Lessons I Learned in the Dark

1 – Caught Off-guard
For man does not know his time. Like fish which are taken in an evil net, and like birds which are caught in a snare, so the sons of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. Ecclesiastes 9:12 RSV

At the age of 20 I married my high school sweetheart. James was an upper classman, two years older than me. He was charming, handsome and strong, an athlete, and I loved everything about him; everything that my eyes could see that is.
James and I had three children. Our oldest a daughter, Perri Lynn, then two sons, James and Jason. I loved our little family. I was so happy!
Like all marriages our marriage had flaws and maybe I was a little naïve, but I always thought that we would work through our problems in time. When we were in our mid-thirties, we both rededicated our life to the Lord and our relationship became amazing. It was just what I had been dreaming of since the day we got married twelve years prior. It was like we were on our second honeymoon, only better than anything we had ever known before.
We both became very interested in short term mission trips. Encouraged by our pastor at that time, we went on our first mission trip in October 1996 with a group from our church. The trip was for one week in Thailand then a second week in Nepal. It was a very different experience for us, unlike anything we had every done before.
In Thailand our team ministered to the residents at a home for young girls whose families would have otherwise sold them into sex trafficking. The couple that ran the home would go into the villages and ask the parents of pre-teen girls if they could take their daughters to live with them and the couple would teach them a trade. The girls were then taught skills that could be used to get them good paying jobs in the city, jobs such as seamstresses, office clerks, housekeepers, etc.
The parents were often very agreeable to allow their daughters to be taught a trade because the life expectancy of a young girl in the sex trade was very short. Many contracted AIDS or some other sexually transmitted disease that would cut their life and their career short. By learning a trade they could use in the business world, the girls were able to earn a good living for many more years, thus helping their families with finances for a longer period of time. James and I both truly enjoyed our time ministering to those young ladies.
From Thailand we flew to Nepal. After spending a couple of days in Kathmandu to rest we took a bus out into the countryside of Nepal then hiked with backpacks through the rice paddies till we made our way into a remote village in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains. Our team of Sherpas had arrived a few hours ahead of us and had set up camp for us, prepared our dinner and had it waiting for us when we arrived. It was such a welcome sight. Everyone on the team was exhausted from the day’s events that had brought us there.
On this leg of our mission trip we were conducting a medical clinic for the village people that lived in that region. The word had spread that medical missionaries were coming from America and that a free clinic would be available to all. As we opened the clinic the next morning it was overwhelming to see the village people walking to the clinic. There were so many coming, as far as the eye could see. Many had walked for days, carrying their sick and maimed in their arms.
Nepal is a Hindu nation and they worship many gods, or demon spirits. You could literally feel the darkness and oppression in the atmosphere as we entered their airspace when we were flying into the country. Images of some of the more honored demon spirits were painted on their buildings and on the walls inside their airport. They believed that these spirits would protect them throughout their life and keep them from harm.
As the people would stand in line waiting to be seen by the doctors, we had members of our team that were assigned to lay hands on them and pray over them. Since neither James nor I had any medical training, we were given the assignment to pray over the people. It was during this time that I saw the mighty anointing that was on my husband. When he would lay hands on the locals and begin to pray in the name of Jesus, demons would begin to manifest in them. The first time this happened I heard James cry out “Oh Jesus help me! I don’t even know what I am doing!” And of course, Jesus did help. At that very moment the lady he was praying for fell to the ground and began to roll around. With great authority James knelt down beside her and began to command the demons to leave the women and not come back to her nor to the daughter that had accompanied the women to the clinic. As we all watched, the woman instantly became very still. She opened her eyes and looked up at us and we were amazed at the transformation in her countenance. The demon spirits had left her as they were commanded to do.
Wow, what a powerful display of deliverance! Both James and I were amazed at how God had chosen him and anointed him for this type of ministry. This experience took us both by surprise, but it also took us to another level of intimacy with God. This was the first of several mission trips that James and I would take over the coming years, although this was the only one that we took together.
This new relationship with God and with each other lasted for seven years. Then one day I noticed James had started drinking again. He was stopping by his favorite bar and shooting pool with his friends, sometimes for hours. He was still attending church with me and the children, but I knew something was desperately wrong. He was slipping back into old behavior patterns that he had once turned away from.