I think it’s good to remind ourselves that the huge battles we face against hunger, poverty and suffering in Asia and around the world are in part spiritual, not simply physical or social as secularists would have us believe. It is through the love of Christ that we will effectively win the war against disease, hunger, injustice and poverty.

To look into the sad eyes of a hungry child or see the wasted life of a drug addict is to witness the evidence of Satan’s hold on this world. All bad things, no matter what country you are in, are his handiwork. He is the ultimate enemy of mankind, and he will do everything within his considerable power to kill and destroy human beings.

The Right Tools

Jesus stepped into this broken world to bring life to those in Satan’s grasp (see John 10:10). Throughout the Gospels, we see Him healing the sick, freeing people from demons and feeding the poor.

We cannot separate the visible and the invisible in this battle. If you see a dying man begging on the street, how can you share the Good News with him and not give him something to eat? At the same time, we must realize that fighting our powerful spiritual enemy with physical weapons alone is like fighting an armored tank with stones.

I can never forget one of the more dramatic encounters we had with demonic powers during my days as a young person serving with a missions movement in India. It was a hot and unusually humid day in 1970. We were preaching in a place called the “desert of kings.”

As was our practice before a street meeting, my seven co-workers and I stood in a circle to sing and clap hands to the rhythm of Christian folk songs. A sizeable crowd gathered, and I began to speak in Hindi, the local language. Many heard the Good News for the first time and eagerly took our Gospels and tracts to read.

One young man came up to me and asked for a book to read. As I talked to him, I sensed in my spirit that he was hungry to know God. When we got ready to climb aboard our ministry van, he asked to join us.

As the van lurched forward, he cried and wailed. “I am a terrible sinner,” he shrieked. “How can I sit among you?” With that he started to jump from the moving van. We held on to him and forced him to the floor to prevent injury.

That night he stayed at our base and the next morning joined us for the prayer meeting. While we were praising and interceding, we heard a sudden scream. The young man was lying on the ground, tongue lolling out of his mouth, his eyes rolled back.

We knew immediately he was demon-possessed. We gathered around him and began taking authority over the forces of hell as they spoke through his mouth.

“We are 74 of us. . . . For the past seven years we have made him walk barefoot all over India. He is ours. . . . ” They spoke on, blaspheming and cursing, challenging us and our authority.

But as three of us prayed, the demons could not keep their hold on the young man. They came out when we commanded them to leave in the name of Jesus.

Spiritual Deliverance

Sundar was delivered and gave his life to Jesus. Later he went to Bible college, and since then the Lord has enabled him to share the hope he found in Christ with many, many people. People now gather to worship the Lord in several places as a result of his remarkable ministry—all from a man many people would have locked up in an insane asylum.

This kind of miracle kept me going from village to village for those seven years of sharing Christ’s love, and our lives read like pages from the book of Acts.

Christ came into this world to bring life, and He is still working in powerful ways as He uses us to be His hands and feet to those around us.

This post is part of the Journey through Time series, which celebrates God’s faithfulness throughout the past 40 years of GFA’s history.

Read more posts by Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan or visit his blog on Patheos.

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