God is so realDear friends,
The Lord has urged me to share this with you.
Because we live in such a secular and scientific world, we often neglect the reality of spiritual warfare, and the concept of 'evil spirits', 'witchcrafts' and the like is so obscure. Many have the impression that it is unreal, that Christianity has nothing to do with these 'native superstitions'. We talk about 'Satan tempting us to sin', but that's as far as we go.
The following is a credible testimony from the man who contributed largely to the third wave of evangelism over Asian and African nations today(the first wave broke over the NT world in the 1st century, the 2nd dated from William Carey's pioneer work in 18th century India which began a flood of missions to the colonies of the great European powers).
Speaking of missionaries he was personally acquainted to, K.P. Yohannan wrote:
...With his wife he set an apostolic pattern for their workers similar to that of the apostle Paul...travelled by bullock cart and foor into some of the most backward areas of the tribal districts of Orissa state. There, working in the intense heat among people whose lifestyle was so primitive that it can be described only as animalistic, he saw hundreds converted.
Throughout the journey, demons were cast our and miraculours physical healings took place daily...
...Similar miraculous movements are starting in almost every state of India and throughout other nations of Asia.
Native missionary Jesu Das was horrified when he first visited one village and found no believers there. The people were all worshipping hundreds of different gods, and four pagan priests controlled them through their withcraft.
Stories were told of how these priests could kill people's cattle with witchcraft and destroy their crops. People were suddenly taken ill and died without explanation. The destruction and bondage the villagers were living in is hard to imagine. Scars, decay and death marked their faces, because they were totally controlled by the powers of darkness.
When Jesu Das told them about Christ, it was the first time they ever heard of a God who did not require sacrifices and offerings to appease his anger. As Jesu Das continued to preach in the marketplace, many people came to know the Lord.
But the priests were outraged. They warned Jesu Das that if he did not leave the village, they would call on their gods to kill him, his wife and their children. Jesu Das did not leave. He continued to preach, and villagers continued to be saved.
Finally, after a few weeks, the witch doctors came to Jesu Das and asked him the secret of his power.
"This is the first time our power did not work," they told him. "After doing the 'pujas', we asked the spirits to go and kill your family. But the spirits came back and told us they could not approach you or your family because
you were always surrounded by fire. Then we called more powerful spirits to come after you -- but they too returned, saying
not only were you surrounded by fire, but angels were also around you all the time."
Jesu Das told them about Christ. The Holy Spirit convicted each of them of their sin of following demons, and of the judgement to come. With tears, they repented, renouncing their Gods and idols, and received Jesus Christ as Lord...
Speaking of his own experiences (which happened in this day and age! Not some obscure era of thousands of years back!), Yohannan wrote:
I can never forget one of the more dramatic encounters we had with these demonic powers...A sizable crowd gathered during one of our street meetings...One young man came up to me ans asked for a book to read. As I talked to him, I sensed in my spirit that he was hungry to know God. When we got ready to climb aboard our Gospel van, he asked to join us.
As the van lurched forward, he cried and wailed. "I am a terrible sinner," he shrieked. "How can I sit among you?" With that he started to jump from the moving van. We held on to him and forced him to the floor to prevent injury.
That night he stayed at our base and the next morning joined us for the prayer meeting. While we were praising and interceding, we heard a sudden scream. The young man was lying on the ground, tongue lolling out of his mouth, his eyes rolled back.
As Christians in a pagan land, we knew immediately he was demon-possessed. We gathered around him and began taking authority over the forces of hell as they spoke through his mouth. " We are 74 of us... .For the past seven years we have made him walk barefoot all over India... . He is ours... ." They spoke on, blaspheming and cursing, challenging us and our authority.
But as three of us prayed, the demons could not keep their hold on the young man. They came out when we commanded them to leave in the name of Jesus.
Sundar John was delivered, gave his life to Jesus and was baptized. Later he went to Bible school for two years. Several native Indian churches have started as a result of his remarkable ministry --
all from a man many people would have locked up in an insane asylum. And there are literally millions of people like him in India.
You were blessed by Jocelyn
