06. Night Noises: Mexico
CHAPTER SIX NIGHT NOISES: MEXICO We live in an Indian village, peopled by descendants of the ancient Mayan peoples of Yucatan.
One of these native boys, a young man of about 17 years, whose father is a faithful believer in the Lord Jesus, and who himself has claimed to be a believer, became either possessed or obsessed by demons. The boy, Fernando, assured everyone that he was sure it was a chastening from the Lord, which, if true, would indicate that he was a believer. For a little while after this chastening, he was used mightily of the Lord to arouse congregations into a realization of the nearness of the coming of the Lord, and for the salvation of souls that are still faithful after several years of proving. But now he is living without any interest in the Lord.
Fernando’s “attacks” came usually about dusk and lasted well on toward midnight. He would see all sorts of black, ugly animals coming toward him, and then he would completely lose his own personality for those hours. When it was over, he would almost unfailingly sing, “He can break every fetter, he can set you free,” in a loud voice for the whole town to hear. And his own personality then would come back.
These “attacks” started by Fernando’s having severe pains in his abdomen. We could see no physical reason for these pains, yet they continued for several days and became more severe, usually getting worse in the late afternoon and night.
One afternoon I was visiting when he told me that he had seen various kinds of animals along the joist of the roof. I suspected demons then. The next afternoon, about sundown, I was with him again, and there were about seven other men in the room visiting. Suddenly he had a faraway look in his eyes and spoke as to a person in the far corner of the room saying, “Why have you come to disturb my heart?”
Then turning to us, who were seated around his bed, he said, “Who are you? I am stronger than all of you!” We had to act quickly to grab him and it finally took eight strong men to hold him on the bed, and even then we had to change “shifts” in order to rest. After more than four hours he finally quieted down, still fresh and strong; and seventeen young men were just about worn out!
Quite often when Fernando was possessed, he would sing songs that the Catholic priests chant. The family had no idea where he could have heard those songs, for they had been believers since he was a small boy. He had never sung them before, nor has he sung them since. Also, he could speak fluently in the native Chontal language, which in real life he speaks only brokenly, since the government demands that the children learn to speak Spanish. At times, with his head in a position that made it impossible to see who was entering the room, he would name his visitors as they came in. He is a boy unaccustomed to clocks, but he often gave the time to the exact minute by our watches that were set with the radio, but were in a place where he could not see them - and he cannot read a watch when he is in his natural state.
Once a hypocrite from a nearby town came to visit him and started reading Scripture in an ostentatious way. Fernando made fun of him and asked where he had been the night before and what about Rosa. We found out later that the man had been in jail the night before because of his relations with a certain Rosa who was not his wife. When not possessed, Fernando asked for three specific persons to come and pray with and for him at these times of attack, saying that those prayers were the only thing that helped him. But these petitions were not made during the attacks. While possessed (if we may call it that), he threatened these three people that he would bother them at exactly 3 o’clock in the morning.
Since my wife and I were two of the three, we experienced the 3-o’clock-in-the-morning sessions for many successive nights. At that exact moment we would both find ourselves sitting up in bed, quite apparently scared and with no reason we could name. Then we would hear weird sounds.
Outside the window at the head of our bed, the owl would hoot and a snake would hiss right into our window. (Both these are animals the natives associate with demon possession). The house would crack. We could easily sense the presence of demons and I almost feel that we saw them.
One time it sounded like a pipe fell on the concrete walk out in back, which would probably mean thieves. I went to see about it, but both dogs were asleep right where we had heard the noise! The name of Jesus always proved effective in expelling these unwanted presences, and in a few minutes we would be free and rejoicing in His power, and our fellowship with the Almighty. The third prayer was also molested with loud noises and such like at an hour he guessed was 3 in the morning, since he had no clock. He also found relief and peace in the name of Jesus.
Fernando once named a group of several kings - each of a certain section of territory. We supposed these were the names of the demons that had authority over that section. A number of years ago, when we first came to this Mayan-descent Indian village, we were trying to study the language and thought it would help if we got an older person to tell us the native folklore. We wanted to study sentence structure, and also get acquainted with their beliefs.
Nothing of importance happened while this old man told us all sorts of stories about his people. But when he started telling us the stories about U-Yum-Kap, we realized at once that this little dwarf is a demon. The name means “Owner of the Earth,” and they fear him as a bad god. He apparently did not like to be “told on,” so tried to scare us into leaving. The stories were something about brooms flying through the air and talking; about a little man with a huge sombrero whose feet are turned backward so no one knows where he goes; if a girl picks up a flower from the ground then she has given herself to U-Yum-Kap, and he will get her and take her out to some horrible place till she loses her mind; about this same demon throwing manure into the food as a woman is cooking, and that is the sign he is going to get her, and then she loses her mind.
While these things were fresh in our minds, one day my wife was sick and in bed on the only innerspring mattress in this section. She felt the corner of the bed go down noticeably, as if someone had sat on it - but there was no one there. At night one time my wife heard someone walking across the room. She turned on the flashlight to see which child was up, but there was nothing visible where the footsteps came from! Once there was a strange noise late in the night and I got up to see about it. After I was gone, my wife, wide awake, felt the bed beside her bounce as if someone were turning over in it, but no one was there.
Some four or five years ago, the small Bible Institute the Lord has given us the joy of maintaining was bothered with demons for a month or more, as I remember it. The girls’ dorm is a big bedroom across the wide front room from our bedroom. Many times the girls would knock on our door and beg my wife to pray with them for they could not sleep because of evil presences and noises, which prevented them from praying to the Lord in faith.
They always said that when she walked into the room the oppression was relieved. After prayer, quite often the demons would go away only long enough for us all to fall asleep again, and then wake up the girls simultaneously. Only in calling upon the Lord Jesus, who came to undo the works of the Devil, was there relief. But His name never failed! At this same time over in the boys’ dorm, which is a cane-walled, thatch-roofed house, the boys reported seeing a person in a long white robe walk across the ceiling (the underside of the thatched roof). They heard people walking up there at times without seeing anyone. They often could not sleep through a whole night because of the awful sense of the presence of a demon.
Many a night they spent in prayer. But the Lord was always victorious, and this all served to make serious a group of otherwise too playful youths.
One young man, who is now a consecrated teacher in the Bible Institute, had to go very early in the morning to buy meat for the school. Cows are slaughtered around midnight, and by 3 or 4 A.M. the meat is ready for sale; and if one is not there, he will likely go without his dinner. So the boys take turns, a week at a time. It was Hector’s turn to get meat, and this was why he was out at that hour of the night. He left without any sense of fear. As he went by the store of a very wicked man, he felt that “someone” had started walking beside him, but no one was visible. On the way back that “someone” walked with noisy steps on the brick wall while Hector himself walked in the sand without making any noise. The presence left him as he got close to the dorm.
Over in a nearby village, several of the believers have reported seeing a beautiful young girl, dressed in white, who is there for a while and then just disappears. Since it is a small section, they are all very well acquainted with each other and none of them has ever seen any such person as this girl in white. She usually gets into the visions of those who are the deeper Christians.
They sense fear and find themselves praying - then she is gone.
James E. Russell Frontera, Tabasco, Mexico