Tonight a friend texted me just as we were getting ready to leave for the village. She knew we were headed that way and wanted to come along. I gladly agreed and we picked her up on the way. She's interested in studying the Bible, but our time has been somewhat limited as she lives in another village and doesn't get to come into town often because of lack of transport. Thus far, we've only been able to have one hurried study in the taxi rank before she had to catch her bus home.
The study in the village is mostly attended by several people that been studying with us for nearly a year. We go out there once a week, filling our vehicles with friends from town, and make that one of our Sunday services. So, with the exception of this one lady who hasn't studied very much, everyone at today's study is already born again and fairly well grounded in the Bible, though there is still much for them to learn. At the close of the study (on John chapter 8), my friend asked a question.
"Is is possible for someone to be in Christ and still have demons inside of them?"
In this land of great spiritual darkness, the subject of demons and evil spirits is one that very often comes up. I think it's fairly guaranteed that every person you deal with is at the very least struggling with questions on this issue, if not spiritually oppressed or possessed.
My dad, who was leading the study today, initially fielded the question, taking the whole group over to 1 John 4:4, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them (spirits not of God); because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." This seemed to answer her question, at least intellectually, although it seemed internally she was still struggling with how this might apply in her life. She did not share much, but no doubt she has been involved in witchcraft and opened herself up to that world. I'm not sure if she is born again or not, but even if she is, she may still be struggling with fear over past events.
What happened next almost brought tears to my eyes. I've seen this happen before, and it just blesses my heart every time. One of the men began to speak, giving his testimony of how he had been set free from the power of Satan. Another of the men began to encourage her to spend time reading her Bible every day and focus her mind on the things of God. After the service closed, two or three of the ladies took her aside and also gave their personal stories and encouraged her to continue her Bible study and find out what God wanted to teach her. Every other person in that building had a story of how they had personally been set free from the power of the devil - and that is exactly what she is looking for.
She's been to other churches looking for answers. One church told her that since she had given money to a traditional doctor (witch doctor), she had to pay the same amount of money to the church to be broken from the spell. She's been to 'casting-out' crusades and said she never even fell on the floor "cockroach style". The thing that got her in touch with us was a pamphlet she was given that said very simply on the back, "Do you want to learn the truth from the Bible? Contact us." We don't teach gimmicks; we don't teach religion. We teach what the Bible says - who God is, what man has done, and how man can have a relationship with God. It's simple, but it's powerful.
What really struck me today was the way everyone jumped in to help her along in her journey to the truth. These people who were talking all have vastly different stories, but just one year ago, almost all of them were still just as confused as she is. They were offering animal sacrifices, visiting traditional doctors, taking potions and buying spells, all sorts of things that the devil makes up to keep his subjects in a web of fear. And here they were, beggars just telling another beggar where they found bread.
What a blessing!
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