My previous blog was an overview of what we did in Ethiopia. In this blog I would like to share a testimony of something incredible that I had the opportunity to be a part of during our time in Ethiopia. Although this story is not mine to share, so in an effort to steward it well I will keep some details descrete.
Before coming to Ethiopia, our leadership let us know to walk in with open hands because it was going to be different than what we had experienced so far in Asia. Going into Africa,I knew the culture was going to be different and that the people would have different perspectives. With that in mind, Ethiopia was vibrant and energetic, so I would love to go back there one day.
This story is of a little girl from Testimony 25:40 who has experienced spiritual oppression. During our time with the kids God helped us to walk her through deliverance.
During our first week in Ethiopia, we went to the Testimony 25:40 house and met all of the kids. When we got to the house, we introduced ourselves, the kids introduced themselves, and then we went back home. Later that day we went and played football with them at the field. After we had left from the field to go home and cook dinner, our host came to the guest house and in his arms was one of
the little girls. Our host asked us to pray for her because she wasn’t feeling well, so we all gathered around her and started to pray. After we started praying over her she started to scream and thrash. That’s when we realized that this wasn’t a physical ailment, but a spiritual one. We continued praying and started to cast out whatever was oppressing her. After a few minutes, she came back into consciousness. Our host shared with us a little bit more about her story and what had just happened.
Mark 9 was brought up by Michael (my teammate) as the Lord had brought it to his mind, and another teammate had read it that morning and we found out that the other team read it. Which says that this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.
So all 7 of us on our team decided to fast for this little girl and then pray over her again at the end of our fast for deliverance. We fasted food for three days and prayed continuously and intentionally. There were challenging times throughout the fast but it brought me so much closer to God and He used that time to break strongholds in my life as well. After we finished fasting, we had the little girl back over to our house so we could pray for her. Before praying we asked her some questions about salvation and if she knew God. During that conversation she 
accepted God as her Lord and savior. Praise God! This was so exciting and there is nothing more powerful than the Holy Spirit and choosing God as your savior.
After she had accepted Christ our team started to pray over her and she started screaming. She was screaming the same phrase in Amharic (her native Ethiopian language) over and over again. After a little while she woke up. After a bit, the person we were with asked her a couple questions about what had happened. Later on we learned that what she was screaming was “I’m burning, l’m burning” and then right at the end what we can only assume was a demon, screamed “I’m leaving.”
This was the first experience I have had like this. And I’m not gonna lie when we prayed over her the first time, I wasn’t completely sure what was happening but I just knew I needed to pray. Then I realized how much people can be oppressed and how hard it can be. But through the hard He shows up in our prayers, our fasting, in our personal walk, and in so much more. A big change I saw come from this was the little girl’s actions and demeanor before and after the deliverance. She went from a fearful, reserved girl to a vibrant, joyful, and relational little girl. God is moving in her heart and in her life and it is so evident. Through this experience, I grew in my personal walk with the Lord by becoming more aware of the way the spiritual realm works and how deeply it can affect people.
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