It is hard to keep things positive when so much darkness is at work in the world. We would hardly be responsible missionary correspondents without including the gory parts of the testimony. One such story began with a girl whose countenance was desperate as Cindy and I tried to console her. Names have been changed to protect those involved. A young lady, we will call Tanya, told us this story:

One of her classmates, we will call Gail, was talking to her grandmother In their home village over the Christmas break. Gail told her grandmother, a voodoo witch doctor, that she felt stupid in class and wished she was smarter.

“Who is the smartest girl in your class?” the grandmother inquired. 

“Tanya,” Gail replied.

“Bring me something personal of hers along with one of her textbooks, and place this charm somewhere near her sleeping place, and all her mental energy will be transferred to you. You will know what she studies, and her mind will be yours.”

Gail, allegedly a Christian, and an orphan in a well-known Christian child rescue, followed the instructions of the voodoo witch and pronounced the curse over Tanya, her victim. 

Tanya came to Cindy and me, crying, and complaining that the spell has made her befuddled and desperate. She can find no reason to continue studying since her memory is gone and her mind is going to thieves anyway. “What is the point of trying anymore if my mind is not my own? I would be better off dying!”

Cindy and I reminded Tanya to whom she belongs, the incredible price that was paid for her redemption -- not just at the Judgment -- but now, and what victory in Jesus means. We were careful to acknowledge her fears about the dark forces of evil, which are well known in Africa, but tried to rejoice with her for being on the winning team that has defeated all such darkness. We prayed over her, breaking the curse in Jesus’ name. We prayed for her to walk in that victory as to have her faith strengthened. We prayed for God to dispatch His heavenly host to protect her and keep her from harm. We prayed for the restoration of her mind, and the courage to continue her studies. We prayed for the restoration of her emotions, that faith in her Lord Jesus Christ would overcome the fear of the black magic that had been set against her.

We continue to pray for her and encourage her as we get the opportunity. We would ask that you also pray for this young girl whose real name God knows full well. 

Since we left, Tanya’s body was attacked with malaria, and her local clinic was out of the medications she needed for three days before her treatment finally began. Tanya has been attacked socially, and several girls, including Gail, have made it impossible for her to receive any comfortable fellowship from the girls she normally calls her friends. The devourer loves to find his prey isolated, and I am praying that Tanya finds fellowship somewhere, someplace where she can openly pour out her emotions, cares, and prayers. She has a prayer warrior in her home village but does not have open contact with this woman regularly. 

According to the prayer warrior at home, the entire family has been attacked by the spells of this witch. Tanya’s cousin was cursed and suddenly was hospitalized after a roadway traffic accident crushed his left arm, hip, and leg. One of the witch’s messengers sent word that blood from this family would soon be collected in the form of death. The intended target family came together in Christian prayer to break the curse and bless the broken boy, who remains on bed rest in the hospital. The prayer warrior recommended that Tanya begin to pray for her persecutor, like Jesus said (Matthew 5:43), and be good to her in hopes that she escapes the trap of the Devil who has taken her captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:25-26). 

Clearly, this lady has sharpened her Sword of the Spirit more than once. We would do well to re-read Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to get our own battling orders. 

For those who doubt the power of black magic, let me just ask, what victory does a Christian celebrate who does not believe in the powers of darkness? Ephesians 6:12 makes it clear that the heavenly realms are where our real battles are being fought:

"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." (NIV)