A Freedom Story

Posted by: Jessi Schwertfeger on January 02, 2012 |

There is a woman in a village called Siamundele. For much of her life, she has been tortured by dark spiritual forces, resulting in illness, oppression, depression, and more. In Zambia, as in much of Africa in general, there is a very real sense of the spiritual world that we live in. They are a spiritually hot people who understand that what we see with our eyes is often not the only thing happening around us. This woman has been told by various witch doctors that in order to be “protected” from these spirits that plague her she must wear multiple charms infused with various magic concoctions, meant to hold the spirits at bay and appease them. The charms have increased her sense of despair. She feels weighed down. Burdened. Confused.

One day, she randomly attended a meeting led by a young missionary called Trae. She didn’t have plans to attend the meeting, but wandered in at random searching for anything that would lift her physical an emotional pain. Trae, a young man who spent almost every day ministering in the deep rural areas, spoke about love and grace and acceptance. The woman barely understood the concept. But she felt something. She felt the possibility of a different life. So, when the young missionary asked for those who needed healing to come forward, she went.

Trae quietly asked her why she was wearing so many charms and potions. She explained, saying that she had no choice. She needed protection from the things that haunted her. Trae gently explained that in order to put trust in the one true God, all others must be forsaken.  He said that he would gladly pray for her healing, but that first she should remove the strings that burdened her more than she knew. Trae handed the charms over to a leader to be burnt. And then he prayed for her healing. He prayed for the pain to leave her body AND her soul, and for her to put her trust in Jesus, our only hope.

Slowly and steadily, like the gradual lightning of the morning from darkness, she began to feel different. She felt lighter. More hopeful. Less burdened by pain. She thanked the young man, and left…wondering. Wondering what had just occurred to free her of the pain she had carried for as long as she could remember.

Time passed. Trae went back to America for the holidays. The woman continued to feel…different. But, she knew something that Trae didn’t know. She knew that there was something she had kept from him. From God. And she wanted to change that. She wanted complete freedom. Total release from the forces that had imprisoned her for years. She wanted to make the decision that had seemed impossible at first, but now made more sense than anything else.

So, she walked. She walked all the way to the home of Aaron, a man of God and a leader in the Nyawa Sector. Aaron was the very man that burnt her charms on that day when Trae prayed for her. She had something to tell him.

When she reached his house, she explained to him that she had experienced much joy with the healing that had taken place on that day. But that she hadn’t placed all of her trust in the Lord. She said that she had been afraid that day, afraid to place everything in one basket. She had been so hurt in the past. So, instead of surrendering ALL of her charms to Trae, she had kept one carefully tied around her waist. Hidden, under her chitenge. While she talked to Aaron, she reached for it, and broke it from around her body. She handed it to Aaron, saying, “Please give this to that young man. And tell him to burn it. I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ now…and I am free.”