Are you in the Battle?
We spent 8 years living in a village in Papua Niugini. It wasn’t remote by Niugini standards, but was totally isolated by Australian ones. There was no electricity, running water, sanitation, hospital, ambulance service, police, or post office. The biggest store was smaller than a typical market stand on a Saturday morning.
The village was really just a series of houses made from bamboo and grass, with a creek nearby, surrounded by gardens for food. But the remoteness, isolation and lack of physical needs was never the hardest part of living there. The worst part was the spiritual oppression.
The village was in an area of Niugini known for its witchcraft. And it was how that made us constantly feel that caused the most pain and struggles.
THE OPPRESSION
The spiritual oppression was so intense that it physically felt like the sky was pushing down on your head and you couldn’t stand upright. It was so intense that it felt like the sun never shone. More than once since returning my boys have seen photos and exclaimed, “Hey, it’s sunny in that photo! But it was never sunny when we lived there.”
People in our village made animal sacrifices to demonic spirits for many reasons: to open a new road, to win a football match, to make a new garden. Certain areas were out of bounds to people because it was where the spirits lived. There was one that was frequented by some men in the village for sex. The women learn chants as children to appease them as they plant their crops, and the province has a local demon, you can even buy its picture on a mug or t-shirt.
I lost count of the number of times that our boys were warned against walking in the bush alone for fear of being attacked by demonic forces. And the people were scared of the dark because of them and rarely left their houses after sunset.
THE RESULT
Of course, one of the outcomes of this level of darkness, evil and demonic activity was that it was a place full of murderers, rapists, robbers, drunkards, riots, warfare and hatred. And sometimes it spilled into my Sunday school class. I had a class of 1-12 year olds, about 40-50 children came every Sunday to learn about Jesus’ love. Many came even though their parents didn’t attend church.
Over the years I would see the faces, the faces that changed. As some of the girls (and boys) got older there would come a time when their faces changed. Someone had decided they were old enough to rape or molest. And sometimes it showed on their faces.
And there was nothing I could do about it.
Nothing.
There was no police.
No court.
No convictions.
No foster system.
Nothing.
It haunts me still.
It will always haunt me:
Those faces.
THE COMPARISON
My husband and I often compare the spiritual battle in Niugini to fighting on the Somme in WWI – people dying everywhere, constant sounds of battle, and atrocious living conditions. Those soldiers were in the battle, they knew they had to be ready to fight at all times, and they fought continuously. There was no rest, the battle was too fierce. But many Western Christians don’t even seem to know they are in a battle.
When we lived in Niugini we were in a church full of people that quite literally would have done anything to protect us. When we were in need we always knew that there was someone who would try to help.
But when we returned to Australia we found ourselves in a church full of people who watched us drowning and did nothing. They say drowning is the silent killer because victims don’t call out, but often so are mental health issues. So imagine our distress when we cried out for help and were left to drown regardless.
THE BATTLE
But the real battle isn’t a physical one, it is spiritual:
There was a witch doctor in our village. He had caused a huge amount of trouble for others and us in the past. In the end we cut off all contact with him. But he continued to gossip and spread lies.
The oppression was tangible. I could feel it constantly, it was even worse if you got closer to his house. And we always felt relief when we had to leave the village for some reason.
I started going to a particular spot on a hilltop where you could see most of the village. I tried to go every day. I went to pray. I prayed God would remove the witch doctor from our village. I prayed the oppression and the blindness it was causing people would be removed so they would have an opportunity to hear the truth and believe the gospel.
I was also honest when I prayed, I told God I wasn’t sure I could handle the oppressive feeling of living in this village and if he wanted me to stay, could he please remove the witch doctor.
It was only a few weeks later a pastor came and asked if the rumours were true – there was a rumour that the witch doctor was leaving.
I kept praying.
One morning I woke up and felt it immediately: He’s gone.
After a few days we confirmed that he had permanently moved away from our village.
LET’S REWIND AND TRY THAT AGAIN
There was a false prophet in our home town. He had caused a huge amount of trouble for others and us in the past. In the end we cut off all contact with him. But he continued to gossip and spread lies.
The oppression was tangible. I could feel it constantly, it was even worse if you got closer to his house. And we always felt relief when we had to leave town for some reason.
I started going to a particular spot on a hilltop where you could see most of the town. I tried to go every day. I went to pray. I prayed God would remove the false prophet from our town. I prayed the oppression and the blindness it was causing people would be removed so they would have an opportunity to hear the truth and believe the gospel.
I was also honest when I prayed, I told God I wasn’t sure I could handle the oppressive feeling of living in this town and if he wanted me to stay, could he please remove the false prophet.
It was only a few weeks later a pastor came and asked if the rumours were true – there was a rumour that the false prophet was leaving.
I kept praying.
One morning I woke up and felt it immediately: He’s gone.
After a few days we confirmed that he had permanently moved away from our town.
The spiritual warfare Western Christians are so accepting of in other cultures, is also happening in their own backyard.
It is time to engage in that battle:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
