Conquering the Deceiver

by HEATHER TREDOUX Justinia stood outside the big tent in Swaziland, listening intently to the speaker. She wanted to go in and listen, but she was afraid. Someone had said that these meetings were sponsored by satanists. She needed God's help, but her fears held her back. As she listened, she could find nothing that pointed to Satan. The sermons and even the songs were straight from the Bible. She took a deep breath, entered the tent, and sat down. After that Justinia never missed a meeting. How could this be bad? She wondered as she listened. Bravely she approached the speaker, David Tembe, and asked him to visit her home. "The spirits of our ancestors are troubling us," she told him. When the pastor visited the family, they told their troubles. "The ancestors are angry with us because we don't have money to hold a feast for them. We hear strange noises, like a telephone ringing, but we don't own a telephone. At night we hear the sound of running footsteps on the metal roof when no one is there, and lately stones are being hurled at our front door." The family explained that they had consulted a sangoma (witchdoctor), who declared that the ancestors were angry and told them to slaughter a goat or an ox to appease the spirits. But the family had no money to buy one. When the family returned home, they found a small green snake with black markings near their front door. They knew that this snake meant that the ancestors had come to visit them. The snake would disappear and reappear, changing color and growing larger. The family was terrified. The evangelist told the family that God is their only hope. He read the Bible story of the serpent that deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), and then he explained that God is more powerful than Satan and has conquered Satan already. They needed only to trust in God. The family sighed with relief and asked the evangelist to pray for them. They knelt together and pleaded with God to take control. During the closing meeting, Justinia shared her testimony. "We have been troubled and threatened by demons, but when Pastor Tembe prayed, God sent away the demons, and they have not come back. We lived in darkness and fear, but now we live in the light of God!" Our mission offerings help people around the world find the light of God that shines into their sin-darkened lives. Thank you for doing your part to make world evangelism possible. HEATHER TREDOUX is fund-raising for the 4,000 AIDS orphans in the Maluti Adventist Hospital service area in Lesotho. Swaziland and Lesotho are small countries in southern Africa.
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