When i was in heri, Tanzania. Brother Paulo Mpamabivu told me this story. One day long ago. As i was walking. I found a woman sitting by the road. She was speaking nonsense to herself. She said she wanted to be free from someone who was giving her much trouble.
When she saw me she asked me to tell her how to find the road to pemba. At pemba there is white soil that people use to chase away evil spirits. The witch doctors use it to paint their faces. She thought that if she had some. The spirits would tell her what to do. Now i knew that the place she wanted to find was not a good place.
I did not know where it was. I looked at her and said. I know the road you really want. It goes to jesus. Who helps everyone who comes to him. She said. I do not want jesus. My spirits do not want to hear about jesus. If you believe in jesus. The spirits will leave. I told her.
Then you will be a free woman. I turned and walked on down the road. She followed me. We came to a Swedish free mission. There were people out in the yard. You go to the mission. I said. They will pray for you. No i do not want to go. She answered. The people said. O please do come. We would really like to pray with you.
But she refused. I continued to walk and she followed. The poeple csme to her and said. Come. Please come. We will pray to God for you. Then the woman turned to me and said. I want you to pray for me. If you go where i am going. Then i will pray for you. I answered. She followed me to a corner where i turned onto a different road.
She turned too. Then we cane down to a river. There were supposed to be many spirits around the river. Do you want me to pray for you. I asked. Yes. She replied. I knelt down and asked God to send the spirits out of her. Then I sat down under a tree and opened my songbook. I began singing. Jesus my saviour.
As the spirits heard this song they made the woman fall down. She became unconscious. I knelt down beside her and put my hands over her body. Then i prayed to our great God in heaven to send the spirits away. The spirits often speak through the mouths of people in whom they dwell.
This woman cried out the words of the spirits. If we had known you were going to reach this place. We would have killed you first. I prayed. O God in heaven. I did not expect to meet this woman. It must be your will that i have found her. O remove these spirits as you did in the bible times. The woman sat up.
The spirits cried out through the woman. We came from maugarezi and from buyangayanga. And some of us are from heri. Some of them said. We will go. But others said. If we cannot go with our instruments. We will not go. This woman has instruments to worship us. We know she is still ours.
We will go. Cried some of the spirits. They threw her down on the ground again. I got someone to help me. And we took her to the hospital. Sometimes people do strange things when they are sick. They can have diseases in the brain. These are not evil spirits. They are sicknesses.
Sometimes people do have evil spirits. Sometimes they can have a sickness and evil spirits besides. It is good to know what their problems really are. So that they can be helped. At the hospital the doctor examined her. She was speaking and thinking clearly now. Her mind was good. The doctor told me to take her to her home.
I did not want to take her to her home. I wanted my wife to help her. She was very dirty. Her skin was cracked. She was thin. I asked her about this. The spirits told me i must never take a bath. If i take one they will kill me. She explained. They have told me never to eat anything but cassava and beans.
They do not allow me to eat every day. They will kill me if i do. I took her home to my wife. My wife said to her. I want to help you have a bath. No said the woman. The spirits will kill me. My wife and i knelt down beside her and prayed that God would send the spirits away.
Then my wife helped her have a bath. She gave her clean clothes to put on. She gave her good food to eat. We asked God to send the spirits away so that she could eat. For three months we took care of her. Several times a day we prayed with her and read the bible to her.
As time passed. She looked like a young woman. She was very happy. She told us that her husband had died and that she had lived with her son. I wrote a letter to her son. He came to see me. He was very happy when he saw his mother. His village people had decided she was dead and had been mourning for her.
The son gave me one hundred shillings. But i said. When i found her. I was working for God. If i take this money. God will curse me. God will give me my gift. You use this money and we will have a celebration at your house. He left his mother and returned to his village.
He planned a celebration at his home. He sent word to us when we should come. On that day eleven of us went to the village. On the way we came to the river witchi. It was flowing strong. Three men went into the water to try to see how deep it was. They took their sticks with them and walked across quite easily.
The water was becoming higher. We told the women to go up the river to a place where it was easier to cross. It would take them much longer to reach the village than it would us. We thought. I took a large basket of food on my head. In the middle of the river the water was much deeper. The people coming behind found the water very strong. They tried to return but they couldn't.
Suddenly i could not go backward or forward. We had prayed beside the river before we began to cross. Now we were all praying in our hearts that God would deliver us. I tried to hold my stick. I put it forward in the sand and tried to put my foot against it. But the water was too strong.
I struggled with all my might. I thought i would surely drown. But at last i reached the other side. One of the boys who crossed tried to swim back to get the clothes. He alsmost drowned. At last we were across. The women had no trouble. When we arrived. The people beat drums to call those farther away.
The women had taken the returning woman and dressed her in new clothes. She looked very young and happy. The people in the village were so happy that they tried to carry me on their shoulders. I did not allow them to do this because it was God in heaven who made her well.
We all ate together. Then i talked to the people. This woman has had much trouble. I said. The spirits almost killed her. But the God in heaven has sent the spirits away. He has made her well and strong. She wants to stay here at her home. But if she stays you must burn all the charms and instruments that you use for worshiping the spirits.
If you do not. The spirits will surely kill her. The people talked together. What shall we do. If we burn these instruments the spirits will kill us. No. Said others. Look at the woman. She is well. Then the chief told everyone to go and bring their instruments. Put them in a pile here and we will burn them.
He said. So the people went and found all the things they used in spirit worship. They piled them up. I called them together and we prayed to God to send the spirits out of the village. Then i prayed for the woman and said to God. If any evil spirits are in her heart. They must leave her in the name of the father. The son. And the holy spirit.
Then we put fire on the instruments. The people were afraid as they watched the fire burn all their instruments. But nothing happened. After they were burned we went to the woman's house and sang songs about God. Then we prayed.
After that i preached to the people about the true God. Twelve people decided that they would worship him as their only God. The woman lived in the village for many years. Never did the spirits trouble her again. We were very glad that God saved her. Praise him forever.
