or food poisoning, and we’d like to keep it that way. Also please pray for the people of the Manipur villages- that their hearts would be touched and we would reach them and bless them by our time here, and that we would be able to serve our ministry hosts well. ??Until next time, I miss you all.
??In grace and peace.,
Hannah <3?
