Spiritual Warfare

It is impossible not to talk about evil spirits in a country known for Voodoo.
There is definitely something very dark going on in this country.

Because of my upbringing, I am forced to think logically and rationally. Though I accept the existence of demonic forces, I only associate them with things that are, in my mind, blatantly not of or from God. For example, temptations, evil thoughts, evil actions, etc - some of these are a result of my own human weaknesses, and some of these are from evil forces. Demonic possessions and the likes, though I accept them, cause me to be skeptical and I try to reason through them physically. Perhaps it is physical sickness - retardation - epilepsy. Or the occurrence is a hoax. This world, in my mind, is rigidly fixed with physical laws that must be followed. My mind is engineered to assume these physical laws as unbendable and unbreakable.

Etienne, and many other Haitians, think otherwise. And they give eyewitness accounts of these experiences. Voodoo priests turning to beasts or wild animals, dancing through a barrage of gunfire, turning to dust and floating away, sacrificing babies, etc. Demonic possession itself is the most mundane of events. It is an everyday event. In the countryside, Etienne claims, there are places gripped by Voodoo spirits where one in three are possessed. So let's reason through that. Does that mean one in three in the countryside are physically retarded? One in three are epileptic? One in three just bad people?

Pastor Brian also experienced these things, even here at the Vision Center. Etienne, Pastor Brian's assistant, lives in a small house in the back of the Vision Center. Land properties in Haiti are clearly sectioned off by thick cement walls that are about 10 feet high and studded with sharp metal or glass at the top. Even the front entrance is a 9 foot high metal gate with spikes on top. It is nearly impossible for someone to climb into the Vision Center. Moreover, Chris, Pastor Brian's dog is a fine watch dog.

One morning, Etienne called Pastor Brian to come to the back to his house. When he got there, Etienne pointed to a hole in the ground, about 6 inches in diameter, and about an arm's length deep. The ground is made of cement. Inside the hole, Etienne found a candle on a stand. There was no indication that someone had climbed over the wall, took the time to break through the cement to dig a hole, and left. They would've heard it - the hammering to break the cement. Chris would've barked.

Etienne is convinced that this was the doing of a Voodoo priest - not that a Voodoo priest climbed over the wall - but that a Voodoo priest ordained this event through spirits.

See, the local Voodoo practitioners weren't happy when Pastor Brian came into town. For the first few months, Voodoo practitioners would come late in the night to the front gate of the Vision Center to pray and put curses on the Vision Center.

As I heard this story, my mind instantly tried to dismantle the story - someone MUST have climbed over. Chris MUST have been given food or something to chew on to not bark. But what about digging through the cement? What about the hole and displaced soil? What about the candle? Humanly possible? I don't know.

Pastor Brian has a bunch of other stories where he encountered evil spirits. Of Shaman priests knowing at first glance that he was a pastor, of the same priests dancing on swords and broken glass. Of others knowing Pastor Brian's exact thoughts. Of exorcisms both successful and unsuccessful.

I don't know.

What I do know, though, is that Jesus Christ reigns over the physical laws that hold this earth rigidly, or maybe loosely, in place. Along with those physical laws, Jesus' reign extends completely over those demonic forces that seek to control. So basically, I know who is in charge. That's all I know, and that's all I'm sure of.

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

(Luke 11:24-26)