I’m Living in the Movies I Was Always Too Scared to Watch

Growing up I was always terrified of horror movies, particularly ones that focused on the exorcisms of demons. I did not want to believe that an evil spiritual world existed, and so I ignored it. I had read the word demons in the Bible but I never really paid any attention to it. If you were to ask me three weeks ago, I would have said demons don’t exist because I had never had any experience with them and I didn’t really want to believe it. If someone had tried to talk to me about demons 3 weeks ago, I would have questioned whether they were sane or not because it is just something that is so far out there! Unfortunately, I was wrong.

In Colombia (especially rural Colombia) and many third-world countries, the practice of witchcraft has a large presence in the communities. It is well known in these communities that if you have an issue with someone you can seek out a “witch” who can put curses on people, create a voodoo doll for that person, etc. In doing this, the “witch” is actually channeling demons into that person they are trying to curse. (I know it may sound pretty out there, but stay with me.) As a result of this and other factors such as idolatry and even Satanic worship, we have witnessed a large demonic presence within Colombia. The first time I was a part of an exorcism was three weeks ago. I went into it thinking that demons didn’t exist and that my team and I would say a prayer and be on our way. Upon arriving, I didn’t feel any different but as soon as we began praying for this girl, I could barely speak. I found it extremely difficult to form any coherent sentence or thought despite being just fine 10 seconds before that. It was like something was interfering with my brain and I had to try my hardest just to think logically. While we were praying, the girl we were praying for just collapsed out of the blue. She came to after about a minute of us praying for her, but that was when I realized there may be more to this than I originally thought. In addition to this, the family owned a dog and the dog was going nuts. Whenever we tried to touch the dog it tried to bite us and displayed a hatred towards us that I had never seen before in anything. It sounded weird to me that demons existed let alone the fact that a demon could be in a dog, but when one of my team members said, “In the name of Jesus, I command you to leave.” (referring to the demon in the dog), the dog was immediately calm and peaceful to the point that my team could pet him and he even was licking their hands (Not me, though. I was not going anywhere near that dog!) It was the strangest thing I had ever experienced in my life and I left the apartment so confused and, if I’m being honest, scared because I began to confront the fact that demons may actually exist.

Five days later, we went to another town which we were warned was known for its belief in witchcraft and demon possession. We were to go to the one of the churches that our host pastors, and speak to the congregation. After the service, my team and I got into a circle and began praying for a woman who was uncontrollably dancing/jerking around during the service.  When we began praying, she immediately began coughing uncontrollably and vomiting onto the floor. We tried to ask her what was going on but she could not speak and was making choking noises. My first thought was that we should call an ambulance, but our pastor informed us that this was nothing more than the demon inside of her not allowing her to speak and trying to incite chaos and panic. After about 30 minutes of intense prayer, she began to calm down and regained the ability to speak. After this experience, I couldn’t deny it anymore; demons were alive and real and God had put me in a spot where I was going to be forced to learn not only how to cast them out, but to put aside the fear that I had been walking in.

Two days after that incident, we met with an entire family at the same church. The family was having some issues and finally had agreed to all meet to settle their difference. We opened with prayer and within 10 seconds there was another girl puking on the floor. Not long after that, another woman started screaming at the top of her lungs. 10 minutes after that the woman I was praying for began puking on the floor. 5 minutes after that another woman was writhing around in her chair as one of my team members prayed for her. This was the first time I had witnessed multiple exorcisms at once and it was one of the most intense things I have ever seen, and I have to say it was pretty creepy when the woman began screaming at the top of her lungs. The girl who initially began puking started trying to wrestle away from one of my other team members. The woman who started screaming said she felt like she was burning, and at the same time the other two women were still puking and squirming around in their chairs. After about 20 minutes more of prayer, all of the victims began calming down and were able to regain consciousness. (Side note: During these exorcisms, many (but not all) of the victims pass out and don’t remember what happens. At this point, it is the demon inside of them taking control of their body which allows their bodies to have an unnatural strength. Also, the demon does not care about their host’s body so they will do everything they can to get away even if it means breaking the bones, tearing ligaments, etc.) In a span of 7 days, I went from not believing in demons to having to personally cast one out of a woman. I asked for God to grow and develop me, but I did not expect it to be in this way.

The last story I will share was from 5 days ago. Our pastor/host took us to one of his church members’ houses, where she was having trouble with her family. We ate dinner with them, talked with them, and then began praying for them. As we were praying, it became clear that 4 of the people in the room were demon possessed to some extent. What I describe next will be from my point-of-view only because I was too wrapped up in one exorcism to pay attention to the rest. As we began praying, I felt led to pray for this teenage boy who I could just sense had deep levels of resentment/hate about something. As I began praying for him, he began to wobble a little bit, and with the help of my teammates prayers also, he went down. When we began praying directly for any demons that he may have in him to make themselves known, he went berserk. This was probably a 100 pound teenage boy and it took 3-4 grown men to hold him down over the next 3 hours as we tried to cast out any and all demons who may have possessed him. This was definitely the most challenging exorcism we were a part of because it seemed like we weren’t making any progress. During the course of those 3 hours of wrestling with this boy, I was one of the ones holding him down and I began speaking to him in English. We were having trouble and so I decided to stop trying to address the boy and address Satan directly instead, in English to a Spanish speaking child. I whispered into this boy’s ear, “Satan, you have no authority here. We are casting you out in Jesus’ name and where the light exists, darkness must flee.” Upon saying this the boy’s eyes immediately rolled back into his head and he began smiling in the creepiest way imaginable. Picture the creepiest, most demonic sounding voice and that is how he responded to me, and keep in mind he was responding in English out of a Spanish speaking child’s body, “No. No, you’re lying. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Month 1 and I am having a conversation in English with Satan/a demon, not what I expected. After this, I began trying to continue to have a conversation with Satan/this demon in English, but the demon began to hide again and try to escape using the boy’s body. Eventually, we did cast some of the demons out of him to the point that he could regain consciousness. Sometimes there was only so much we could do. After all, God gave everyone their own free will and so if these people weren’t willing to submit to him, then they weren’t going to experience complete liberation. 

There are many more stories and details that I would love to share about our experiences with demons and exorcisms, but there is just too much to fit into a blog. The pastor we stayed with was an amazing resource for us to learn as much as possible on this subject, and the best part was he had the scripture to back up everything that he told us. What you need to know is that if you are a believer, there is nothing to be afraid of. We have learned and experienced for ourselves that demons cannot harm you if you are a follower of Christ. As I mentioned at the start of the blog, I used to be terrified of horror movies and demons. After the many experiences that God has allowed me to be a part of, I know that I don’t need to walk in fear, but rather I can walk in the authority that God has given me and given all of those who believe in him! God has brought me to the point where I actually enjoy exorcising demons from people (Is that weird?). It is always an intense battle and it is so liberating to walk in the authority that Jesus has given his followers/disciples! “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)

If you have any questions about this topic or anything else, please let me know and I will do my best to provide an answer! I know it is a subject that we don’t experience or talk much about in the United States and so I encourage you to ask questions if you don’t believe or are confused about what I have written!