A few people started to gather at the front of the church around
Genara.
Genara is a vagabond that came to the church the day before.
She apparently comes by from time to time in her wonderings.
The story I heard is that she used to attend nursing school in Lima,
head of her class. Somebody was jealous and slipped her some drugs and
she has been very unstable ever since. She roams from town to town
getting food from whomever offers it.
Because of the nature of her condition, we have no way of knowing if
this story is true or not. There is one thing that is very clear.
Genara needs help.
The day she walked in the door, some of our teamates very clearly
discernec a demonic presence. Tuesday night in our prayer service,
those demons began to manifest.
If was clear that they did not approve of the message about
interseccory prayer. As we gathered around her praying, she – or more
acurately the demons – responded in multiple languages. One demon spoke
our in English, some responded in Spanish, while others spoke in
unknown tongues.
One of our Peruvian team members that was translating became very cold
as though a freezer was opened in front of her. Moments later, the
woman turned to her and the demon said “You are very cold”. They also
spoke out very personal things about people’s past trying to scare
them. It was very intense.
As we are still very new to this, I wasn’t sure what to do. I sat down
on the other side of the room and asked God what we should do. He said
very clearly to me “It is not her time”. I asked what to do and He said
“Just love her”. I asked if we should continue to pray and He said “You
are wasting your time, it’s not her time”.
I talked to one of my teammates, and she confirmed that she felt that
it was also not time. I went to Chad, and he too said that it was not
time. It seemed odd to me to walk out and leave her in bondage, but we
have no power that is not given us. I decided to leave and go to bed.
There was no sense in prolonging this distraction and allowing the
enemy the opportunity to speak lies to us. I walked out and felt very
much at peace about it.
Because of the exposure we had to the enemy, I knew we had to cover
ourselves in prayer. I began inside the living quarters attached to the
church were most of our team was staying. Then I walked outside and
prayed for angles to come and guard the church. As I was standing
outside the door praying over the church, Genara walked out of the
santuary and looked out the door straight at me. It was as though she –
or the demons – could sense me praying.
I continued my prayer and then headed back to the hostal to pray over it as well.
As far as I know, none of us suffered any attacks that night. The Lord was faithful to protect us.
Some of us felt burdened to fast and pray for her. Matthew 17:21, which
is witheld from some translations, says “This kind can only came out by
prayer and fasting”. (Check your footnotes to see if this verse is not
included, or refer to a NKJ Bible.)
She did return the next day, and she was back to herself again. She has also been around on and off since then.
We have not seen any manifestations since that night, but the demonic presense can still be felt whenever she is around.
We have not received any clear direction on what to do next, so we are
just loving her as God said, and trusting in His timing and His plans
for her.
It is a daily reminder of who we are and who we stand against. The
devil is real, and he is our to steal, kill and destroy. It is a
reminder to check our own hearts and keep ourselves pure before the
Lord, lest we give the devil a foothold in our lives.
It’s a daily reminder of why I am here, and the task that is before me.
We have the incredible benefit of being saved by the blood of Christ.
But every day, I see people who are still captive to the devil. I see
people who are still under his power and bound by his lies. This is what I signed up for. To free people from captivity and
darkness. To show them the incredible freedom they can have in Christ.
The gift that is freely offered to them by a heavenly Father – their
creator – that loves them enough to send Christ to redeem them.
Just as we chose to deny God and push Him away, He gives us the chance
to choose His forgiveness. It’s that simple. It’s just a choice to
receive what we do not deserve and can not do for ourselves.
It takes humility to admit that we need grace, and receive that gift.
But to those who take that step, a new door is opened to a life of
freedom and purpose. We are free to live without sin. The devil no
longer has dominion over us. We belong to God.
We become warriors in the spiritual realm and ambassadors on earth. We
fight for truth and freedom for those who are still captive.
There is no work more rewarding than seeing a captive set free. Seeing
a lost and desperate person grab hold of the abundant life we were all
intended to live. To serve my God and my savior Jesus Christ with my
life – the life that He gave me on the cross.
