We had just returned from the Jos conference, and were excited about reuniting with the church family at the all night meeting held that Friday. After the meeting, people were grouped into evangelism teams and I was placed in team 3, the team going to Ikot Ekpene for outreach. The team was made up of 12 people. I was excited because I love adventure and traveling, and since it was out of town (Uyo), it was an experience to look forward to. That morning, my teammates and I got our things ready and boarded a mini-bus to Ikot Ekpene from Uyo. That was how the journey began. We got to Ikot Ekpene town, and headed to the Government Reserved Area (GRA) which was the location of the house we were going to be staying it. When I heard the house was in GRA, I was excited. Since I grew up in GRA, Ikeja Lagos, I knew it to be a place where the rich stayed.
When we got to GRA, Ikot Ekpene, the bus got off the main road into a path that was not tarred. The house I saw was different from what I had in mind. It was an uncompleted bungalow and looked like it had not been inhabited for years. It looked like a haunted house in the woods. There I was thinking, “God, is this the place? Seriously?” All the excitement I had felt while coming died slowly. We were coming straight from the all-night meeting so we were tired and sleepy. But I tell you, what we met on arrival at the house drove all thoughts of sleep away. We entered into the house, and everywhere was dusty and quiet. The chairs and other furniture were covered with large pieces of materials. That was when I knew that we came to work! The house needed real clean up, physically and spiritually. We dropped our bags and immediately got to work, cleaning, dusting, washing and rearranging.
While doing this, we were also cleaning up the house spiritually in our individual spaces. We were singing, praying, marching round the house, and bringing out items that needed to be burnt. After we were done cleaning, we gathered together to thank God for the space He had given to us, and to dedicate the house to God. That was when the battle started.
Before this time, while we were still cleaning, one of us had a vision where he saw Elijah (in the Bible) laughing, and saying something about war. We thought it was going to be a simple prayer but what happened next was something no one certainly expected. As soon as we started praying in the spirit, the house which looked normal initially became something else. It was as though things started coming out of the walls, floor, and roof, everywhere! That was when we knew we were up against some demonic influences. One of us saw as we were praying, on the other side of the parlour, some sort of meeting going on by some elderly looking men and they were asking who we were and where we came from. He saw a young boy who looked like an errand boy sent to check us out. All this was going on while we were praying. I was more convinced that the spirit realm is real, and is not to be taken for granted. Ancient demonic spirits had occupied the space for so long, and were claiming right of ownership.
Thank God for the teaching and training on the prophetic ministry that we received in church. I believe that is what gave us an edge. And with righteousness as a weapon, God was with us. We kept praying, in the spirit and with our understanding. The vision continued: the chiefs were no longer comfortable and they knew we were different. They started raging and cursing, threatening. A lot was going on, things were being unearthed, ancient things, things as far back as ten to fifteen generations ago. At a time, fear came on us because of the many accusations. I remembered at that point, Sis M, our leader, made a statement, “In our weakness, God’s strength is made perfect” and some few words that pushed back the fear. We regained confidence again and started asking for God’s wind to sweep over the house, asking for mercy in any area of blood guiltiness, and for things that had been held down to be restored.
While praying, we got that we should break bread together. It was indeed amazing because while Brother Michael was coming, he bought some wafers biscuits on his way not knowing it will be needed, but God who knows all things made the bread for the communion available. We broke bread and sister M prayed that the accusative voices be silenced. One of us saw a wind come, like a hurricane sweeping everything in its path, sucking in all the creatures that had been in the different corners of the house, and thus that was the beginning of the workings of God in Ikot Ekpene house, Light replacing darkness. It took time before the house was completely taken over by light. Multiple obediences, living righteously, doing righteous deeds in the space, praying, teaching, studying of the scriptures, etc., which is how God does His things. He follows a process.
Also lest I forget, there were backlashes too, some of us got sick, after that encounter and were attacked spiritually… details in Part 2
This is great! To talk about experiencing such encounters even in these times, Our God is truly real. I want to be his soldier!