I’ve written several blogs in the last few months about what
God’s teaching me and what kind of ministries we’re doing…but for the most part
I’ve left the “scarier� or “harder to believe� stuff out of them. Well, now is where you guys are just
going to have to trust me. Trust my character, trust my discernment, trust my
heart. Know that I am still
skeptical of many things I am seeing now that I have never seen before. Things that we don’t really see at home
each day, but I am telling you because I don’t want to keep that part of this
year and my experience around the world from you guys. God is allowing me to see many new
things for a reason…and I think He would want me to share them.
So, I’ve written in my previous blogs about how the
spiritual atmosphere in Malaysia is very difficult. Our team has struggled with being motivated to do anything
constructive just because we want to sleep the day away. We’ve also struggled with knowing when
and when not to share what we’re really doing here with the people that we meet. We have been constantly covering
ourselves, the church, and the people we minister to, in prayer. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam are the top
3 religions in this country; therefore, there is much worship going out to the
“gods� that they believe in each day all around us.
Many mornings our team wakes up at 5:45 AM to the Muslims
chanting prayers in unison to Allah from houses and streets all around the
church that we are staying in.
There are shrines set up in stores and in front of houses to Buddha and
the Hindu gods which the owners give food offerings to each day and burn incense.
That being said, it is probably very obvious to you that
Satan has a pretty decent foothold here.
This is his “playground.�
Story: About a week ago, we were asked to lead a “cell
group.� This is a small group
Bible study of people from the church that we are working with. Cell groups have been a big part of our
ministry here, and each time they basically want us to do the same
thing…testimony, music, Bible study.
That night Beth gave her testimony, Taniuska sang a couple of songs, and
Brian and I gave the Bible study.
After we finished with these things, our translator said that the host
family had a special request. They
asked that we pray over their house and family, because many times when the mother
would pray or when she would be in church and hear the name of Jesus, evil
spirits would begin to manifest in her.
The mother had converted to Christianity from Hinduism only one year
before.
Beth asked if we could “lay hands� on the family as we
prayed for them. The family
stood. I stood by the daughter on
one side, Brian stood by the father on the other side, and Beth walked up to
the mother and asked if she could hold her hands while we prayed.
As soon as she took Beth’s hands, she went crazy! This was absolutely not something that
anybody would even begin to fake.
Her eyes began bulging out and rolling around, her tongue stuck out, and
her arms began to flail about, almost hitting Beth and the daughter. The daughter backed into me, and I put
my arm around her…partly out of comfort for her, but also because I was a
little afraid. (I cannot imagine
what the daughter thinks about seeing her mother like this. I’ve been praying that she knows it is
not her mom when these things happen.) We began praying with the power of
Christ against any spiritual force that was not of Him. We prayed for the woman, that the One
and Only God would be the only force that controlled her. We prayed for the house, the family,
and the daughter. The husband had
to restrain his wife, even down to the floor. So she sat there while we prayed.
After a few minutes the woman calmed down and all the sudden
was herself again. When we had
finished praying, we asked them to pray over their own house and over
themselves. They did, and the
woman told the man that was translating for us that she felt it was over, and
that those spirits could not take control over her any longer. I did not see any demons come out of
her, and I don’t know if you could say that we “exercised� anything. I do not think that she was “possessed�
because when you are a Christian, you cannot have a demon completely taking
over your entire body. However, I
do think that she was being “oppressed� because she was definitely being
influenced by something that was not of Christ whenever the name of Jesus was
spoken.
This is hard stuff, but just know that I am learning and
that everything that I am telling you guys, I am taking to the Word. I am searching, seeking God in these
things, and really measuring them up against scripture in the Bible.
Please be praying for this woman and her family. The husband is not a Christian yet, but
is seeking. I feel like whenever
he does become a believer, that much of this negative spirituality will
stop. He will then have spiritual
authority over his household, and there will be even less room for Satan to
slip in.
