Mission Stories

Feb. 15th, 2003

   “Oh Abigail, why do you have to be fussy right now” I mumbled to myself as I got out of my warm bed to take her from her crib.  Gilbert groggily stated it was midnight as we both tried to soothe our crying baby.  “Did someone just call me Gilbert?” I asked.  We both tried to listen over Abigail’s added noise.  Then I heard it again.  “Melissa, Sister Melissa” the soft voice drifted in the still air.  I recognized it to be Sister Joy calling to me from her bake shop just across the fence in the next pasture.  “She probably heard the baby crying and figures we are awake.  Maybe she wants us to pick up the bread we asked her to bake?”  I said to Gilbert in sleepy confusion.  I knew that many times she would stay up baking through the night for the next day.   She kept calling me in her quiet voice so I cracked our window and answered.  “I have bad feelings Sister Melissa, bad feelings.  Please come over.”  It wasn’t the first time I had been called out as a nurse into the night so I grabbed a flashlight and headed her way.  “What’s wrong” I inquired as I entered the small structure and closed the door behind me.  A flickering kerosene lantern cast a soft glow about the room.  She was sitting in the corner, wrapped in a blanket, holding her head with one hand.  “There are evil spirits in this building and I am very scared.  My husband is in the back dam (a place where they cut wood) and the children and I are alone.  The Devil is trying to come in Melissa and it is giving me bad feelings.  My head is hurting and my skin is sticking up (goosebumps).  We must pray, we must pray.”  She said as she began to cry.  This was not the diarrhea and fever that I was expecting as I felt the hairs on my own neck standing up.  She continued to tell me that something has been walking on her zinc sheeted roof over the last few nights and this time it sounded like footsteps.  It had scared her so she opened her window to call out to us.  Then she saw what she described as “a white, white ghostly thing standing up tall” in front of the school building.  It looked her way and then began to run back and forth on the campus and finally disappeared over the riverbank.  She added that tonight her seven year old son saw an image standing next to his bed with red flowers in its hair.  It wasn’t the first time he had seen images either.  A few days back her boy had found pieces of soap carved into the same flowers just outside the shop and he brought them to her.  She was angry with him for touching these things and made him wash his hands with Jeyes Fluid.  (Jeyes Fluid is a strong disinfectant that many Guyanese use to “ward off evil spirits”.  Supposedly the old saying in the river here is that “the Devil hates a clean place”, therefore they scrub with this solution to keep him away).  Spiritualism has very deep rooted ties in the people of the river, including our fellow church members like Joy.  It is a real battle that we as missionaries contend with constantly.  Therefore, I knew not to make light of her situation or doubt what she had seen.  But I felt I needed some back up on this one so I called for Gilbert to bring a Bible and come over.  After she filled Gilbert in on the situation, he immediately turned to Ephesians 6: 10-18 and we all began to read about putting on the full armor of God.  We ended up having a two hour discussion and Bible study and she came to some very important conclusions.  She realized that her family had not been making time for devotion and prayer and that gave the Devil a foothold in her life. We discussed how the Devil and his angels are always lurking around just waiting for a way to break us down.  We must stay strong in the Lord and always wear his full armor as we go to battle with the evil ones.  After our Bible study we all had a prayer and she said such a sense of calm washed over her mind.  She felt strong again and knew she could sleep peacefully for the remainder of the night.  As we were leaving I mentioned that I was glad she had heard Abby crying and knew to call us over.  “What do you mean; I didn’t hear her cry at all”.  She asked in a puzzled tone.  Just then I realized we might have never heard her call for help had not Abby awakened us because we are both very deep sleepers.  I smiled as I thought of how Jesus uses even a baby’s cry to accomplish his work here in Kimbia. 
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Eph. 6:10-18. NIV

UPDATE:  Joy and her family have sense joined us for two worship sessions of prayer, bible study and singing praises to God in our home.  We hope they will continue to join us.