In My Name They Will Cast Out Demons (Mark 16:17)

Sunday evenings we meet at Angel and Katty’s house for church. Our normal crowd is usually 8-9 adults, several youth and children, along with an assortment of dogs who wander in and out entertaining themselves by barking at every passing vehicle on the nearby street. Due to Covid restrictions, we space ourselves in a circle of plastic chairs out under the stars.  Little did we know how bizarre the evening would end up being.

Maritza, our fellow Ecuadorian missionary partner, shared an evangelistic message. There were a number of first-time visitors who received Christ as Savior. Two of the couples present asked forgiveness of their spouses and children for the way they had acted. It was a beautiful time of reconciliation and healing. A visitor asked a question about baptism. An offering was collected for a sick member who could not afford medication. Our meeting ended about 10:15 pm.

As we were loading the car to go home, an unknown man arrived. Angel introduced the man as "Pedro" reminding us that he was the same Pedro he had asked the church to pray for.  Pedro arrived in a state of visible anxiety and tension.  He looked physically exhausted and said he had come for us to pray for him in that he could no longer bear the load of his troubled life.

Though we were very tired and ready to get back home, Maritza, Linda, and I walked him out to the street and began ministering to him. Maritza, the evangelist, began witnessing to Pedro asking him if he had ever had a personal encounter with Christ.

Pedro seemed confused and unresponsive. There seemed to be some kind of invisible barrier. As we continued to talk I noticed another man headed towards us from down the street. As soon as Pedro saw this person approaching, he pulled a foot-long knife out of his sleeve. In an instant Pedro's countenance transformed into what was clearly a demon-possessed person.  He was filled with hate and rage as he tightly gripped the knife in his hand.

Linda, Maritza and I were only steps away from Pedro who then turned his attention from the other man and directly faced us. We began shouting at Pedro en el Nombre de Jesús to drop the knife!  After a minute or so of him glaring and hissing obscenities, he dropped the knife. I quickly scooped it out of the street and threw it into the back of our car.

For the next 30-minutes, we were in an all-out spiritual battle casting out the demons who were clearly in control of Pedro at that moment. I have never heard such hatred and vitriol coming out of anyone's mouth. Mercifully the Lord blocked our ears from the horrid things the demons were saying. Maritza began to read aloud a Psalm. Other church members including Angel gathered around us to pray. Some began to sing praise songs, but still, nothing was happening with Pedro.  

By then a small crowd of bystanders had gathered out on the street to watch at a distance. Neighbors peered from their windows.  The small band of new believers gathered around us and began singing all the praise songs they knew from our green songbook. The three of us continued to pray over Pedro casting out the demons in Jesus’ Name.  

After some 15-minutes of praying out loud, Scripture reading, and back-to-back songs, Pedro began heaving—as if throwing up—as the demons were expelled from his body. This happened over and over for several more minutes.  When he finally stopped heaving, Martiza asked if he wanted Christ to come into his life. Pedro said yes, and we asked him to pray aloud inviting Christ in and confessing Jesus as Lord. We prayed again over Pedro asking the Lord to forgive his sins, cleanse him, and rid him of any remaining demons that still might be refusing to leave.

Pedro seemed soothed by the singing and kept asking us to “sing another song.”  Not knowing what else to do, we continued to sing and pray as he stood there with his eyes closed soaking in the Spirit’s presence. By this time Pedro was very weak.  Angel and I had to physically hold him upright. 

Finally, though, he collapsed into my arms like a dead man. We gently laid him down in a dry spot on the muddy road. He appeared to be in a deep sleep. After a few more minutes Pedro again opened his eyes but had NO IDEA where he was, or what had happened. It was surreal. He looked all around him and asked who we were and why was he lying in the middle of the road. We calmly explained to him everything he had been through. Everyone was amazed at what they had witnessed—as were we!

I asked two of the men to accompany me in our car to take Pedro home. We set up a time for the following day to visit and follow up on his decision to follow Christ. What transpired during that first visit and other visits is another bizarre story altogether. Suffice it to say, we have seen a dramatic change come over Pedro from that Sunday night to the present! He sleeps with his new Bible and goes out fishing with a new partner who is also a believer.

Last Sunday Angel and I baptized Pedro along with seven others in the ocean a few feet from our back porch. To God be the Glory; great things He hath done!  Please pray for Pedro. He still has many serious issues to deal with in his life and very much needs our prayers.