Chapter 10
10.
"Everybody, Pastor Tiago has something to say to us," Allie raised her voice above the others the next evening.
All eyes turned to the tall, older pastor and Alzira. "Our church has been going through a terrible struggle," Alzira translated what Pastor Tiago said. "We have faced much persecution from those around us." Pastor Tiago was about five foot eleven inches, in his fifties, and looked to be in good health for his age. "You have brought God's anointing to us and have strengthened us. I want to thank-you for that. We are truly grateful!"
Clapping and "Amens" circulated the little classroom as the Global Awakening team heard the answer to their prayers. When it quieted down Allie turned to Alzira, "Will you tell him that we have been feeling like something like that has been going on. It is encouraging to hear that confirmation."
Pastor Tiago left and Pastor Rod prayed a blessing over the meal. "I think since Izabel is preaching tonight it would be best if the rest of us just stay up here, so someone doesn't have to translate for us. That way she will be able to flow in the Spirit more easily," Allie announced as they all began to eat. The agreement was practically unanimous.
So that night those who couldn't speak Portuguese stayed up in the little classroom to intercede. Heaven broke loose in that church, July 13, 2005! God finally blessed their diligent prayers. The passionate fire of God was in Izabel's every word. Her voice carried up to the prayer warriors in that little room. There was no denying that God's Spirit was flowing in that place.
At one point, towards the end of Izabel's sermon, Lydia and Natalia went out to the small balcony that overlooked the sanctuary. The sight was truly amazing! If one didn't believe in the power of the Lord Almighty it would be impossible to believe this was the same congregation that had been in this church the first night. The first night it had seemed like they were barely entering into worship; now most of them were out of their chairs groaning, hollering, and laughing under the Holy Spirit's anointing.
"It looks like God broke through that barrier Allie talked about," Lydia smiled leaning against the ledge enjoying the sight.
"Mmmhhhmmm," Natalia agreed. She turned to go down the steps with the rest, Lydia following behind her.
A man with a little girl, who was two at the oldest, came up to Lydia. Lydia caught Alzira by the arm. "Can you ask him what he wants prayer for?"
"He wants you to bless his daughter," Alzira replied and then hurried off to help others. It was often that way. Unless you had someone who you really needed to keep up verbal contact with, the translator stayed only long enough to communicate the prayer need, if you were even that fortunate.
"Vem, Senhor. Vem." Lydia prayed placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl retreated farther into her father's arms. Lydia couldn't blame her. This was all probably strange and frightening from a two-year-old's point of view.
Lydia alternated between praying the simple Portuguese prayers she knew and blessing the girl with wonderful things in English. With no interpreter to give her aid, she just trusted that Jesus would reveal the content of her words. When she had blessed the girl with everything she could think of she gave a friendly smile to the father and daughter and walked off pray for others.
In one corner Allie, Natalia, and Savoy were praying for a girl and the girl was thrashing around and screaming. As Lydia approached she sensed something was not right. An oppressive, evil atmosphere hung in that corner. It was a major contrast to the joyful, Holy Spirit filled air that filled the rest of the church. It was creepy how real and forbidding it felt.
"What's going on?" Lydia whispered to Natalia who was standing up but had her hand held out to the girl curled on the floor.
"The girl was sexually abused when she was a child, never forgave the man, and now is demon-possessed." Natalia explained. Allie was kneeling beside the girl's head, softly talking to her and commanding the spirit to submit when it would start to manifest. Savoy had his hand on the girl's hip.
"Savoy do you know what you are doing?" Lydia thought biting her lip uncertainly. Where that might not have been that bad of a thing if she had needed prayer for something else, sexual abuse would make that a very offensive position.
All of a sudden the girl thrashed out at him with an unearthly screech. An iron claw of fear gripped Lydia's heart. There was so much of a contrast between that scream and the scream of someone who was under the power of the Holy Spirit that there was no way to even compare it. It was like nothing Lydia had ever heard. "Sorry, Sorry," the girl pleaded now in a normal voice.
"In the name of Jesus, I command you to submit," Allie ordered the evil spirit. "Shh. It wasn't you, sweetheart. We understand that," Allie soothed, stroking the girl's black curls. "Savoy, maybe you should go." Savoy gave an understanding nod and got up to leave.
As scared as Lydia was, she reminded herself that her God was bigger and knelt down beside the girl. The girl was around nineteen and had a nasty scar above her right eye. Lydia laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and began to pray in tongues under her breath.
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Oh why wouldn't it stop and just leave her alone! She didn't even know what the "it" was, yet she was scared out of her mind! On top of that frantic fear, was an intense hatred that was eating her alive!
Every time she thought about that man in the dark alleyway, the "it" attacked her with such a ferocity that the rest of the world disappeared and that was all she could think of. "It" was alive and bent on destroying her. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be free from this monster!
"It" had control of her limbs. "It" thrashed her back and forth against the hard wooden floor. Bruises started to form on her wrists. There were scars up and down her arms from "it" forcing her to cut herself.
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Allie led the girl through deliverance and after forty-five minutes the girl was sitting up and wiping tears from her eyes. She took a deep, relieved breath and turned to give Allie a hug.
"God bless you," Allie said as the girl released her and turned to go.
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She gave a sigh of relief; she felt worlds better. She was free, totally and explicitly free! Her smile engulfed her entire face. No more of those claws around her throat! No more hatred! Most of all no more feeling constantly dirty and unworthy of love!
She jumped up and down, laughing and clapping her hands. The feeling was beyond words, and imagination! Jesus was so good to her! Now, not only was she free from that evil spirit, but she had a reason to live and to walk into each new day with her head held high.
On top of that, she was now excited about her life. God had revealed to her through the deliverance what He had planned for her-a wonderful destiny! She could hardly wait to get started!
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"We should go in about fifteen minutes," Allie said looking at her watch.
"Ok, I just need to do something quick," Lydia said, sweeping the sanctuary with a glance trying to spot Catalina. She found her sitting toward the back of the sanctuary. Catalina had been one of those who had been blasted by the Holy Spirit, but she seemed calm now. Lydia walked over to Elana.
"Elana, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"
"That's what I'm here for. What is it you need?" Elana asked following Lydia.
"Remember Catalina? She was the one we prayed for whose father was a witch? I just want to know how she's doing now."
"You're sweet," Elana said putting a complimenting hand on Lydia's shoulder.
Catalina stood up as the two of them came up to her. She was wearing a turquoise turtleneck and jeans. She was pretty! Elana told Catalina what Lydia wanted. Catalina looked at Lydia with a huge smile and speaking in Portuguese. Elana translated Catalina's message for Lydia, "She says she is totally cured."
"Gloria a Deus!" Lydia exclaimed matching Catalina's smile. The two hugged.
"All right everybody, it's time to head for the vans?" Allie announced.
Lydia waved good-bye to Catalina as she started for the door. One thing she had learned to love about the Brazilians-they were so open and amiable. She smiled one more time before turning around.
Once again, they filed into the two vans. They waved good-bye to the people for the last time. They had come to bless this church, but they left being just as blessed as the congregation. Also, whether they knew it or not at the time, they had each learned valuable lessons.
Allie did the stats first thing. They were amazing! There had been a major improvement. The van was filled with praise to their faithful God.
Once everything quieted down Allie sat back down. "Can you two pray for me? Doing deliverance scares me a bit," Allie referred to the deliverance of that girl. "I heard of a man who was doing a deliverance once and the demon went from the person to him."
Savoy and Lydia, who were sitting on the same bench as Allie, prayed for her. Once they finished praying for her the three of them sat silently. Lydia tried to settle her own shaken spirit, seeing that deliverance had rattled her nerves too. She had never witnessed that depth of evil first-hand before. She held her hand to try to stop the trembling. Then to have Allie admit to being a bit frightened herself didn't do Lydia any good. What Lydia had seen in Allie was an amazing Christian with seemingly insurmountable faith. So for Allie to admit something like that worsened what Lydia already felt.
To make matters worse, Lydia was tired! While trying to fight the shaken feelings and unstable emotions, a wave of homesickness washed over her. The memory of her last hug with her dad at the airport came to taunt her. "Lord, I just want to be home right now!" Lydia thought feeling vulnerable and alone.
Tears began to slip down her cheeks. "Are you all right?" Savoy looked at her in the dim light offered by the street lights.
"I'm just feeling really homesick right now," Lydia explained wiping away a tear that was dangling from her chin.
"You want to switch spots so you can talk to Allie?"
"Sure, thank-you."
"Lydia is feeling homesick so we're switching spots so she can talk to you," Savoy relayed the situation to Allie as he got up so Lydia could scoot over.
"You want to lay your head in my lap?" Allie asked out of genuine sympathy. Lydia nodded and took up the offer. "If you'll take your hair band out, I'll massage your head." Lydia did so and soothing fingers began to weave their way through her hair.
Allie's beautiful voice started to flow over Lydia. Still she fought the sense of Jesus trying to embrace her. "God, I want my parents tangible arms around me." The prayer was pure ludicrous, yet it was how Lydia truly felt at the moment.
She felt like a big baby, crying on the lap of a girl only a year older than her. The feeling, though, was too overpowering at the moment for her to really do anything about it.
Finally, however, Allie's voice, the sound of a soft, whispering breeze, began to soothe Lydia's shaken nerves. At last, Lydia stopped fighting and let the Lord comfort her. His presence quieted her spirit and calmed her emotions.
"Feeling better?" Allie asked when Lydia sat up.
Lydia nodded. "Thank-you," she murmured drawing her long, brown hair back into a ponytail.
"Izabel says there are angels up over the other van gathering the others' praises. Soon they'll be coming over to our van, so we should give praises too," Elana called back from her spot up front with Izabel and the driver.
Elana and Izabel began singing a song in Portuguese. Lydia listened to the beautiful song. "That is pretty. What does it mean?" Lydia asked once the song was over.
"Uhh....I wouldn't be able to tell you without hearing it. Izabel, sing it again." So while Izabel sang in Portuguese, Elana sang in English. Lydia liked the lyrics as much as the tune. Unfortunately, one time wasn't enough to learn it. Lydia soon forgot it.