June 2020

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man , it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.  Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came”; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.  Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.”  Matt 12:43-45a.  

This month I feel it would be good to share a testimony about a family that God delivered at our medical clinic.  It is not uncommon for God to show up in miraculous ways like this, but because we have a full-time chaplain I am not always present to witness the miracles myself.    

Jenny with her husband and their baby 

On a Monday toward the beginning of June, I was leading the clinic through Proverbs 31 in our morning devotions.  When I was close to wrapping up, one of our patients (who I will call Jenny) came down the hall toward us, slithering like a snake, and then stopped just outside of our gathering.  Jenny had been admitted three days before for severe malaria and her husband was also admitted with us because he had been bitten by a cobra.  When we had finished our closing prayer, I knelt down in front of her to talk to her but found her completely unconscious.  After placing Jenny in a wheelchair and laying her in her room, we decided to sing and pray over her.  As the name of Jesus was sung, her unconscious body began convulsing and attempting to slither away from my friend and me.  We prayed over her for ten to twenty minutes, and when we commanded the demons to leave her she opened her eyes and sat up wondering where she was and how she had gotten there.  That day our team spent hours sharing with her and her husband, and she shared that the demons had taken up residence in her body back in 2014.

The next day I was invited back into our ward by a friend to come to lead to the Lord an elderly couple whom he had been sharing with the night before.  As we came close, we saw Jenny collapse to the ground just outside of the Patients Kitchen.  We then followed the same procedure as the day before, and again she started convulsing and trying to flee whenever she heard the name of the Lord.  But God prevailed again, and within 40 minutes she was delivered.  My friend and I shared the Gospel with her but in her state of stupor, Jenny didn’t give her life to the Lord.  However, by the grace of God, many of our other patients had come to watch and we took the opportunity to gather them in the adjacent room and preach the Gospel.  The elderly couple whom we had originally come for surrendered their lives to Jesus, and the other patients were encouraged.  

That Saturday, at the request of Jenny’s husband, Luke Buescher and I organized a team from among our staff to travel to the family’s home (the next village over) and preach the Gospel.  Our team was warned that this family was hostile to the Word and had been a hindrance to the previous outreaches in that area.  But God had prepared their hearts, and for the most part, we found them ready to receive.  By the end of our time there, many were freed from demonic oppression and a large number of the family, including Jenny, came to salvation!  

“Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  Matt 12:29
For my birthday celebration I got to share a nice meal with the community around us, with this 6 1/2 lb cane rat as the main dish!
Noelle was privileged to paint this art piece for the Terebinth School of Discipleship.
Emma playing with our dog Rocky.
In Christ,
Matt, Noelle, Emma, Madeline and Noah