I want to share with you a little bit of my testimony. I was raised Catholic and went to private school up until 3rd grade. Church was more of a ritual than a religion for me growing up. It wasn’t until high school when my best friend Sabrina invited me to her youth group at church, that I became a Christian. At first I went mostly to socialize, but because of my regular attendance I felt lead to go up when they announced the alter call to give God my all, shortly after I got baptized. Now I wish I could say after I got saved I set my old ways aside. Our ministry contact told me, “When you become a Christian it doesn’t mean that you are sinless, it just means that you sin less” I can relate to this; every time I go through a period of time where I stray away from God I feel helpless. When I come back to Him, He takes me deeper into our relationship, like peeling an onion. Unless you have experienced it yourself, you’re going to read this and think I’m crazy.
When I applied to join the World Race I did so because I wanted to help people and experience new cultures. Little did I know it would change me so much. The first couple months God revealed to me things of my past I thought I had dealt with. I won’t bore you with details, but I believe the first part of the race somewhat prepared me for what was to come this month. I have heard of spiritual warfare but never experienced it first hand.
When I step into the cabin restaurants, I’ve noticed I get the same eerie feeling and headache, like when I would step into the Buddhist temples. These cabins carry such a dark presence.
This past week I experienced a demon being cast out of a person. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw, but knowing that God was on our side gave me peace like no other. Knowing that He has already conquered the enemy and that the same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in me gives me peace of mind that won’t allow me to fear anything.
Before this trip I have heard of people being ‘possessed’ by a demon, mainly in third world countries, but didn’t know much about it. The difference between third world countries and first world countries is that there is a lot more hopelessness here. They spend a lot of time praying to their gods. In first world countries the enemy’s game is different. We are so wrapped up in work, success, money and social media (I too am guilty of these things) that we don’t set time aside to spend with God.
This trip has opened my eyes to so many things including experiencing God on another level and experiencing other cultures. Even though I’m in one of the poorest countries with limited resources I am the most content with myself and that is all thanks to God!
Our view of the Himalayan Mountains on our sunrise hike.
