Our first encounter was with a man who was acting crazy in the street, throwing things in the street, trying to sell us rocks and litter, "writing" on walls with rocks, ripping down signs and posters, and taking his pants on and off. Shop owners in the area simply closed their doors as he came walking down the street. We prayed from a distance for him while standing in the street. We could tell that he was known as a nuisance to the surrounding people. We stopped on the side of the road from hanging flyers and took some time to pray for him as he caused more trouble further down the street.
The second man crossed our path in the afternoon when Alejandro was with us. He showed interest in us as we entered one of the houses to pray for the family inside. He watched us intently for a while and greeted us whenever we looked his way. When we came out of the house, he was sitting on the stoop of the next house. We continued walking and he again initiated conversation with us. He told us that we could hang a flyer on his house, even without us asking. We were hesitant at first, since we just put one next door, but we decided it wouldn’t hurt.
We then asked if we could pray for him and he obliged, leading us into his house. He never made eye contact with any of us and seemed threatened by us a bit. He showed us the mini Christmas tree he had set up behind the door in his living room. He seemed reserved, and didn’t really give us much guidance in what to pray for.
My first reaction to his behavior was that something wasn’t right. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew something wasn’t right. We all laid hands on him and started to pray. Alejandro led most of the prayer in Spanish. I do not know what all was said because of the language barrier, but Alejandro told us the next day that as soon as he laid hands on this man, he could feel something dark in him. He told us that he prayed to cast out any demon or demonic force that was possessing that man. There was no physical evidence of anything coming out of him, but prayer is powerful.
Alejandro has stories of his own encounters with demons and demonic forces. He has been working with us almost every day we've been here. We asked him to share his testimony with us and was eager to oblige. Through his testimony, we learned that before he became a Christian, he was very involved with black magic. He was in the 4th level of black magic and had power that even he couldn’t explain. He could get away with anything, he could rob you right in front of you without you noticing, he could stop a gun from firing. When he became a Christian, the pastor and elders of his church prayed over him and cast 18 demons out of him.
Because he was so involved in black magic and could command demons to do his work, he is still pretty in tune with the dark forces of this world. He can tell when there are spirits present. When he told us that he could tell as soon he laid hands on the man that there was some sort of dark force present, I believed him. He has come along way since his black magic days, following God's call to missions. He isn't a full time missionary yet, but works with Jaime often when teams like us come through.
This is something I never experienced before, and I'm sure this is not the last time I will come across things like this either. I have heard many second-hand stories of encountering demons and casting them out. We must remember that we fight not against flesh and blood.
But God is greater than any thing Satan can throw at us!
