Manish sits in the front row of the classroom. His eagerness for life and insatiable appetite for knowledge are accompanied by an undeniable joy and positivity. He is incredibly smart, but what makes him an outstanding student is his eagerness for life. The lens of joy with which he sees the world colors each question that tumbles from his lips, and the glint of hope behind his eyes fuels each response. I decided to ride the bus home with him one afternoon. As we boarded the bus, and I contemplated the plausibility of him physically jumping out of his skin with excitement. As our bodies jolted along with the cracking, disheveled concrete underneath the old wheels of the bus, Manish's glittering eyes opened even wider to show me the glory of his hometown. I didn't have the heart to tell him I had ventured through the town many a time before -- the thrill overcoming his voice as he announced "Look madame, we're passing a clothing store!" made it entirely worth the narrated journey. Once we passed through the sensory overload of downtown Kesinga, I had to find out more about where this precious boy had come from.
"Manish, when did you start coming to New Life Academy?"
"Oh sister, that's a long story…it begins with my sister Manisa. She is several years older than me. For years she suffered…she would constantly demand my father get her goats."
"Why did she want goats?"
"So she could drink their blood. Any animal she would try and drink -- the spirits controlled her. She was very cruel and violent. My family was Hindu so they took her to the temple but she only got worse."
"Wait, you mean she was possessed by demons?"
"Yes, sister. For many years my family searched for help. We spent all our money, but nothing worked. We had no hope. Then someone told my father about New Life, so we came."
"So what happened to her once he began to pray?"
"She started bending violently -- it was scary. But they kept praying to Jesus and finally she screamed and then collapsed on the ground. It was like she was sleeping for about 10 minutes, then she finally woke up."
"Then what did she do?"
"She asked us for water and sat peacefully for a while. Then she said,
"After my sister was delivered, my whole family became Christian. I doesn't matter that we are the only ones in my village. Jesus Christ set my sister free and I love Him."
"Oh sister, that's a long story…it begins with my sister Manisa. She is several years older than me. For years she suffered…she would constantly demand my father get her goats."
"Why did she want goats?"
"So she could drink their blood. Any animal she would try and drink -- the spirits controlled her. She was very cruel and violent. My family was Hindu so they took her to the temple but she only got worse."
"Wait, you mean she was possessed by demons?"
"Yes, sister. For many years my family searched for help. We spent all our money, but nothing worked. We had no hope. Then someone told my father about New Life, so we came."
I spoke with Pastor Siani (founder of New Life) about this later to make sure the story was right, and he vividly recollected the day Manish's family came to him for help and prayer. When Siani began to pray for Manisa, she lunged at him and wrung his neck in an attempt to kill him. After she was restrained, Siani and the believers at New Life claimed deliverance for this girl in Jesus' name. Just as in the numerous accounts of deliverance from evil spirits in the New Testament, (Mat. 8:28-34, Mat. 17:14-19, Mark 5:1-13, Mark 9:1-29, Luke 8:28-39) the demons were driven from Manisa's body.
"She started bending violently -- it was scary. But they kept praying to Jesus and finally she screamed and then collapsed on the ground. It was like she was sleeping for about 10 minutes, then she finally woke up."
"Then what did she do?"
"She asked us for water and sat peacefully for a while. Then she said,
'For years I have felt a heavy weight on my chest. Now my body feels light, the weight is gone.
I am finally free.'
"After my sister was delivered, my whole family became Christian. I doesn't matter that we are the only ones in my village. Jesus Christ set my sister free and I love Him."
As has been observed so many times in the precious people here, an undeniable Light resides in the heart who knows Christ Jesus as Lord. Manish is brightly shining in school here at New Life as a result of that Light. After years of affliction and captivity, his sister Manisa is thriving and free in Jesus' name. She is currently pursuing a theological degree at a Bible Institute in India.
In his 17th chapter, Matthew describes when Jesus cast a demon out of a young boy. Afterward his disciples came to him and asked (vs. 19) '"Why could we not cast it out?" He said to them,
"Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith like the grain of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you."
Believer, claim this promise in the name of Jesus. The wealth, prosperity, and self-sufficiency in the States has a tendency to blind us to the potency of the Gospel. The healing, saving, redeeming, freeing power of Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
A Beautiful Post!
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