Fernand, an evangelist on the Malinke project, paid a visit to a former primary school director while on a mission trip to Bancoumana. As they engaged in religious conversation, the man, in his mid-60s, told Fernand that his daughter-in-law was sick with malaria and was talking unconsciously.

While Fernand was there, she fell and began to roll around on the ground. Seconds later, she got up and started running. They tried catching up with her, but she was too fast — until she fell again. She made sounds as if someone was beating her. Four men rushed to her aid and tried to hold onto this slim and somewhat tall woman. Though she had not eaten for days, she thrashed about and was difficult to manage.

Fernand approached her father-in-law and told him her malaria was a spiritual case. He answered, “She has also been having spiritual attacks since about three days ago.”

Fernand proposed that they pray for her.

“Sure, if you want to pray for her, there is no problem.” After praying, she became calm but could no longer recognize family members.

She spoke: “Her mind and his are not the same,” using the term “hakili,” which, in the Malinke language, means either “mind” or “spirit.” It was the spirit who spoke through her, mockingly laughing at Fernand, the evangelist.

At first, Fernand was a bit intimidated and scared. It was his first attempt on the front lines of trying to cast demons out of someone. Then Brother George Quainoo and Brother Fernand were kindled by the Holy Spirit, launching a counterattack against the evil spirit and praying simultaneously. The living room became a battleground.

The woman fell, shaking, while speaking strange utterances. After about half an hour, she regained her senses and rose. Brothers George Quainoo and Fernand continued praying. Then she confessed the name of the wicked spirit troubling her. They rebuked the spirit and commanded him to leave. She fell again and started convulsing. The demon aired his demands, to which Fernand and George blazingly rebuked the demon in the mighty name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

The young woman signaled with both hands to stop, but the prayers and rebuking became more intense.

When she calmed down, her father-in-law asked her if she recognized him. “Papa de Don,” she responded, meaning, “It’s Dad.” She asked, “Nothing bad will happen to me anymore?”

“By the grace of God, nothing will happen again,” they answered, telling the family that they would continue to pray for her.

They prayed and fasted the next day before returning to the house. But when they returned, they learned that the demon had made her fall again at midnight while Fernand and George Quainoo prayed. They also learned that her father-in-law had taken her to the hospital for treatment. Fernand and George were not there to see her return from the hospital as they had to depart Bancoumana, but they continued to pray.

Unable to bring her deliverance despite asking for God’s power, Fernand and George Quainoo were sad and discouraged, not unlike the disciples. But when they participated in deliverance ministry training led by Pastor Salam Barakah and others, Fernand and George learned that certain types of demons may not go away just by praying once, even though it is possible. Deliverance from certain kinds of demonic spirits requires several sessions of prayer coupled with fasting and faith, including the faith of the victim.

Please pray that God will fill these evangelists of the Malinke project with His Holy Spirit so they can carry out deliverance ministry in the Mande region of Mali. This ministry could open many doors for the advancement of God’s work in Mali.

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