He couldn’t move. He couldn’t open his eyes. His heart seemed to have stopped. Oppressive darkness pressed in around him. It was the middle of the night, but this darkness was deeper, heavier, more terrifying than the darkness of the night. Yesumeen knew that once again he was under attack by a demon. For years, he’d had repeated and terrifying encounters. But this time it was different.

You see, Yesumeen had been reading the New Testament just that evening. A few years before, he had lived with a Seventh-day Adventist church planter named Pon Lue for a year and studied the Bible with him. Pon Lue had given him a New Testament. In time, Yesumeen married and needed to provide for his family. His quest to make a living led him to other parts of the country and to neighboring countries, and he had lost contact with Pon Lue.

More than anything, Yesumeen wanted to be free from the demons that oppressed him from time to time. His Islamic faith seemed feeble in the face of these powers of darkness. He remembered what he had learned from Pon Lue and the Bible, but he wasn’t sure about it all. He still hadn’t made a choice to believe and follow Jesus.

At this time, Yesumeen was working in a nearby country away from family and friends. He stayed in a rented room with a roommate. His heart was longing for meaning, longing for freedom from the fear that controlled his life. Before bed that evening, he had picked up the New Testament and read and read, hungry for the words.

As Yesumeen lay down to sleep, an oppressive darkness suddenly surrounded him. Just inches from his face, a demon with long, black hair and huge eyes glared at him. It spoke evil things and tried to pull Yesumeen away from following Jesus.

Yesumeen closed his eyes, trying to shut out the terrible presence, but his body was paralyzed, and he felt as if his heart had stopped beating. Automatically, in his mind, he began to recite a memorized verse of the Quran in Arabic—a call to Allah for help. But Allah did not help him. Then he called out to Jesus. Right away, he felt his heart relax, and he could move his body and open his eyes. He looked around. The demon was gone. Yesumeen went back to sleep thinking the battle was over.

But the battle was not over yet. The same thing happened a second time. This time, as Yesumeen prayed for deliverance, Jesus came into his thoughts and gave him an insatiable craving for Him. Then Jesus spoke to Yesumeen’s thoughts. He reminded him of the story he had read in the New Testament of the storm on the lake when He was sleeping in the boat. He brought to his mind the part where He stood and told the storm to stop. He reminded him of the part where He asked the disciples why they were afraid. If they only had faith, they would never need to be afraid. Jesus assured Yesumeen that he need not be afraid of the demons because He has all power and authority over the powers of darkness. All Yesumeen need do was have faith in Him.

Yesumeen could only manage to say one word at a time, slow and labored: “Jesus, Jesus! Save me!” Instantly the oppression and paralysis disappeared. His heart beat with life again, and as he opened his eyes, he saw the attacking demon was gone. From that moment on, Yesumeen has had perfect freedom from fear of demons and has had no more encounters. From that moment on, he decided to embrace Jesus and follow His true path. He is not afraid of Muslim friends and family becoming angry at him for following Jesus. All fear is gone.

So how did we come in contact with this young man, his wife Fatila and their baby boy? Just a couple weeks ago, Pon Lue, the church planter who leads out in the small house church where we attend each Sabbath, called us. He told us his Muslim friend, who roomed with him several years ago, had just called him. His father was very sick, and he asked Pon Lue to come visit him. Pon Lue’s ministry focuses on the Buddhist population of this country. Knowing we are here specifically to reach out to the Muslim population, he asked Philip to go with him to visit Yesumeen’s father.

Philip and Pon Lue were able to minister to the family and pray for Yesumeen’s father. After the visit, Yesumeen and Fatila confided in Philip and Pon Lue that they wanted to be baptized! They had chosen to follow Jesus no matter what. As the conversation continued, Philip shared with them the reason why we have come to work with the Great River people. He asked Yesumeen if they would be willing to help us as we develop Bible lessons for our Muslim brothers and sisters. Yesumeen said they would be happy to help. Amazing! And God was planning for this all along.

But first things first. Yesumeen and Fatila still need much Christian nurturing, and they need to understand our basic Biblical beliefs. Philip gave the family a beautiful new Bible. Yesumeen has read the New Testament and is just beginning to read the Old Testament. Fatila can’t read. Yesumeen and Fatila have started attending church in a nearby town. The congregation consists of Yesumeen, Fatila, their son, Pon Lue, his wife and two daughters and our family. So it is really a time for us to study the Bible one-on-one with Yesumeen’s family. Philip is leading out in the study. He started from the very beginning of history—Lucifer, the beginning of sin and creation week. Yesumeen has so many questions, mostly on the subject of the Sabbath. He has been talking to some Christians who keep Sunday holy and gave us all the typical objections. But he sincerely wants to know Bible truth.

Pray fervently for this young family. Who knows? Maybe they have been raised up for such a time as this.

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