The Day Satan Lost Our Family

One important fact I should mention is that many people in the Caribbean believe in, while others actually practice, the art of Obeah (also known as witchcraft, black magic or voodoo).  Though our family was not involved in it, I can remember overhearing conversations between the adults about some bizarre occurrence they had heard about….the type of stuff you might see on The Twilight Zone. 

Even his Pekinese acted weird

By the time my dad started working with the Naval Air Defense, I was already grown with children. They moved into a brand new house in Philadelphia and had not been there long, when strange things started happening. For example, they would smell unusual foods cooking in odd areas of the house; hear unexplainable noises that were not necessarily eerie; and my brother, who was about 6 at the time, began acting very, very differently.  Even his Pekinese acted weird. 

As a result of her research, mom found out that their house had been built on an Indian burial ground. Since I didn't live there and my parents are not ‘social butterflies’, I was never able to determine if other homeowners encountered similar things. 

My dad, though he acknowledged something was happening, opted to totally ignore the entire situation. Mom, on the other hand, had no intention of living with whatever was in the house and resorted to the only course of action she could think of. 

Somehow Mom obtained the name and telephone number of a Haitian woman who lived in NY and was supposedly well known as a ‘voodoo queen’. The woman came to the house and did whatever they do and left.  Things were fine for a little while, then it all started all over again. 

When Mom finally reached the woman again, she was out of the country and couldn't come personally, but could tell Mom what she had to do. Fortunately for her, (or unfortunately, depending on whom you ask) my aunt was visiting at the time. So my mother, with my aunt behind her, my brother behind my aunt, the dog behind my brother and my father bringing up the rear, set out to "clean" the house. I wasn't there to see what they encountered. However, I can assure you they have no reason to lie about their experience. 

That afternoon, while in my apartment in Brooklyn, I received a call from my mother and aunt. They told me about being physically attacked by something that was not visible to either of them. Mom received numerous scratches on her shoulders, neck, and face. My aunt was shoved down the stairs causing a pretty nasty bruise on her tailbone. When I saw her in October, 1998 she was still complaining about feeling soreness around that area.

Mom's scratches were still quite visible

When I saw them that weekend, Mom's scratches were still quite visible and my aunt was walking and sitting quite gingerly. What really made it sad was that they incurred these battle scars for no reason whatsoever. Whatever Satan had loosed in the house was greater than Mom, my aunt, my brother, the dog and my father combined with the instructions of the "voodoo queen". 

Since we're not talking about anything as extreme as the Exorcist, my parents continued living in the house. Some of the things, I thought, were a little funny. For example, at night when my brother went to bed Mom would tuck him in, say his prayers with him (as she had done with me as a child) and she would close his bedroom door behind her as she said goodnight. Once Mom left the room, the Pekinese (who I ultimately nicknamed the 'demon dog') would climb into my brother's bed, get under the covers and crawl to the foot of the bed, where he slept. The 5-6 lb. dog would act like a rottweiler if anyone attempted to enter the room while my brother slept. If it was ever necessary for my parents to spank my brother, they would first have to lock the dog up or he would go absolutely insane. All the time my brother just kept acting stranger and stranger. 

I don't recall exactly who or when it was, but someone told Mom that Satan could not drive himself out of the house. Only the power of God could help her. 

Though nightly prayers had always been part of Mom's routine, she started giving it some thought and, eventually, decided to go in search of God. After a while, she found a very small, but growing, spirit filled church with an anointed man of God as their pastor.  She told him about the occurrences. So he and his tiny army of saints came over to pray for God's blessings on the house and its occupants. By this time she had already accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior with faith that was growing stronger with each passing day. 

Need I say that now that Christ was a welcomed guest, Satan moved...real quickly. The occurrences stopped and, regretfully, the "demon dog" died shortly thereafter. 

My dad died some 20+ years later after struggling for a long time with his walk. However, Praise God, he did eventually accept Christ's salvation before he died. 

Two years later Mom retired and moved to the suburbs of Orlando, FL. She calls it 'God's waiting room'. 

At 65 years old, her only concern about this move was her hopes of finding a nice church, close to home. After all, she was one of the founding members and had been very active in the same church for 20+ years. By now the congregation had grown to over 3,000 members. So that was a major concern for her. 

The fact that the only person she knew in Florida was the realtor (via telephone) and she had been there only twice before her move (the first time was when she flew down to select the site and the house and the second time was when I met her there for the closing). Her third trip was a few days after she retired and we both headed south on Interstate 95 with the moving company's truck behind us. None of this was of any consequence, because she knew God was with her entire being. That was about 4 years ago. 

My mother, an 'anti-social butterfly', is now on the Board of Directors of the Homeowners Association of the sub-division. It's comprised of people of all ages and races…from the newly married with young children to the retired couples. She is very active in the community. If her neighbors don't see her walking her dog (I recently got her a Maltese for company) every morning, they ring the bell to make sure she's all right. I rest comfortably knowing that there are people nearby, that truly care. You can't imagine how peaceful it is to know this, particularly since I am on the opposite end of the country.

God is GREAT!

 As for the church. God is GREAT! She's found another small and, once again, growing house of worship that's less than a mile from the house. Believe it or not, she even likes it more than the one she left behind. Our Lord God Almighty has rewarded my mother's absolute, unwavering, blind faith in Him, once again. 

I know you're not laughing yet, but wait…the best is yet to come. 

Had Satan left Mom alone, she would have continued to live, like so many other people who are genuinely good-natured, kind-hearted people that, if asked, would say they are Christians. Yet will have no understanding how they wound up in hell. 

Poor Satan was too stupid to know that my mother was not about to tolerate his nonsense, even during her life in the world when she wouldn't have know to attribute the problems to him. He never expected she would seek the GREAT ONE. And, because of what came to be a strong faith and belief in God, he ultimately lost the rest of her immediate family, some of her brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews as well some of the many people whose life she touched over the years. 

Now, this is where it gets funny. 

About 8-9 years ago, prior to dad's death, God revealed her ministry. He spent time preparing her and, though she did His bidding, she prayed and begged Him to reconsider His decision (she says it's physically draining). She even thought that possibly, once she moved to Florida, He might give her the answer she had been asking for. Well, He didn't, so she stopped asking. You see, His plan was to use her to combat that which initially took her in search for His face. And, as always, His plan is perfect. 

Satan really blew this one. He permitted his presence to disturb the wrong person this time and it ultimately cost him a lot of souls. The one he messed with has turned out to be an armed soldier, whose job is it to boot him out where ever and whenever our Lord  tells her to. 

For years my mother has had a powerful deliverance ministry. 

That is how Satan lost our family...my mom and dad, their children and their grandchildren...three generations doing His bidding. 

For those of you who don't know Him, I have no words that are sufficient enough to express the joy and wonders of serving a loving, living God. It's one of those things you just have to experience yourself...and I pray that one day you do. 

If you would like to contact me, I can be reached at neilja@mindspring.com.  Thank you and God bless you!

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Remember:  All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)