This is an excerpt from the book "Amy Carmichael of Donhavur," that I have been reading. Most people don't know that Amy began her missionary work in Japan, where she served for a short time. It was later that she moved to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka, an island near India), and then to the mainland of India for the rest of her missionary service. This excerpt tells of a situation in Japan where Amy and some of her fellow missionaries felt led to a specific man to cast out his demons, which had tormented him for some time. I thought it was a tremendous example of the power of God and the faith of a servant.
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"The man who, as the people believed, was possessed by the Fox spirit lived in a street near our house. He was in very desperate condition. When we were told of this, words I had read often came to me as if they were new: "All power is given unto Me...These signs shall follow them that believe; in My Name shall they cast out devils." Misaki San and I read these words together and we prayed, and waited upon the Lord. Then, full of confidence that he power of the Lord would case out the Fox spirit, we asked if we might see the man. We were taken to an upstairs room where he was confined. He was strapped and bound to two heavy beams laid crosswise on the floor. His arms were stretched out as if for crucifixion. His body was covered with burns. Little cones of powdered medicine had been set on his skin and lighted. They burned slowly with a red glow. That alone, one would have thought, was enough to make him mad; but it had not been done till all other means known by his people had been tried in vain. The idea was that the fire would drive out the Fox spirit. We had been told that he was possessed by six Fox spirits; but that was nothing to what the man had who said, "My name is Legion, for we are many."
With confidence, then, we told the old man's wife and the relations who crowded around, that our mighty Lord Jesus could cast out the six Fox spirits. But the moment we named our Saviour it was as if a paroxysm of rage filled the poor man; he raved and cursed and struggled to get at us. The men in charge of him held him down and covered his face with a cloth. We were hurried out of the room. The poor wife followed us to the door. She spoke not one word of reproach, but she must have felt reproachful. As for me, I was utterly bewildered and ashamed. It was as if the Name that is above every name had been shamed. What should we have done--stayed and said, "I command thee in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of him?" As we turned to go, a sudden quickening of faith was given, and, my Japanese sister interpreting for me, I asked the wife to let us know when her husband was delivered from the power of the Fox spirit, "for our God will conquer, and we shall go home and pray till we hear that He has."
Within an hour a messenger came to say that the foxes were gone, the cords were off. He was asleep. Next day he asked to see us. He was sitting quietly with his wife, a well man. Except for the unhealed burns there was nothing to show what had been. He sent for flowers and someone brought a branch of pomegranate in flower. He gave it to me, and I don't think I ever see a pomegranate flower without seeing that old man's face, so courteous and so calm.
Most of our workers had by this time gone to a cooler place among the hills of Japan and we had been told to follow; but we knew we might wait to teach that old man, and we did so. His family were strict Buddhists, but they were so grateful that they did not prevent us doing this. It was some time before they understood that it was not we who had cast out the foxes, but the Lord Jesus Christ, whose very Name had been so abhorrent to that old man, or to those spirits who made him their home, on that first dreadful day. In the end he at least understood it, and he did, we believe come to that mighty Saviour in faith, and trust himself to Him."
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"The man who, as the people believed, was possessed by the Fox spirit lived in a street near our house. He was in very desperate condition. When we were told of this, words I had read often came to me as if they were new: "All power is given unto Me...These signs shall follow them that believe; in My Name shall they cast out devils." Misaki San and I read these words together and we prayed, and waited upon the Lord. Then, full of confidence that he power of the Lord would case out the Fox spirit, we asked if we might see the man. We were taken to an upstairs room where he was confined. He was strapped and bound to two heavy beams laid crosswise on the floor. His arms were stretched out as if for crucifixion. His body was covered with burns. Little cones of powdered medicine had been set on his skin and lighted. They burned slowly with a red glow. That alone, one would have thought, was enough to make him mad; but it had not been done till all other means known by his people had been tried in vain. The idea was that the fire would drive out the Fox spirit. We had been told that he was possessed by six Fox spirits; but that was nothing to what the man had who said, "My name is Legion, for we are many."
With confidence, then, we told the old man's wife and the relations who crowded around, that our mighty Lord Jesus could cast out the six Fox spirits. But the moment we named our Saviour it was as if a paroxysm of rage filled the poor man; he raved and cursed and struggled to get at us. The men in charge of him held him down and covered his face with a cloth. We were hurried out of the room. The poor wife followed us to the door. She spoke not one word of reproach, but she must have felt reproachful. As for me, I was utterly bewildered and ashamed. It was as if the Name that is above every name had been shamed. What should we have done--stayed and said, "I command thee in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of him?" As we turned to go, a sudden quickening of faith was given, and, my Japanese sister interpreting for me, I asked the wife to let us know when her husband was delivered from the power of the Fox spirit, "for our God will conquer, and we shall go home and pray till we hear that He has."
Within an hour a messenger came to say that the foxes were gone, the cords were off. He was asleep. Next day he asked to see us. He was sitting quietly with his wife, a well man. Except for the unhealed burns there was nothing to show what had been. He sent for flowers and someone brought a branch of pomegranate in flower. He gave it to me, and I don't think I ever see a pomegranate flower without seeing that old man's face, so courteous and so calm.
Most of our workers had by this time gone to a cooler place among the hills of Japan and we had been told to follow; but we knew we might wait to teach that old man, and we did so. His family were strict Buddhists, but they were so grateful that they did not prevent us doing this. It was some time before they understood that it was not we who had cast out the foxes, but the Lord Jesus Christ, whose very Name had been so abhorrent to that old man, or to those spirits who made him their home, on that first dreadful day. In the end he at least understood it, and he did, we believe come to that mighty Saviour in faith, and trust himself to Him."
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