"Sarah"

We will call her Sarah for the caution’s sake and the delicate nature of her story. Sarah is almost 18 years old and only a freshman in high school. We met her within our first few days at the school; her vibrant and outgoing personality ensured we wouldn’t be there for long before knowing her name and face. Sarah wears the same white head covering to school every day, she is a Muslim. She is always seen socializing, making others laugh and forget the worries of their day. Everyone knows who Sarah is, “I am I” and “Me is Me” as she likes to joke. But at the risk of sounding cliché, something was not right, and there was a deep stirring in my heart that warned me and grew with each additional day spent with her.
I wish I could remember the details of that morning, that I could remember what exactly prompted and guided my conversation with Sarah in such a way that she began to reveal the dark afflictions of her life. She told me of the nights she walks around at night alone through the streets hearing phantom feet following closely behind, only to turn around and find a pair of faceless eyes filled with hate. She told me of the voices that plant evil desires in her heart, sometimes so strongly that she had to walk away so she wouldn’t bring harm to loved ones. She talked of nights she wakes up to something strangling her, something that enters her body and then exits again leaving her empty of all strength, she told me of the restlessness that plagues her and the desperate craving for peace. For one period of time school mates would confront her dangerous actions the previous night to which she would have no memory, and at one point she “woke up” far from home and could not remember her identity, she was put in a children’s home for months. In addition to tormenting nightmares and dark voices, Sarah is plagued by burning headaches and pains throughout her body. In fact sometimes her head burns so intensely that heat pours down to the tips of her head covering. Her parents naturally wanting to relieve their daughters illness sought out any help possible, whether it be the prayers of Muslim priests, “Christian” pastors who required payment, town doctors (witch doctors) and of course hospitals. The Muslim priest only offered false hope, with the pain always returning within a few days, the witch doctors I’m quite certain only gave the enemy a stronger hold on her body, and any visits to true doctors resulted in dead ends, each time doctors and medical tests would tell her the same thing, “There is nothing wrong with you.” This “illness” resulted in years of missing out on school, at times because of her dark behavior, at times because the pain made it nearly impossible to read or take examinations, consequently as mentioned earlier she is only in the 9th grade. She remains physically present but is rarely mentally engaged in the academia, as Sarah put it, “It’s useless, all I am is here, I am present, but I cannot learn, I cannot move forward, I can go nowhere,” hopelessness overwhelmed her attempt to smile. I am not one to jump to supernatural explanations for every hardship faced in life, however I believe those of us on the trip were all in agreement that the presence of the demonic affliction was the reality and to ignore it would only be give the enemy more power.
We continued to sit and talk with her in the hallway of the First Love office, she began to cry, and ashamed of her tears attempted to change the subject. Bethany and I both responded asking if we could step inside one of the private offices and offer her prayer. She accepted and we stepped into the small room and closed the door. I knew there was demonic attack occurring in her life, we had just happened to be reading a book on spiritual warfare, and I knew the Lord had been preparing us to meet Sarah. Attempting to quiet our hearts before the Lord, Bethany and I both seemed to be on the same page. We would wait to discuss with Steve and Pastor Rick about what we had heard in regards to the demons, for now we would pray for healing over her head. We would pray in faith, pray that God would reveal His power and love, and that the burning would stop. Bethany laid hands on her head, and I began to pray, next Bethany prayed. I don’t know how long we prayed for exactly, but as we finished, she looked up at us, peace beginning to show, “Thank you,” she said smiling, “I feel better.” She explained that her head was no longer burning, we felt her head, not only was the heat gone, but it was almost cold, Bethany later told me that she felt a cooling sensation moving from her fingers onto Sara’s head.
God is good, He is merciful, loving, and powerful. He is the healer of all wounds. He cares and He hears our prayers. This happened only our second week and we just now finished writing about it. Much has happened since, and I am confident that there is more to come. The war is not over, but what joy we have to know that we serve a victorious God. We want to continue to love her and to live in the reality of God’s truth that perfect love casts out fear, and that we have authority in Christ. Please pray for boldness, discernment, wisdom, strength, love, time spent with the Lord, and protection. We will update you soon.