Selected pastoral encountersDELIVERANCE TESTIMONY
During 25 years of ministry, I have encountered individuals and families who came for prayer carrying experiences they understood as spiritual oppression, family bondage, troubling dreams, occult involvement and unexplained personal struggles.
Some encounters occurred during crusades and revival meetings. Some happened after altar calls. Others occurred during private pastoral ministration or counselling. I do not present them to create fear or sensationalism, but as examples of the situations people have brought for prayer, discernment and Christian counsel.
Deliverance Testimony 1The Pot, Hair, Clothing and Nail Clippings
Three children from the same family brought a pot directly to the church. I personally saw the pot and the physical objects it contained, including hair, pieces of clothing and nail clippings.
They explained that the items belonged to their father and had been placed in the pot in connection with practices they believed were intended to affect him spiritually. They said the hair represented his glory, the clothing represented his covering, and the nail clippings from his hands and feet represented his strength, labour, movement and ability to prosper.
Their father was present and became deeply emotional while the matter was discussed and prayed over. I can testify to seeing the objects and to hearing the family’s explanation. Their spiritual interpretation remains their stated understanding; the objects themselves do not establish scientific or medical causation.
Deliverance Testimony 2The Young Woman Who Responded at the Altar Call
During a revival altar call, a young woman responded and later received personal prayer and pastoral ministration. Her identity and location remain confidential.
According to her testimony, she described a childhood experience involving a pot which she had been instructed to keep supplied with water so that it would not become dry. She understood this experience spiritually and brought it forward during ministry.
I present this as what she reported during pastoral ministration. It should not be treated as independently verified scientific evidence. The pastoral response was to listen without ridicule, pray, apply biblical discernment and protect her dignity and confidentiality.
Deliverance Testimony 3Married Couples and Recurring Disturbing Dreams
I have also prayed with married couples who reported recurring disturbing sexual dreams involving unknown figures. In some African Christian settings, people may describe such experiences as a “spirit husband” or “spirit wife.”
These descriptions communicate the spiritual interpretation those individuals placed upon their experiences. They must not automatically be presented as proven medical causation or as proof that a person is demonised.
Disturbing dreams may be interpreted spiritually by some believers, but they may also occur in connection with trauma, anxiety, fear, memory, emotional distress or ordinary dream processes. Discern carefully. Do not dismiss every unusual experience, and do not automatically declare every unusual experience demonic.