How to do an exorcism of a house

I think every missionary in an unreached country, especially those with animistic rituals, needs to know how to do an exorcism. It's not something you're usually taught to do in church, but it'll come in handy when needed, so I will write a plain step-by-step manual later for what has worked for me so far.
But first, some background.

Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn't know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, "The harvest is so great but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields." - Matthew 9:35-38 (NLT)

This was part of our bible study tonight on Matthew 9. It struck me that this was the summary of the ministry of Jesus that Matthew 9 had been giving glimpses of earlier - a ministry that included this:

When they left, some people brought to him a man who couldn't speak because he was possessed by a demon. So Jesus cast out the demon, and instantly the man could talk. - Matthew 9:32-33 (NLT)

It reminded me of something that stood out to me during my last class on spiritual warfare - that Matthew tended to just clump exorcisms as part of the healing ministry of Jesus. It showed how commonplace it was for Jesus to cast out demons, and also that there were probably a lot to be cast out, including ones causing illness. Yet when we read that passage about the harvest being great, normally I think of it as applying to evangelism; that we need more missionaries. But in the whole context, Jesus was sharing the Gospel, healing and casting out demons. He pitied the people because they had spiritual and physical problems, and as one person in my bible study pointed out; when he looked at the fields to be harvested, in that chapter it was not just an unreached village waiting to hear the Gospel, it was the paralyzed, the sinner, the sick, the dead, and the demon possessed.
So now, as we are to be more like Christ and to carry on the ministry of Jesus, then should we not also be sharing the Good News, healing the sick and casting out demons? It was pointed out to me in my class that we are reasonably comfortable with the first two, but usually prefer to ignore the latter. Yet if you make some quick calculations, let's say Jesus only cast out one demon a day (as Matthew seems to be trying to give us a snapshot of Jesus' ministry so it must have been a regular enough part of it); then in his 3 years of ministry, he then may have cast out over 1,000 demons, not to mention possible multiple castings like the legion out of the man at the Gerasene tombs. So why should we ignore it today?

Back to bible study, my friend was sharing about how he had visited a guesthouse in Mae Hong Son where a demon had been banging around in the roof all night and he couldn't sleep. He even had recorded the sound of it on his phone. Previous occupants of that room had also mentioned it to the guesthouse owner. It sounded like metal banging, but the roof was all timber and nothing was up there. He came back to Chaingmai, but the spirit had followed him and was banging in the roof of his home now. Every creak and bang was causing him fear, and he was exhausted from lack of sleep.
When he spoke to his Thai neighbours and landlord, they had a name for that type of spirit. Seems it is a common affliction, but I felt outraged that it dared to bother my friend, who is a Christian.

So we went over to exorcise it. Keep in mind this is only the second time that I have ever done it, but it seems to work, so I'm sharing it with you, because I hate seeing people, especially Christians left captive and afflicted. So finally I come to the steps, here they are:

1. Pray and declare out loud the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. God is the creator of everything on heaven and earth, the seen and the unseen, and He certainly has the power over this spirit.

2. Ask God to bring to mind any sin or thing that needs to be dealt with. If something comes up, repent and deal with it. Everyone in the room should do it, usually on their own, but sometimes people need to confess out loud.

3. Get some oil and anoint the corners of the room, while praying over it declaring that this is now holy ground and part of the Kingdom of God so the enemy has no power in it. I tend to claim that part about everywhere we place our feet becoming part of the Kingdom of God (originally applied to Joshua in Joshua 1:3). Basically, you're consecrating the place to God. No, I don't know if the actual oil is necessary but we as humans also like rituals and visual signs for our faith, so I do it. If you don't have oil, I'm sure God will listen and act just the same.

4. Have communion together. This was taught to me the first time I had to do an exorcism...I was a teenager who knew nothing about it but a friend was in trouble and I had 10 mins on the phone downloading Spiritual Warfare 101 from another friend whose parents were involved in that ministry as I walked to my troubled friends' house. Basically they said exorcism is all about declaring that Christ is Lord, and communion is one of our strongest symbols of that because it is the body and blood of Christ, the ultimate sacrifice that conquered all. So we had communion with chips and ice tea (or last time, coke).  There's often no time to hunt up some grape juice/wine and wafers, but God understands.

5. Clean out the house of items that may have bad spiritual ties. No you do not have to toss out everything. Both times that I've done it, God has brought a very specific newly acquired item to the owner's mind, and it's been confirmed by their significant other. So just toss it out.

6. Command evil spirit to leave in the name of Jesus. This last time, while the others were praying, I addressed it directly saying, "Spirit of fear, or whatever is banging around in my friend's roof, I command you to leave in the name of Jesus. You have no power to be here as he is a child of God, so go now. Take any other minions or whatever you may have brought with you and leave this house immediately." Or something of that sort. As I was speaking, I could feel my tongue turn to lead and I stumbled on my words and my mind blanked temporarily, and then I thought 'oh no you don't!' and kept going. The hairs on my arms stood up and I felt a chilly prickle. As I continued to command it to leave in the name of Jesus, the prickling subsided, and until I could say reasonable confidently, "It is gone."

So that's it, I know the bible mentions some need fasting and prayer, so that may come up. It also is better I think to do this with a group of believers. Also, both times it has been a demon afflicting them from the outside - banging around, and in the first time when I was a teen, holding my friend down physically at night; but they were not manifesting or showing any form of possession. I think with those, it would require some deeper healing perhaps, so these steps are simply for an on-the-spot exorcism of a house. Hope it helps you, and remember - Jesus is Lord and all authority is his (and so indirectly, ours).

Therefore put on the full armor of God,so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. - Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)

Deliverance from Evil Spirits

On the mission field, sooner or later you will encounter evil coming from the spiritual realm. It's a good idea to have an idea of where you stand before you, for example, have to stand before a Muslim shaman doing a trance ritual, as I encountered two years ago.

Here's some salient points from my class on Spiritual Warfare

• The word 'demon-possession' is not an accurate translation of the original text. A better one may be demonized, or simply 'to have a demon'. The demons may not always completely possess, as in control, a person, but they may have influence. As seen in the NT encounters of Jesus with demonized people, sometimes they may seem fine but then may occasionally exhibit strange behaviors as the demon ramps up bothering them.
• A Christian can not be fully inhabited by a demon as our spirit is now the Lord's. However, in the same way that you can sin after becoming a Christian, you can also yield ground (say via sin) to allow demonic influence even after becoming a Christian. Sometimes this gets to the point where they are doing things they would not normally do or acting very strangely.
• Demonic influence can come from sin, curses, family spiritual inheritance (like children being dedicated to other spirits), trauma done to you (as in the case of abuse victims), and dealing with the occult. When dealing with occult spirits it is good to fast and pray to prepare yourself first.
• Casting out demons is actually a part of healing the person. So it should be in the overall scope of discipleship etc.
• When casting demons out, you don't have to shout, they are not deaf. Also do not get angry, remember you are battling a spiritual power, not the person. There is no need to be dramatic and you can also just tell them to be silent and leave quietly so they don't make a scene.
• There is no magic formula to casting them out, but saying something like this generally works. "In the name of Jesus, get out of here and do not return. This person belongs to Jesus and you have no control here. We cut off any ties and any influence from Satan."

How to analyze supernatural phenomena anthropologically

1. What is the nature of the power? Internal/external/transitional
2. What is the source of power?
3. How is it channeled?
4. How is it used? What area is it effective in?
5. Note how the power is activated/requested e.g invocations
6. What is its magical nature? E.g. Imitative/contagious/infectious

Magic

3 ways to categorize it

• Transitional - power only there for a while - possession, mediums, trances, altered states etc. 
• Internal - power coming from within the person that is always there - psychic, evil eye, prophecy, visions, witchcraft. 
• External - power through manipulating objects - spells, formulas, invocations, sorcery.

Types of magic

• Sympathetic - imitative ritual e.g. Rain dances, hunting rituals
• Contagious - power transferred through physical contact with objects in ritual e.g voodoo
• Infectious- power transferred through rituals that send results over distances e.g. Sending curses, Pointing the bone

The problem with magic

1. It's delusional

2. It's illusional

3. It's demonic based - promotes Satans' lies, inspires faith in false gods, represents levels of power in Satans' hierarchy. Example in scripture - divination being lies (1 kings 22)

Be careful what you study

This semester I am taking a class called the "dynamics of religion". It covers all the experiences of the supernatural in different cultures and world views, including folk religions, witchcraft, ghosts etc.

Since starting it I have been woken twice by hearing a female voice in my room, a strange one in the morning , and in the afternoon a young friend calling my name, but both times no one was there. That same young friend was also staying with me, and she twice heard someone call her name but no one was there. 

My young friend did not know what I was studying till after she heard these voices. I don't know what it is, but talking to Thai people, it seems this is a common experience and they advise to not answer and to not turn your head. In fact at least every second person here in Thailand believes that they've seen a ghost and the amount of stories and evidence here is wild, huge especially compared to my western experience. 

So I was a little unnerved and I was home alone. I got into bed and opened my bible, finishing off my reading on the end of Jeremiah and the beginning of Lamentations. As I was reading, it struck me that I served a God who raised and destroyed empires, like the fall of Jerusalem. A God who could crush a pesky ghost like a gnat. And on that note, I fell soundly asleep.

Understanding world view

Charles Kraft's fundamental world view orientations
1. Everyone needs order and logic, classification and categorization of their world. That's why we name and see pictures in stars and name animals and plants into species etc. Western science focuses a lot on organizing the world. A tribal people might classify into domestic versus wild.
2. Everyone needs an identity and a way to relate to other people's identity. Like babies when they start to figure out that they are a separate person from mum. You need to work out what identity you fit into with the people you minister to, otherwise when you constantly break the mold you confuse them, for example, in Thailand I am an older sister to some and a younger sister to others but I still have a place in the family hierarchy.
3. Need to have a sense of cause and effect. Ty to find explanations for random or unknown phenomena. Like getting sick- some cultures may blame germs or mosquitoes, some cultures may blame spirits or an internal imbalance or energy etc. Or blame karma. So when people are convinced that they are sick from spiritual causes, if you deny it you have shut the door to minister to them further. Instead heal both the spirit and the body.
4. Everyone needs a time orientation. We need to work it where we are at in a sequence of events or time continuum. It's the year 2555 here in Thailand by the way.
5. Everyone needs to have a sense of where they are in space. Geographical and physical location.
6. Everyone needs relationships

The Diffusion of Innovations

Every so often a book is written by a scientist, for scientists, but it's implications could go so much further. One such book is The Diffusion of Innovations by Rogers.  It's available on Amazon here. I would recommend that every community worker, ministry and missionary read this book. It's almost a manual with guidelines on how to introduce change into a society. However, it is couched in such scientific jargon that it almost needs a dictionary to be understood. Why do scientists like to say the word 'salient' instead of 'important'?
So to combat this, I've decided to write out a layman's summary of the most important points I found.

The Dumbed Down Version of The Diffusion of Innovation
People tend to catch on to a new idea and use it faster if:

• It seems to be significantly better than the old idea.
• It can be tried out in a small form first, so people can see that it works before committing 100%.
• It seems to be a natural continuation of traditional ideas or values.  
• It seems easy to understand.
• It produces visible rewards quickly.

Pretty obvious huh?

Next, when people are going to decide to use a new idea, there's a whole process behind their thinking.

1. They get information about it.
2. They form an attitude about it.
3. They decide to use it (or not).
4. They actually put it into use.
5. They check to get confirmation that it is still a good idea.

This is kind of a good thing to know if you are say, trying to persuade someone to stop a bad health practice like maybe smoking. Not all people are ready to stop the next day, some might just need more information first and you can't rush them really. And some people might have really decided in their heart, but just haven't got around to doing it.

Then, not everyone jumps onto an idea at the same time. Usually a new idea starts off slow until a decent group of people have got it (about a 1/3rd) and then it begins to snowball as the majority catch on, until it finally slows down as the last people get it. 

1. The first few people to use a new idea are called innovators. They're usually high risk takers, wealthier so they can afford a few bad calls, more likely to travel out of their own social clique, but often the majority think they're so risky that they're not really followed. 
2. Then come the opinion leaders. These people are usually highly respected in their own communities, they have more formal education, are literate, have higher social status and are upwardly-mobile. When these people take an idea, the majority begins to pay attention. Personality-wise, they're also more likely to be empathetic, flexible, capable of thinking in abstract (like guessing how things wil turn out), rational, can handle risk, smarter, more favorable to science, change and education. Not fatalistic. They're also more likely to travel outside their own community and meet people who want change, yet be very social in their community, watch mass media and actively research new ideas.
3. The early majority jump on the boat after the opinion leaders have shown them that the idea is good. They're more likely to rely on someone else's opinion rather than trying it for themselves. But when these guys get in on the action they create a critical mass, which means enough people are using it that it seems like everyone needs to get one. From here on the action speeds up rapidly.
4. The late majority join in when it seems tried and true. They usually have the opposite characteristics to the opinion leaders, like they travel less, have less resources, less education, less social, less access to mass media etc.
5. The laggards join at the very end. Often this could be because they're actually at a disadvantage, such as they didn't have the money to buy in on it at the beginning or they were geographically isolated. Sometime's it just because they're more traditional.

So then, if you're a person who wants to introduce change or a new idea, these are the steps you have to take:

1. Get people to see a need for change
2. Share information
3. Diagnose problems
4. Get people to want to change
5. Get people to actually change.
6. Make sure that the change stays and they keep it up
7. Try to end their dependence on you.

Here's some characteristics that would make you more successful at introducing change:

• Put in a lot of effort making contact
• Be focused on the people rather than the idea or sponsor of the idea
• Make sure the way you spread out the idea is compatible with the needs of the people you're changing.
• Be empathetic
• Seem like you're of a similar social background as the people you're working with
• Have credibility (not just a salesman)
• Work with the opinion leaders of that community
• Teach the community how to evaluate future changes e.g. Teaching everyone germs exist helps people adopt better health practices later.

Now there's two ways to look at the flow of ideas.

Centralised: Someone at the top of a hierarchy makes a decision on the new idea and then it gets passed down. This way the idea might be put in place quickly and be better used with higher technology, but sometimes the people lower down don't like it so the idea doesn't really work. Works better is the people in the group are more alike.

De-centralised: Different people, who have less in common with each other, are inventing all over the place and then sharing their information. Usually comes up with better ideas that suit the needs of the people who actually have to use them. However, because it's more informal, sometimes important ideas don't get shared to the people who need to hear them. Aslo because everyone is inventing, this way works better if the idea is a low-tech one where you don't need specialist skills to use it.

What about if you're trying to change an organisation?

There's two stages

Planning

1. Make an agenda. You gather information and figure out the problem.
2. Match a new idea or invention to the problem.

Implementation

1. Reinvent the idea to suit your organisation or re-structure your organisation to suit the idea.
2. Clarify the idea to everyone, make sure everyone understands and is on the same page.
3. Routinize the idea so every gets so used to it, that it doesn't seem like a novelty anymore, but instead becomes part of the organisations normal operations or identity.

And then the aftermath

Most new ideas have consequences, some unforeseen, some bad as well as the good. A lot of innovations actually widen the gap between the rich and the poor, where the rich hear of it first, jump on board with the new idea, have more resources so they can invest, make money faster and get richer, while the poor are less educated, move slower, have less to start off with and so just stay relatively poor.

This can be prevented if there is:

• Focus on developing new ideas for the poor.
• A social organisation so that the poorer people can access the same resources as wealthier people (like a community bank).
• A way that the poorer people have a voice in the planning and execution of an idea, as well as the goals of a program.
• Focus on communicating with the poorer people more, and facilitating change especially for them.
• A more de-centralised way of spreading ideas that also takes into account people's traditional knowledge.

Pretty much, the ways to go wrong and create havoc when introducing an new thing or idea are many. Hopefully this helps.

Teaching Scriptwriting.

So I step into a new part time role, teaching with Wycliffe's Project Video. My first assignment: Teach scriptwriting to the Karen at Chrestos Mission in Mae Sariang.
I had no idea what their previous ability or experience was, though I knew they had written a script already. When I arrived there, after a leisurely beautiful drive through the countryside for several hours, I was impressed with the quality of their set up. Secretly, I was also thankful that I did not have to sleep on  a camp bed under a mosquito net as well.
I had been nervously about trying to fit what was usually a week's worth of teaching into a couple of days, especially since I would be teaching cross-culturally (some spoke English, some spoke Thai, all seven spoke Karen). I had pared everything down to the bare bones meaning, and what was necessary to communiate. Words like 'protagonist', 'catalyst' and 'normality' all needed to be translated. I began teaching in Thai and had to end up reverting to English simply because the specialised words used in media are beyond my current Thai lexicon.
Then amazingly, somehow we finished the teaching in one day.
The next day I sat and we went through the script that they had already written. It was an amazingly powerful redemption story - a poor mother has to give up her girl child to a richer friend to raise, then the child scorns her when she gets older. The rich mother then casts out the child, saying 'If you do this to your own mother, what will you do to me!'
However, they had spent about 25 scenes setting up the child's back story, and the first confrontation only happened in scene 26, then the movie was over by about scene 30.
Now, we had a dilemma. Was this just the Karen way of story-telling, to spend endless time on details and introducing characters? I had already heard from someone familiar with the Karen that they did like to show everything. Or was this just novice scriptwriting?
At this time, I was really wishing that I had more of a background in Ethnoarts and cultural research. We did ask people who were Karen or had spent a long time working with them. One of the funniest answers I heard was from Win, another Karen guy who does already do media. He said in Thai,"This long script has nothing to do with the Karen culture. It's because they're just used to making Karaoke music videos."
So we did adjust the script, to make it, in their words, "More power."
I want to go back just before they begin filming in November. We still haven't really taught them about reverse angles, crossing the line and telling a visual story!

Kwaamrak (love)

Last week we frantically wrote a 'viral video' and shot it in two days. The idea behind a viral is that it is attention grabbing and easy to share. The main reason for this was practice for the students of the SFM, but we also wanted to have something usuable by the end. I think that we did achieve that, and it was good to see the students learn how to pull together as a crew as well. It was interesting for me as I haven't really written much since high school! I enjoyed using my literary skills again though, and found that the dialogue came naturally from experience in many, many conversations with Thai girls! Later on Jason (with the inspiration of one of our Thai students, Somwang) wrte the male dialogue as counterpoint. We shot in a Muay Thai gym that Rachel, another staff member, trains at. Choreographing fight scenes was also fun!

Long days though...
Here's the script below. It's always challenging to know how much to write, and how deep to go without beating people over the head with your point.

SCRIPT

SCENE 1 EXT. NIMANHAMEN - DAY

Two young women, JAR and GOI are walking together in the market looking at clothes. Across the street two young men, NET and POD, are getting on a motor bike. Net catches a glimpse of GOI and waves. JAR sees him first.

JAR

1.Hey, don't look, he's looking at you.

GOI

(looking around)

2.Who?

JAR

3.Who do you think?

GOI sees him smiles and waves. Pod shakes his head at Net.

POD

4.Come on sappy boy. There's plenty of women to look at along the way.

They get on their bikes and ride away.

JAR

5.That boy is always watching you!

GOI

(smirking)

6.Maybe because he loves me.

JAR

7.I've seen Ford watching you too you know?

GOI

8.Ford? He's got a girlfriend.

JAR

9.So what? That won't stop him. You know all men cheat! 10.Just have fun and stop being so serious. There are many men out there.

SCENE 2 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

Pod and Net get ready to box.

POD

11.Girls always take relationship seriously. Don't take a risk.

12.Watch out girls are so fussy they'll keep calling you, and start controlling your life. and checking your phone.

NET

13.No I really like her.. I don't think she's like that. She's so cute.

SCENE 3 INT. WON GEN - DAY

GOI and JAR sit down at cafe.

GOI

14.Ooohooo, Inao blames others but does it himself.

JAR

15.But hey, the highest good in life is taking care of yourself.

GOI

16.So what kind of a guy do you want to marry then?

JAR

17.Flippantly tall, white, handsome and rich. Doesn't everyone want that?

Split screen: Crane up from Pod's feet up to his face.

POD

18.White, beautiful, big boobs and curvy!

SCENE 4 INT. WON GEN - DAY

GOI

19.I think if he has a good heart it's enough...but handsome is nice.

SCENE 5 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

NET

20.Cute is good, ci ci, but the physical body will change, she wont be white anymore, she'll may get fat, but she still be lovable.

SCENE 6 INT. WON GEN - DAY

JAR

21.So what about your date yesterday with Net?

GOI

22.What about it?

JAR

23.Tell me! What did you guys do? Did you kiss each other?

GOI is surprised.

SCENE 7 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

POD

24.How was it friend, Did you go to heaven?

NET

25.What do you mean go to heaven?

POD

26.yung gny yung gny

Makes an insinuating action

NET

27.Don't be ridiculous man! We just drank milk, I dropped her off at her house and then came home that's it.

POD

28.OY! Is that enough, are you stupid! You wasted money on the movie, the gas,

and the food and that's all you got!

SCENE 8 INT. WON GEN - DAY

JAR

29.What?! Not even a kiss. You're not doing a good enough job! If you're too slow the dog will take the meat and eat it!

GOI

30.I'm not worried about that.

JAR

31.Have you checked his mobile phone for other girls?

GOI

32.No, that's not good manners to do it. If we love each other you have to trust each other.

JAR

33.Ah, guys are all the same.. so predictable.

34.If their not playing video games or checking out girls there probably beating each other up.

SCENE 9 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

Hi-speed montage the boys are in dingy dark place beating the snot out of each other.

POD

35.Girls are all the same, so predictable. Their probably walking around a market, drinking coffee and talking about us.

SCENE 10 INT. WON GEN - DAY

JAR

36.If you think this way you'll be too slow to figure out what people are doing. Remember Apple? 

Flash backs; Jasmine smacks Beer.

JAR

37.See how that turned out? What makes you think this will be different?

SCENE 11 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

POD

38.You really think she's any different?

SCENE 12 INT. WON GEN - DAY

GOI

39.He's really different. Serious about his faith and a good heart.

JAR

40.You think him being Christian makes and difference?

GOI

41.Net's very sincere about following Jesus and trying to live like Jesus did.

JAR

42. No matter what religion they follow, all men are the same under temptation or sex. We can't trust anyone in this area.

SCENE 13 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

Net does a sweet move and knocks Pod down.

NET

43.Don't talk about her like that! Try to respect the girls a little.

POD

44.Cool heart, cool heart. Just joking.

Net smiles and helps Pod up.

NET

45.God made us strong to take care of girls.

Pod does a quick move and flips Net around and knocks him down.

POD

(Jokingly)

46.I feel weak.

SCENE 13 INT. WON GEN - DAY

GOI

47.Hey whatever happened with you and Pod?

JAR

48.I took out the trash. We couldn't go together, we are too different.

SCENE 14 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

NET

49.What ever happened with you and Jar?

POD

50.Aw.. Nevermind, She was just a gik!

SCENE 15 INT. WON GEN - DAY

GOI

60.We are human and we all make mistakes but God looks at our

hearts and he forgives us.

70.I think as long as we're both trying to follow him we can do our best.

JAR

71.Don't be stupid, watch out. Don't give away all your heart.

GOI

72.Wait and see what happens.

SCENE 16 INT. MUAY THAI - DAY

POD

73.Be careful of the heart break after this is done!

NET

74.Love is beautiful but it can hurt us. I don't know what's going to happen

but I'm going to try to love.

SCENE 17 INT. WON GEN - DAY

JAR and GOI ask for the bill

SCENE 18 EXT. CITY - DAY

Net and Pod happen to pull up on their motorbikes just as Goi and Jar are walking out of the cafe.

NET

75. Hi! Have you eaten yet?

GOI

76. No not yet

NET

77.Do you want to eat together?

GOI

78.OK

They walk off together and Jar and Pod stare at each other, shrug and follow them.