The Grand Finale 2: the Centre

When we arrived at Jane’s home, we parked in front of her brick house, which was mostly hidden by rambling bushes covered in pink and yellow flowers. I carried my overnight bag past two large hutches full of colorful parakeets and into the house which was full of a cozy clutter of carved trinkets, framed embroidery, and piles of books. A calico cat met me at the door but soon lost interest in me and followed my hostess into the kitchen.

Jane allowed me to soak up as much of her ministry as I could take in. I was welcomed to not only observe but participate in her team’s activities of that weekend. We arrived on Friday, several hours into the weekly observance of 24 hours of worship, soaking prayer, intercession, and “practicing” hearing God’s voice. Jane and I walked from her house to the teaching centre next door from which issued the sound of drums and singing. Jane plopped down behind a harmonium and joined in the music-making while I slipped into the circle between two dark women dressed in tribal clothes. Over the next few hours I joined the group in dancing, singing, listening to (and questioning) teaching, chatting over chai, and praying over various members of the group.

At one point during the afternoon, a mother brought a young boy for prayer. The centre is open all day Thursday to provide intercession, but people are able to come on other days as well if they need to. She took me and one of her prayer partners to the back of the building and we prayed for the boy. In this way I was able to observe first hand the method through which Jane prays for healing, breaks curses, and leads people to experience the presence of J’sus. The boy had come with complaints of nightmares, minor physical symptoms, and prolonged refusal to attend a new school. I observed that his eyes were exceptionally twitchy, flitting back and forth and blinking constantly. The missionary prayed with him and invited J’sus to speak to the boy directly. After a moment of closed-eyed prayer, the boy opened his eyes and pronounced calmly that J’sus had told him to return to school. His eyes were completely calm and clear.

Over a break for food, Jane took me back to her house. She was supposed to be preparing for her two hour session (the 24 hours of worship were broken into sessions lead by different people,) but she spent the whole break talking with me about my own experience of the supernatural. I found myself sharing with her dreams, fantasies, and inclinations which had puzzled me in the past. It was a relief to find that she didn’t dismiss them but instead gave advice which made sense with my intuition and fit with what I knew of the spirit world. When the time for her session came, instead of winging a sermon, she let me use the time to ask questions to her team members and the local community who were participating in the prayer day.

Late that evening I plied Jane with questions about how to walk in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit the way she and these simple villagers did. I also wanted to know how she kept herself safe from the rebound resistance of the spirits that she encountered in her deliverance ministry. Carefully and methodically she explained to me basic principles of the spiritual world which seemed to be similar to the “laws” of physics.

“The first thing is to combat the spirits which might have found a right to be in your own life, preventing you from walking in the full reality of your position as a co-heir with Christ. Do you want to tackle some of your issues?” She asked, looking me straight in the eye. I returned the gaze imploringly. She sighed and retorted with characteristic faux-gruffness, “You see, this is why I never get any vacation time! I always meet people like you who need my help. Ok, let’s start by clearing the decks of any possible generational curses.”