Dear Readers,
We are currently in the USA on furlough and our student missionaries are  
running the Palawano Project. We just received the following e-mail from
Kiana, one of our SMs.  It is in regards to a young girl of about
14 who was baptized this last December.  Her name is Nurgina and she is one of
our most recent, but staunch and committed church members. She comes from a village
where devil worship is very, very strong and in the past different ones of
her family has   been harassed and possessed by Satan.  Several years ago
her mother was possessed by an evil spirit for 10 days and on another
occasion it was reported that her brother was bitten by a spirit creature
and subsequently died within hours from injuries sustained.  Some of the
strongest and most powerful witch doctors are her uncles and live in her
village.  I believe that Satan is feeling the attacks of the gospel and is
fighting back in any way he can.  The following e-mail will tell you the
situation and we ask that you will pray for Nurgina and her family, the
church in Kamantian and the student missionaries who are in the
midst of this spiritual warfare.

KG/LG

June 11, 2006
Sunday night, Kamantian
> I know this is long, but I beg you to read all of it.  And pray....pray
like
> you've never prayed before...petition the throne of God for my friend.  
> Please, just pray.
>
> Dear Pastor and Minan,
> > I'll never forget it as long as I live.  Nor will I ever be able to get
the sound out of my mind.
>
> I was helping out in the clinic earlier today with the normal flow of
> patients for a Sunday morning, when around 11:30 am we heard someone
coming
> up the trail wailing.  We looked to see Buba carrying his younger sister,
> our friend, 15 year old Nurgina on his back.  She had her eyes closed and
> was screaming at the top of her lungs, "Meningkag siu ne, meningkag siu
> ne..."  (Let's pray, let's pray) over and over again almost as a chant.
>
> We forgot all things we were doing at present and thinking perhaps she had
a
> horrible bout of cerebral malaria, we knew she needed quick action.  We
> rushed to her side and took her temperature and to see what we could do.
>
> Upon questioning Mami (her uncle and one of the most influential witch
> doctors of the mountain) and Buba, Wendy realized that there was more
going
> on than a mere physical problem, she was being attacked by the evil one
> himself.  Barely taking a breath, she said over and over in a voice of
> nothing but shear desperation, "Help me. Where are you all? Where's my
> brother? My sister? My mom? Help me. I'm going to die. I don't want Satan.
> Satan leave! Father God, where are You? Jesus, help me!  Where's my
Bible?  
> Where's everyone at?  Help me, Help me!"  She calls for each of her family
> members, begging for help, begging for prayer, for worship.  She repeats
> herself about 5 or 6 times and then moves on to the next phrase in no
> particular order.  She even proclaims the name of the Lord as stronger
than
> anything.  Even now, I can hear her cries of urgency.
>
> She isn't awake though she's aware of her surroundings it seems, because
she
> sometimes responds to a certain person talking to her by calling out their
> name asking where they are.  She starts out slowly then gets more and more
> desperate in her pleas for help.  She doesn't really move except to tense
> her body and tighten her hands.  Always crying, her eyes are very puffy
and
> red.
>
> Reports say that she began being attacked yesterday afternoon when she was
> leaving church.  They said on the trail headed back she drank some water,
> turned her head kind of funny then started screaming for help and telling
> Satan to leave.  Then she turned and ran the rest of the way home.  She
> collapsed onto all fours when she got home and called out to her family
> saying not to forget God, not to forget to pray, not to lose faith.  They
> said she could walk and was semi-coherent.  After sleeping all through the
> night, she woke up as she is now wailing and crying.  Someone carried her
> all the way from her far jungle home to the clinic.
>
> All my life I've been taught that nothing can harm you if you believe in
> God's holy angels protecting you.  I heard that all you have to do if
you're
> being attacked is call on the name of Jesus and they will leave you.  
Little
> Nurgina has been doing nothing but calling on the name of God since this
> started and we've all been praying constantly on her behalf.  Still she's
> suffering and struggling in this unseen battle.  Perhaps this fight is not
> so wrapped and packaged like I thought.  It requires our participation and
> constant faith.  Nor is it as abstract either, it is right here at this
> moment, all but visible within Nurgina.
>
> I couldn't bare to look as she cries out, "Father God, help me."  And then
> she cries for Sublitu her close family friend, and one of the pastors of
our
> church.  Sublitu's heart was torn.  His Palawan culture tells him not to
> cry, and yet his dear friend is lying in obvious agony calling for him to
> help.  He wasn't sure what to do.  I broke down and cried when I heard him
> answer, "I"m here little sister, I'm here."  She only responded with more
> screams for help.  Her voice never seems to give out, nor does she seem to
> be able to respond to us but I think she knows what's there.  It seems to
be
> rather visual too because her eyes move a bit under her eyelids.  She
> rebukes Satan and tells him to leave in some of her most intense pleas.  
At
> this point we don't know what to do except pray and plead with God on her
> behalf as well.  We're each taking two-hour shifts tonight so that someone
> is with her all through the night praying and so that her mom and two of
her
> brothers are not alone.
>
> Tonight, in a half hour it's my turn to pray.  “Lord, give me strength.  
Keep me
> awake.  Help me to keep the prayers for dear sweet Nurgina.  I just want
to
> see her laugh and be her old self again, so strong, and so faithful.
>
> June 12, 2006
> Monday, Kamantian
> > Before I had fallen asleep (last night) I heard her shrill cries pierce
the night.  Cries for help, cries to her loved ones, cries to God.  All the way from the
> clinic to my house they woke me up and gave me shivers up and down my
spine.
>
> A little after 1am Becky and I were relieved from our shift with prayer
for
> Nurgina.  I hadn't slept at all before then and was in dire need of some
> shut-eye.  Nurgina had slept quietly the whole three-hour shift that we were
> there, but shortly after we left and were settled into our beds, I was
> awakened by her scream.  It seemed even more intense and urgent than it
had all day.
>
> We'd thought perhaps that she was better; she's so peaceful when she
sleeps.
> She had even turned on her side and opened her eyes briefly.  But she was
> not yet out of the torment.  God in His mercy had merely granted her a
> respite.  All night long we prayed, claimed Bible promises, and prayed
some
> more.  I’m not sure how long this will last but she keeps hanging on to
the
> fight, and we will too.
>
> “Lord Jesus, cover us with Your blood, hold us in Your hand and never let
go.
> Do not leave Nurgina nor forsake her, Your daughter.  Keep fighting, we
> give You permission to keep battling the evil one until he has left.
>
> Come quickly Lord Jesus and make this world a dark memory.  Help us, Help
> us, Help us!  May this all work out for Your glory.  Give us weapons to
wage
> war as well.  Give us employment to fight on her behalf.  That Your name
and
> the precious blood of Jesus be exalted above any thing else is our prayer.
>
> As the drizzling rain calms our spirits, may we also dwell in the peace
that
> You have already won.”
>
> "Worthy is the Lamb, Who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom
> and strength and honor and glory and praise!"  Rev. 5:12

Late Sunday night, San Francisco, CA
Dear Kiana,
Although we arrived back at 11 pm I felt impressed to check e-mail. We read
your message with intense sadness and heartache for Nurgina’s turmoil.  Oh, how
we wish we could be there!  We can certainly empathize with how you are all
feeling, as this sounds very similar to what happened many years ago with
Nurgina’s mother (Bill, refer to article about Bibi being demon possessed
and living on our porch for about ten days; possibly 1997 or 1998).  We can
do nothing with this situation, we can only implore God to take control. You
are doing that and we are imploring God right alongside of you.  
Secondly, sing.  Sing in gratitude to God in faith for already giving
Nurgina the victory over Satan.  Satan cannot stand singing.   He cannot
stand praises to God for victory over him. And sometime when her eyes are
open and you who are strong in the Lord, look into Nurgina's eyes as you
speak words of hope to her.  We are all praying and fasting with you.  Satan
is desperate; he would not reveal himself in such a way if he were not.  He
is
revealing who he is and what he wants.  May the Palawanos realize that Satan
is not to be tolerated.

Be assured you are all being prayed for and your e-mail is going out to
others.  God will be victorious.

God is using all of you.   Remain strong in Him,
KG

Later Sunday night/ early Monday morning, San Francisco, CA
Dear Kiana,
You will get tired, you will get worn out, but always keep in mind that
Jesus always wins.  He is in control.  Relax in Him and no matter what your
feelings tell you just be assured that Jesus will bring it to the proper
conclusion in the end.  It will work out, although at times you will find it
very hard to believe that to be true.  Constantly place this whole burden
back on the shoulders of Jesus. Relax in Him, thank Him and as much as you
are capable, Rejoice in His victory!
With Nurgina's mother, it seemed that her situation did not begin to improve
until we had given up totally upon ourselves solving the problem or even
being used to solve the problem.  Once we had reached that point, then she
began to improve.  It wasn’t that we weren’t to play any part in her healing
and deliverance, but that the responsibility for that was wholly and
completely on Jesus Christ.  There was to be no doubt in anybody’s mind that
we were not the ones who healed her.
Before that point of recovery, we would find ourselves thinking at times
those silly thoughts that if we did things “right” then we could cast out the
demons.  But we could never cast them out.  Only Jesus could do that.
So continue to seek Him with all your hearts. You are in our prayers.  Keep
us posted on progress.
Relax in Him,
KG

Tuesday morning, Kamantian
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  The God we serve is alive and very
well, and working on our behalf.  Our prayers for Nurgina have been
answered!!!

I pray I never forget the day...even now I'm shaking as I type this to you
all.  All I can say is thank you Jesus.

This is what happened since yesterday afternoon.

Shortly after posting the previous message and finishing up my work on the
computer, I left and went back up to the clinic.  I could hear Nurgina's
hoarse cries for help from the trail so I took a deep breath and prayed that
God give us reason and strength to rejoice for Nurgina.  I claimed the
promise that all of this will work together for good...and kept walking.

I arrived at the hut where she was staying and shortly after I got there
Agus (one of the teachers from the school and pastors of our church) and
some school kids came and prayed and sang with her for an hour.  The prayers
were beautiful, begging for her to be released and praying for the faith of
all the church members.  It was faith building just to see their struggle
on her behalf.  I went in to join them and when we finished, I went to talk
to the rest of our team about what more we could do than what we'd been
doing...we discussed fasting, confessing anything that might be between us
and God so that Satan's attacks couldn't be turned to us, as well as signing
up for the night's prayer vigil.  We noted that her eyes seemed to be
opening a little bit but she was still very much in her frantic state of
mind.  We had no sooner finished talking when we heard Nurgina say, "I can
hear my mom praying for me..."  My heart leaped for joy, because this was
something new...a complete sentence that wasn't pleading for help.

Nurgina's mom called for Wendy and Sublitu to come because she was starting
to come to and we all quickly rushed to her side.  Nurgina was thanking Ama`
Empu` (Father God) for making Satan go away and then she recognized each of
us.  She recognized her mom and thanked her by giving her a great big hug
followed by thanking us all by name and hugging each of us.  At first she
still seemed a little bit out of it but the more she talked (in a matter of
maybe 10 minutes) she became more and more coherent.  She recognized
everyone that walked into the room and insisted on giving each of us a hug
no matter what.  (In Palawan that's a big thing because marriageable girls and guys do
not touch each other AT ALL!)  Sublitu (one of the people she was calling for
the most, as well as one of our pastors) had tears in his eyes as he
listened to her praise God for her relief.

She kept saying, “I'm very weak”, but she would answer each of our questions
and thanked Ama` Empu` as though she were back from the dead.  Truly it was
as though she was not alive for 2 days and then all of a sudden she was
restored.  I'm not quite sure there was a dry eye in her room as we listened
to her tell about what happened.  She was so excited to tell us, she said,
"I have a story for you" and she told us about how when she was walking home
from church with her family she drank water in Erisurang and then she
couldn't see or hear.  She said it was like she was blind and deaf.  She
doesn't remember running home but she remembers getting there and hearing
people talking about her and saying they needed to petition to the gods to
make her better.  She felt so strongly that she DIDN"T want them to do that that she began
praying, telling people not to forget God and to worship and pray.   But she
couldn't hear anything and she felt alone, so that's why she kept praying,
praying praying.

She told us she didn't have any other physical ailments besides being deaf
and blind, but she knew very much that it was Satan attacking her.  She was
in her own dark world and she just knew she was being attacked.

We all were so overcome with joy that we couldn't stand it...we felt 50
pounds lighter.  Even now she is calling everyone she sees go by her doorway
to come in and listen to the story about how Jesus freed her and how we need
to keep praying and worshiping because Satan is "very bad" and God loves us
and wants to free us from him.  She sings, prays, and reads her Bible to
everyone that comes by (and let me tell you there are a lot of people that
want to see what God has done for her).  It's so beautiful.

However, she is still in need of prayer.  She is still extremely weak from
all her struggling and having not eaten for over 48 hours.  One of her ears is
still slightly deaf and comes and goes.  Her body hurts.  In her words, "My
bones hurt."  But she is ever constantly rejoicing, as are we.  God is
good...God is so good.  Thank you all for those who prayed...rest assured
that they have taken their mark.

I could go all night about how we rejoiced with her and the things she said,
but I just want to say that God has worked the biggest miracle I've ever
seen through the life of Nurgina.   We feel so unworthy to be witnesses of
such a powerful transformation in her life.  Please continue to pray for her
speedy healing and for all the lives of those in the mountains that have
been affected by this miracle.  Pray that this shakes these mountains at
their very core.  All I can say right now is, "Selamat banar, Ama` Empu`."  
(Thank You, Father God. Thank You.)

Amen,

Kiana