Larry & I were working with a ministry in Argentina who had a "deliverance week". Now, I had read about deliverance in the Bible but had never seen it done before. So, this "week" had me a little on edge to begin with and things went very amuck. At least in my thinking. People who were "getting delivered" screamed 24/7 for days because they couldn't get the demons out (turned out they forgot to get the person saved first) and other people got "stuck". I hadn't know you could get stuck. Anyway. With all this going on and the deep compassion of the ages welling up in my heart it was a rough week for me. I stayed curled up in the little grey boxcar (see picture below) that was our house for hours on end crying for people and not wanting to ever have to deliver someone....quite sure I wold fail if it was that difficult.
So! After this tramatizing week my dear friend Teresa, an American who's husband was in Argentina on business, had the brilliamt idea that we should go to the Annacondia service that was going on that night. I knew Don Carlos was the deliverance minister in Argentina and I had had quite enough of that type of ministry. Larry, being not so helpful, thought going would be a great idea. So. Off we went.
The service was so packed that we ended up in the overflow room. And, for real, you could feel the electrified air even in overflow, which put me even more on edge. But, then, as nothing particularly...uh..."exciting" happened during the sermon I started to relax and take in what was happening in the room.
There was a woman in front of me that I felt the Lord was asking me to pray for. I shook it off convinced I was not really "hearing God". But towards the end of the service Teresa leaned over and said "I really think God is telling me to pray for that woman." Of course, it was the same woman. O great, I thought, now I have to pray for someone. Oh well. No harm in just praying for someone, I guess. So I told Teresa the truth that I had sensed the same thing.
We were all standing by now so I reached out, placed my hand on her head and opened my mouth to pray something safe like Jesus, please bless this woman but had only said Jesus when she suddenly manifested a demon, threw herself onto the floor at my feet thrashing around and slinging chairs everywhere. And me? Did I do the wonderful, Godly ministery thing and try to get the demon out? Oh no...I stopped breathing then yelled Oh S*@#! at the top of my voice (thankfully in English) and bolted out the door.
God is merciful, however, and Teresa told me that the official deliverance team came and helped her. I, though, swore I would never again be involved in deliverance much less with any Argentina people.
Fast forward to APS July 2004 or 2005. We have a class deliverance training. I suck it up and decide to go. And in God's never-ending sense of humor, (He just will not let the thing rest!) the person teaching the deliverance seminar had been trained....you guessed it...by the Annacondia people. Ah well! :)
(so for those of you who wonder what all the giggling was about in the seminar...now you know...it was the amusement of those who had heard this story!!)
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