The Battle For One Soul

Several months ago, I shared a blog post with you entitled: “When the Devil Came To Church.” This blog was a description of a series of events that occurred on my 2012  mission trip to Nepal involving a young girl by the name of Maya.

This blog was the 1st blog post that I had written, dealing exclusively with the topic of demon possession as I experienced it in Nepal. Since that blog post was  written, much has transpired. Many people have been asking about the progress of Maya, I thought now would be the best time  to share an update with you, while some of the recent occurrences were still fresh in my memory.

In order to share with you her progress in a clearer light, it might do well for me to rehash some of the circumstances that brought me and Maya together.

In a previous blog, I shared some time ago that on one Sabbath day, I visited a local church to preach after accepting the invitation from a friend of mine. During the church service 2 individuals became possessed by evil spirits, one of whom was a then 12 year old girl by the name of Maya. This young girl was a most severe case of devil possession, as she would unexpectedly become vexed by demonic spirits from time to time . At the time of her 1st meeting,  she was just starting to come to church to seek deliverance, but she could not sit through 1 church service peacefully without having a possession episode. Maya shared with me that she had been having these occurrences now for some years, after a woman visited one of the most powerful Shaman in Nepal and set the demons on her in order to kill her, and ruin her life.

To all appearance the woman was successful in her work, as Maya was both  feared and hated by most of the people in her local community. She was a fatherless girl, with a mother who was struggling at the bottom of the Nepali poverty line just to sustain life. She could not attend any schools, as she could be plunged into a satanic fit at any time, without warning. These fits could last from as little as a few minutes at a time to more than 1 full day. During these times, she would scream and wail  in fear and agony, with such horrifying tones, that I believe  Steven King in all of his horrific brilliance could not duplicate such a demonstration. She would foam at the mouth, bite, kick and wail with every kind of imaginable animalistic and even inhuman sounds during these times. She could also boast a supernatural satanic strength, that it would take at least 3 Nepali men to contain this girl. To all appearance, when in this state of demon possession, besides her visible physical characteristics, it might have seemed as though all trace of humanity might  have vanished from her, at the time I first witnessed this, she seemed more animal than human to me.

Maya’s mother had spent all of her meager earnings going from 1 shaman to the next, offering sacrifices of the blood of chickens, and goats in order to appease the demons, but without avail. She had tried every possible remedy, from every possible source, but nothing could stop the satanic fits. Her older brother at times beat her with metal rods and different objects to remove the devils from her, she has been almost drowned at times in order to remove the spirits, she has been cut, lacerated, beaten, pushed down stairs, tortured, all without reprieve.  Several times she was admitted to hospital, after sustaining broken bones, and life threatening blows to the body from her brother. Some of the family members decided that it would be best just to kill her, since they could find no cure for her.  Maya also drank different kinds of insect and rodent poisons on different occasions, but each time she was rushed to the hospital before dying, and was again resuscitated. She could not live, but it seemed that she could not die either. At the time of our first meeting, she was a miserable and pathetic case indeed. While at home, she was sick, malnourished, and sometimes did not bathe for days at a time. She was totally an uncared for, unloved, unwanted  young 12 year old girl.  Even Maya’s mother did not want to be bothered with her anymore, because she could not even go to work most of the days to provide food for the family. The mother was stuck at home for many days at a time, trying to keep Maya from hurting herself. They had been evicted from place after place because of the girl’s Satanic fits, and now she was finally at her wits end when we met. After hearing all these things,I was moved in my heart with a deep yearning pity as I have seldom experienced in my Christian walk . Without even consulting Marion my wife, I accepted custody of Maya, and tried my level best to make the wrongs in her life right at all cost.

The woman who placed the evil spirit on Maya asked the spirits to kill her in 6 years. Satan told Maya that 4 years had passed and that she had only 2 more years to live, and then he would kill her. Upon hearing this testimony my sense of pity turned to righteous indignation. Was Jesus not ruler over all? Had he not shed His blood for all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam? Why then was this allowed to happen to a young innocent child? I asked Maya did she believe in Jesus, and she said yes. I promised her that though others had failed in securing deliverance for, I pledged to her that Jesus is all powerful and would deliver her from all of the evil spirits.

From my previous blog dealing with this subject, many might have had the impression that such an encounter was just a mere formality for me, but nothing could be further for the truth. Let me just say for the record that dealing with a devil possessed person was one of the greatest challenges that I have ever faced in my spiritual walk. From watching movies, it may seem to viewers that all one needs to do is recite a few prayers, sprinkle a bit of holy water, and raise a wooden crucifix, and then things come to a brief, but noisy end. That my friend was not the case at all.

Many people as they see Hinduism with its plethora of gods,  Buddhism with all of its enchanting incantation, and  as they view the brilliantly decorated spirit houses of Animism, are tempted to view these religions as a kind of ancient, mystical hocus-pocus. Many westerners view these religions as a kind of a free, mind liberating, new age experience, that is good spiritually enhancement if you have an open mind. As a fellow westerner, let me say from my personal experiences, that hundreds of millions of human beings are captivated in these religions, and forms of worship because of the  tremendous, captivating powers that are associated with them. The powers of darkness rule with a relentless tyranny, those who are caught in its snares, and unless God interposes on your behalf, there is no escape. Though a person may be educated, refined, and even sophisticated, if given full control, the powers of darkness can wholly consume and devour those caught in it’s snare. An intelligent man or woman can become bereft of his (or) her reason, and can be tormented by these  unseen forces.

I very much wanted to help Maya to get free from the evil spirits who were controlling her life. But, in order to achieve this, I would have to expose myself to a side of the Great Controversy that quite frankly, I knew nothing about. I found myself in completely new and uncharted territory.  My friends and I prayed earnestly for Maya, but we were unsuccessful in our initial efforts to free this girl. I fasted, prayed, confessed my sins, and wept many tears as I had not done before in my entire christian life. A young girl’s life was at stake, many of the local church members were looking to me for advice, but I could not find the way for full deliverance for Maya. During these trying days, I spent several nights in bible reading, and prayer for myself, as I felt a kind of presence trying to disturb me at nights while I slept in my room, such was the conflict in which I was engaged in in Nepal. Maya herself said to me tearfully one day: “dad, it’s too late for me, no one can help me, and I’ve gone too far, it’s too late.” I replied that “with Jesus it is never late, just believe.”  Then she replied to my surprise in colloquial American language “It’s too late man, it’s too late, there’s no hope.” I knew that it was not her, but Satan trying to discourage me. Immediately I dismissed her suggestions to me. A few times I wondered  if God would ever give us the victory in the battle, it seemed like the more I prayed, the more more severe and violent her episodes got. In my whole spiritual life I had never felt so utterly, and completely helpless as I did during this time in Nepal. No friend, no connection, no church leader, only God could help me, and all I could do was pray continually.  I felt like a small hammer, hammering away at a colossal mountain of darkness.

In retrospect, I believe that God could have answered my prayer immediately as I prayed, but He wanted to test my faith in Him, and teach me a lesson about the power of evil and how serious were  it’s consequences.

After a titanic struggle, God gave us the victory in the battle for the life of this young girl. I am happy to report today that Maya is now attending a local SDA school and boarding hostel and is now doing quite well. God has set her free from the evil spirits that plagued her life in times past, despite the odds that seemed stacked against her. She is still assisting my friend and partner in Nepal Mr. Bhaju Ram in the correction and editing of the Sabbath School Quarterly in Nepal.  Maya is now quite active in the local church, where she assists in song service and Thursday evening prayer meetings. Her mom and brother were once staunch Hindus who hated all Christians, but now, because of Maya’s great deliverance, they now believe in the power of Jesus and now attend the local SDA church. The mother especially is a faithful member, who regularly attends Sabbath service.  Maya comes from a very strong Hindu community, but she has reported to me that many people from her local District now believe in Jesus. They believe because of her great deliverance, they have seen the power of the God who can take a person who the society has written off as dead, and give them new life. They believe because Maya has escaped from the spell of Nepal’s top Shaman, a man who even the king of Nepal used to revere for his satanic skill and power. They believe because they have seen that the God whom the Christians worship, has “all power, both in heaven and in Earth” Matthew 28:18. Maya has mentioned to us that she has a dream to one day re-visit her old community, and distribute Christ centered literature to her neighbors from times past.

If all that was shared wasn’t enough, I am pleased to inform you that Maya was baptized on this past Sabbath in a rural district. Upon my arrival to Nepal, she had expressed a longing to be baptized, as she really wanted to wash her sins away. She had been a house maid in different homes from the time she was 6 years old. As a fatherless child she had suffered abused of every unspeakable kind, she had be trained in witchcraft by one of her owners at one time, and at last was demon possessed for years, and left for dead. But now God had set her free, and she wanted to wash her sins away.

On Sabbath, just before we were to make our way to the baptismal site to honor her wish, unexpectedly, a tremendous down pour came upon us. It is still winter time, and I am told that rainy season should not begin for another 2 months, yet here was a great, unexpected shower. We weren’t sure just what  to do, but I just prayed and waited, and before long, the rains had subsided enough where we could go forward. After about 2 hours of travel by a hired  bus, we arrived at the baptismal site. The bus was loaded from front to back with church members from various churches in our district. Many of these church members had joined us with hearts and voices as we were praying for deliverance for Maya. I feared to get her baptized in the local river as it is winter time here  and the temperature on that day was about 50-60 degrees outside, but to my utter amazement, the temperature in the water was quite warm to the touch, as it was coming up from underground springs. Though it was a natural phenomenon for the Nepalese, I thought it a special blessing from God to us.

I want to extend a special thank you to the readers of the blog who prayed for Maya during this tremendous ordeal. Please know that your prayers helped to avail much in her behalf, and that this victory is your victory as well. It has been almost 1 ½ years since I accepted charge of Maya, and placed her in Adventist boarding school. I want to also extend a hearty thank you to all those who contributed financially, which helped us to adopt this child and give her a second chance, May God richly bless you all.  Please keep us in your prayers, as we continually seek to reach every nation, kindred, tongue and people for Christ.

Below are some before and after pictures, view prayerfully:

This Was The Case 2 Years Ago

Maya And Her family