“I haven’t slept at night for a long time,” said Papa Fil. “The spirits bother me every night.”

When one works with God, there is always work, and Fidel and our evangelists, Boniface and Timothy, were busy spending a week working in a village not far from Boniface’s home village. Because this village is not part of the Pendjari project area, Fidel had not been there before. Nights were spent sleeping in the small church building.

The members of this small church were mostly from a large extended family. Papa Fil, the patriarch, had become an Adventist several years ago, but continued to be attacked at night. Before he had become a Christian, his wife, who had been a priestess in the traditional religion, had died. As is their custom, Papa Fil spent a month hiding in his house after completing the required ceremonies. From then on, he would be bothered at night through dreams of his now dead wife calling him to come and be where she was.

Papa Fil’s brother and uncle, also dead, had been appearing to him at night, tormenting him. It was while Papa Fil and Fidel were talking that he said, “I haven’t slept at night for a long time. The spirits bother me every night.” He continued, “For the past four years, I have been afflicted with a very painful arm and shoulder after my uncle [a demon] hit me on the shoulder.” Since then, Papa Fil has not been able to work and has had overall poor health.

Sad and using tobacco when Fidel and the others arrived, Papa Fil was suffering. Fidel explained to him how Satan uses tobacco as a door to attack. Fidel then prayed for him. For three days, he was better and used no tobacco, then on Wednesday, the attack happened again. After that day’s prayer meeting, Fidel and the others prayed intensely; that night, no one in their house slept as the demons were attacking the feet of the two wives. The next day, Fidel said the attacks on the wives’ feet were a good indication that the demons who had been manipulating them were bothered and reacting.

Papa Fil asked if they could go and pray together at the church, but Fidel said, “No. We are going to go and pray in your house,” which they did. That night, Papa Fil was again seriously attacked. One of the wives said her feet stopped hurting, but the other said her pain had now moved to her lower stomach.

When Fidel, Boniface and Timothy left Papa Fil’s house, they returned to the church to sleep. Fidel woke up at 2:00 a.m., fully alert, and started two hours of prayer and intercession for Papa Fil. At about 4:00 a.m., Fidel fell asleep. Sometime within the next hour, Papa Fil and another older gentleman came to the church to see Fidel. The older gentleman was helping Papa Fil, who was bent over, to walk. They told Boniface that Papa Fil’s time was over and that his sickness was going to kill him soon. Boniface began praying with the older gentleman as Papa Fil, without the strength to move, lay on the ground.

Around 6:00 a.m., Fidel awoke and, finding Boniface massaging Papa Fil, asked what was going on. Boniface said that the demons were attacking Papa Fil and that he was afraid they would kill him. Fidel then put his hand on Papa Fil’s shoulder and prayed, this time finally severing the ties the demons had on Papa Fil.
Now free, Papa Fil got up and said to Fidel, “You . . . you are not like the other men of God that come here.” He then proceeded to tell Fidel the rest of his story, how, when he was in his home village, the sorcerers were trying to kill him, and how he left Islam and converted to Christianity and, later, to Adventism. “The fact that I am alive today is all because of God! He is the only reason I am alive. I won’t worship anything but God.” That day, Papa Fil’s arm and shoulder were healed, and he is once again the strong man—carrying huge sacks of peanuts and such—that God created him to be.

Satan destroys lives and keeps people under oppression and possession, but God is almighty and ready to save and free those who turn to him.

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