There have been many more miracles over the past week and many more people set free from the Kingdom of Darkness and safely hidden in the Kingdom of Light by their heavenly father, God Almighty. We've experienced more of the supernatural and the spiritual realm this week – along with the weather at over 40 degrees centigrade most days, things are really heating up here!
Last week , despite the oppressive heat, an unpleasant gust of freezing cold air woke Mario in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He looked towards the door of our bedroom and saw a tall, dark, cloaked and hooded figure with a sickle, rather like the representation of 'death' we see in our culture. Here in Mexico this figure is part of a powerful and growing cult known as the Santa Muerte, or 'Saint Death,' which many people now worship. Mario knew just what to do. Extending his hand towards the figure he said “In the name of Jesus, I rebuke you, get out of here.” At which the Holy Spirit reassured Mario “now turn over and go back to sleep, I'll deal with this.” Mario resumed his sleep.
Now, guess what happened next? The first appointment to minister to a family in their home the next morning took him to a house where the Santa Muerte was worshipped. Although the home was clean and airy, the atmosphere was oppressive. As Mario entered the house he felt as though invisible hands were pushing him back. As he sat down to speak with the family, it became clear that the family members were utterly defeated, and terror was in their eyes. As Mario sat and listened, the mother unfolded an horrendous tale of devastation.
Some months earlier, their son had a run of bad luck; a series of car accidents and similar problems. He decided to visit a witch to see if anything could be done to change his fortunes. She gave him a statue of the Santa Muerte and told him this would bring him better luck. So he paid her his money and eagerly accepted the statue into his home. His luck did change and things started to go well for him. One night about two months later, the Santa Muerte visited him in the night. “Has your luck improved?” it asked? “Yes,” the son replied. “I've come for payment” said the Santa Muerte. “What do you want?” the son was uncertain he had anything the Santa Muerte might want. “In two months, I'm going to take a member of your family” came the ominous response. Now, here in Mexico the family unit is the central focus of society, and families remain close and very attached for their whole lives. I cannot stress strongly enough how stressful this statement would have been for this young man, who then replied as any good son would have done in his position: “No! Take me. Please don't take anyone in my family. Take me.” “Good,” came the reply. “In two months I'll come for you.”
The young man was distraught. He didn't know what to do. He told his mother what had happened, and she didn't know what to do either. They lived in fear. Two months later, for no medical reason, this healthy young man died in his sleep. The family were devastated and frightened for their lives. They were at their wits end. The Santa Muerte continued to invade their lives and its statue held a prominent position upstairs in the home. They lived in fear of offending this spirit and were willing to continue serving it in the hope of preserving their lives.
This was the state of the family in need of deliverance that day. As Mario shared his testimony, and about the power of the Lord Jesus who has broken the power of sin and death, slowly hope began to return. As they bowed their heads and confessed Christ, the hold of the Santa Muerte was broken. As they renounced idolatry and witchcraft the oppression lifted. As we smashed and burned the statue the era of evil was ended for that household and authority of Christ was reinstated over His beloved family. They prayed for the guilt and grief to be healed and left the home rejoicing that the enemy's camp has once again been plundered and the captives set free. Hallelujah!
I felt it appropriate to write all these details in full, and for that reason there is not sufficient room this week to tell of all the remaining miracles and salvations in detail, so a summary will suffice. We've seen 30 further salvations spread across 6 homes (a total of 99 people in under 4 weeks). We've seen 3 demons cast out and people restored to Jesus; 2 reconciliations of family members, 5 healings, and many more wonderful testimonies, all last week. On Thursday our friend Martha Cepeda invited us to meet some of her girlfriends at her home. Many were involved in Reiki, metaphysical witchcraft, and others were “Catholic till I die.” We shared a testimony of grace, of God's goodness, and the salvation message. All received Christ, but there were still some misconceptions in place, largely as a result of seeing a powerless church and a powerless God represented by His people. We began to pray for people. One of the more sceptical ladies said she'd suffered from internal varicose veins for many years, which in the last two months had become so inflamed and troublesome she had been in pain 24 hours a day. We prayed for healing in Jesus' name. She said to her great surprise she began to feel better. Suddenly they were all clamouring for prayer for longstanding physical and emotional conditions, in themselves and on behalf of family members. 20 minutes later the lady with the varicose veins declares “the pain has completely gone, it's a miracle!” We were there until 1.30am praying for people. It was a wonderful evening and typical of our meetings in people's homes.
Samantha Otero
