Ehetnesh: Headaches, Left-sided Paresis & Severe Insomnia: Could the Spiritual realm be operating in all this?
[Reading time: 11 minutes]
This story comes from our involvement in an ongoing work in a major city in Ethiopia. We must, however, be very clear in stating at the outset that this case:
1) is most certainly not a common occurrence; nor
2) intended to give the idea that medical pathologies are inextricably tied up with this degree of spiritual involvement.
We simply present it because it truly is a prime example of a “paradigm-shifting patient case.” Read and see for yourself.
Future posts will likely not be this dramatic but we intend to make available certain key patient cases in the future that have opened us up to dimensions of medicine for which our training did not account. That being said, here is the case:
PRESENTATION TO OUR CLINIC
Ehetnesh is an HIV+ widow that came to our project in February of 2015. She and her four children were in need of significant health and social support.
She had recently given birth to twins—one surviving and one stillborn. She presented to care with years of complete right leg numbness, compounded by edema, intractable headaches, and severe insomnia, escalating over the prior month to the point that she had been unable to sleep at all.
After a full history and extensive neurological examination, her symptoms did not appear consistent with particular neurologic pathology. Nor did her symptoms seem attributable to another physical cause. Furthermore, she had recently been hospitalized in the prior week at Black Lion, the national referral hospital. Review of her records revealed completely normal laboratory tests and a normal CT scan of the head.
THE DEMONIC BROUGHT INTO THE OPEN
Given the discrepancy of severe symptoms and normal physical exam, labs and imaging results, a spiritual component was sought. The team began to share the Gospel with her, emphasizing the Power of the Blood of Jesus. Almost Immediately Ehetnesh began manifesting a demonic presence. Her face writhing and her voice changed:
“We are 37” were the first words spoken. “She belongs to me...I killed the baby in her womb...” Then the threat: “And now I am going to kill her too. I will give her two more years and then I will kill her.”
As the doctor and nurse continued praying, she fell to the ground, crawled to the corner of the room, thrashing at them if they came closer to her and trying to rip the Bible out of their hands. She continued yelling the words, 'Do not say that name' whenever the name of Jesus was pronounced.
THE FIRST STEPS
The team called other workers in the immediate area, who joined them in prayer over Ehetnesh. One pastor, who was the first to arrive at the scene, began rather forcefully witnessing to her, ultimately having her repeat the words of Gospel acceptance, “I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.” But nothing seemed to change. So he continued, yelling at her exorcisms, even slapping her across the face multiple times. Despite all of this, however, Ehetnesh remained very tense, refusing to speak with the doctor and nurse, her eyes with deep, piercing anger. Because of this, the team sensed that this was only the beginning of a longer process of healing. And following the words of Jesus in Mt 17, which were impressed upon them throughout this episode, they felt that full exorcism would require focused prayer, and specifically, fasting. The team contacted Jason, Gizaw and others in the mission and the immediate plan was for her to return to clinic the following day.
THE NEXT ENCOUNTER: FROM 2 YEARS TO 2 DAYS
When Ehetnesh came back to the clinic the next day, she again began manifesting a demonic presence. This time our Suki Church Planting team was on site praying, as is our usual Wednesday morning custom. We began praying over Ehetnesh as the demonic presence continued to hit, kick, and yell out its claim of authority over her and her family. This time the demonic presence moved up its time table, “I was going to give her two years, but now I will give her two days. In two days I will kill her.” In all honesty, it reminded me of an ill-tempered toddler throwing a tantrum… “Mine, mine, mine.” But no authority which exalts itself against the Lord Jesus Christ can stand, for in his death, resurrection and ascension all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. As we continued to pray, Ehetnesh came back to herself—but again we had the sense that it was only a partial deliverance.
THE PLAN SET
The next morning Ehetnesh attended our Thursday morning bible study, and we asked how her night had been. She had not slept at all (nor had she slept for almost a full month previously), but had lost consciousness and reawakened wandering around the community at 3am. As we had guessed, the demons were continuing their assault against her. We determined as a church planting team to fast and pray, and told her to come back the next morning so that we could pray for her full deliverance and salvation from these demonic powers. The demon had said he would kill her on that day, but we instead chose to claim that day in faith as her appointed time of deliverance and healing. As our team of five fasted and prayed, God brought numerous passages of Scripture to our minds. When we gathered the next morning, we spent some preparation time sharing these Scriptures with one another—the demon possessed boy in Mark 9, the image of Jesus Christ in his burning glory in Revelation 1, the salvation and steadfast love of God in the midst of our folly and sin from Psalm 107.
THE BACKGROUND STORY UNCOVERED: HER BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD
We began meeting with Ehetnesh and determined to find out as much of her personal story as we could before triggering any kind of demonic manifestation, to help guide us in prayer and to determine why this evil spirit had such an open door to her life. As we began asking her questions, the reasons became abundantly clear. Her mother had died during her birth, and the family had considered Ehetnesh cursed. They abandoned her as a newborn for several days while attending the mother’s funeral, assuming she would die while they were away. But when the family returned, she was still alive and so they began to feed and take care of her—but named her “Thun” (“Let Her Be”—we don’t want her, but she’s still here so “let her be”). Her father was involved in witchcraft, and our best guess is that he likely cursed his daughter early in her life, thus giving an opening for demonic power to assault her. From childhood, Ehetnesh remembers waking up in the middle of the night on top of mountains, or high in difficult-to-climb trees, with no memory of how she got there. Eventually, her brother decided to change her name from “Thun” to “Ehetnesh” (“you are my sister”), which was certainly a redemptive act; but this same brother later became involved in witchcraft over time and contributed to Ehetnesh’s oppression.
HER MOVE TO ADDIS: INTENSIFYING SYMPTOMS
When she moved to Addis Ababa a number of years ago, she began working for a family as a houseworker. A neighbor hired a witchdoctor to curse this family by flinging a sacrificed chicken at their door. When Ehetnesh came out of the house, she accidentally stepped on the chicken, and began experiencing swelling, burning, and numbness in that leg. She was baptized in the Mekane Yesus Church about 10 years ago, and seemed to be professing faith in Christ—but she said that always when attending church she would have a heavy sleep and throbbing headache that would come upon her when hearing God’s Word read, or being asked about spiritual things. (During one of the demonic manifestations, the demon referenced the fact that “she was baptized, but I was hiding…”). After a few years Ehetnesh distanced from the church and became very ill. Her brother tried to get her to rejoin the Orthodox Church to receive re-baptism and holy water, but when the priest approached her, the demon manifested itself and took the bowl of water and dumped it over the priest’s head, knocking out his tooth. He declared her to be filled with strong spirits from the ancestors that he could do nothing about. The brother then took her to a witchdoctor who laid her on hyena skin and beat her with whips, but after being unable to cure her he advised the brother to give her 1000 birr and send her away. Again the story of abandonment and spiritual darkness was playing itself out in her life. Over the years she continued to experience demonic oppression, insomnia, and severe illness. As recent as four months ago, she was hospitalized and when her brother came to visit her, she manifested a demon, jumped out of bed, ripped out her IVs, ran to snatch a piece of hidden hyena skin out of the brother’s pocket and ate it.
THE EXORCISM: PHASE ONE
Such was the darkness and demonic activity that continued to operate in her life. With this background, we told Ehetnesh that we would begin praying over her, but that first we wanted to read a Scripture. One of our church plant team began to read the story of the demon-possessed boy from Mark 9, and within 2 verses Ehetnesh began to yawn and her head tilted over to the side. We continued to read, and after 2 more verses Ehetnesh’s eyes suddenly opened wide, she leapt from her chair, knocked the bible out of our teammate’s hands, and began yelling for us to stop reading. The demonic presence was back again. We began to pray over her for complete deliverance and healing from these demonic powers, declaring through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection that they must go and not return—just as Jesus himself pronounced over the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9. After a season of prayer, the demon left (shouting and screaming the whole way), and Ehetnesh returned to herself.
PHASE TWO
But as we continued to pray, worship, and read Scripture she began telling us that her leg (the one that had bothered her for many years after stepping on the cursed chicken) was burning. We entered into another season of prayer over her leg, and another demon began to manifest itself, shouting and screaming about its authority over Ehetnesh.
PHASE THREE
Again, the demon left and Ehetnesh returned to herself. After this, she stayed conscious with us, but continued to experience various burnings and throbbing headaches as we prayed. We entered into a time of worship with her—but she was barely able to mumble the words. But with her now present with us, we encouraged her to begin praying and interceding to God on her own behalf….calling out to God for full deliverance, salvation, and healing. We joined her in praying, and continued to pray Christ’s authority over all demonic power. We read and prayed Revelation 1 over her, that Christ in his blazing glory would uncover and expel any hidden darkness and evil. After this third round of prayer, the final demonic presence left and she was completely restored. We began worshipping with her again—and this time she was singing with full voice about the authority and salvation of God. We proclaimed the gospel to her, and had her profess her full faith in Christ, and give him praise and thanks for her healing.
EHETNESH: A SISTER OF CHRIST
Each of the church plant team members then took turns praying over her. I was to go last in prayer, but felt from God’s Spirit that rather than pray for her, I was to tell her something from God’s Word. I shared the story of Mary Magdalene, who had been delivered by Jesus from 7 spirits, and had afterwards experienced a deep love and devotion to Christ. I encouraged her with the hope that her life with Christ might be all the more rich and sweet because of the deliverance which God had worked in her life—and that just like Psalm 107, God had poured out his steadfast love upon her. I also told her that truly her name was “Ehetnesh” (You are a sister), but that it was no longer a witchcraft-involved brother speaking this over her, but Christ himself. As an adopted daughter of God, and as a sister of Christ her Elder Brother, her identity was now completely found in his love and acceptance for her. No longer would she be abandoned to evil as her father and brother had done before, but now she was embraced in the loving arms of God in Christ Jesus.
A GOOD NIGHT'S REST
After this sweet time of worship and thanksgiving to God, we walked home with her. We felt a strong need to pray over her home and children as well. Upon arriving to her compound, her children ran out to greet her with joy and relief on their faces. One of her sons called out, “Mama, you came back.” There was so much present in that single comment. How many times had these kids seen their mother wandering away from home, under the influence of demonic power, never knowing if or when she would return again. But truly, this time it was their mother—freed from Satan’s power—coming back to them. We sat in her small mud and stick house and prayed Christ’s power and protection over her home and family, and as we left I quietly placed my hand on each child’s head, speaking the Aaronic blessing over them, and saying goodbye. As we left, Ehetnesh began to talk about how eager she was for bed (having not truly slept in a month). We told her to give her kids some lunch, and go to bed for a long rest—which she did. When we saw her again on Sunday, Ehetnesh gave testimony in our church gathering of God’s healing and deliverance. She had slept peacefully each night, the headaches and leg issues were gone. She was at peace for the first time in many, many years. To God be all the glory. Ehetnesh continues in the church and has shown evidences of continued growth in Christ.