by Daniel Jesudason
October 1, 2002
I simply will add to what Joe has written since it is an accurate account of the events as I saw it. I am not surprised that there is an alternative and obvious explanation to the events, there always is, but the witness of the fruit of deliverance is what I look for to confirm which interpretation would be a more accurate one.
The details prior to our visit to see Melanongi are as described by Joe. Here is my perspective because at times I took an active lead in ministering to Melanongi.
The first hurdle was trying to get him to communicate to us, he seemed to be withdrawn and scared, which is understandable since the incident was a shock to him as well. I had to ascertain that this was not a mental state or sickness so that we are not wasting our time and deceiving ourselves. I have a particular gifting in deliverance and discernment of spirits and have ministered to over 30 serious cases over the years in Singapore and Papua New Guinea. Most, if not all, have proven to be genuine deliverance and could not be attributed to mental sickness because of the fruit shown in the persons life immediately after the time of ministry. Of course the fruit can be denied or attributed to other factors, but to be fair to the situation, you will have to stretch the truth to attribute the fruit to something else other then the impact of deliverance in most of the cases that I had been involved in.
I am a graduate in Philosophy and understand how easy it is to deceive ourselves. So my first recourse was to ascertain that this was not a mental situation but one which required deliverance or else I would have gently advised Grace that he needs some medical help as a priority. Please also note that sometimes the root is demonic and the damage done by the oppression/possession might still need psychiatric treatment with drugs to help the person to continue normally again, especially in the event that the damage is not sovereignly healed by the Lord. By saying that I am stating my basic premise, which is: the condition can be a combination since in my world view an integrated view of the psyche and spirit being is just as valid. The question then is what is the root problem from which healing should be initiated? There are some simple tests to ascertain this, which will help us to know what should be approached first. We could make a mistake and if so, we can reverse and try another approach. Most doctors make many tests before only one of them confirms what the root problem is even though the symptoms can match various analysis and diagnosis. The deliverance ministry can be like that, at times. However, in Melanongi’s situation it was more obvious this is why:
1. He was withdrawn and not cooperative at all, we did not use any counseling procedures to lure him out to talk. By looking at his situation we felt it was worth starting with an assumption that there was demonic activity to prevent him. We commanded spirits to release him. The fruit was that he became cooperative and started to talk during that short period of time. This is one evidence which suggested a good degree of demonic activity. To what degree was there mental sickness (if at all) could not be determined at this early test stage.
2. He narrated how he was grieving because the voice of his wife was calling out to him and he was very sure she has been killed by God as a punishment for killing Fabian. We tried to convince him that she is alive and suggested ways by which she can be brought up to see him. This seemed like a mental state of guilt and trauma so we talked to reassure him. I did not conclude at this stage that it this was demonic by itself.
3. The next thing that was told to me by Grace was the common practice of hearing spirits in their ears and grabbing them with the opposite hand and throwing them off. It sounded convincing enough that I needed to develop a hypothesis that the voices about his wife were there before the act of murder and if they were then there is a chance that there is demonic interference especially if it is common among the Nabak, unless we assume that they all have a hereditary problem of schizophrenia....not sure if that is possible but that would be the only fair explanation at that point with the information I was given by Grace.
4. We ascertained that the voices were the same before and after the act of murder. So to investigate what input from animism and shamanism he had, we asked for a history of spirit involvement and looks like 'treatment' had been given to his ears and so it seemed like a direct link to his ability to hear voices, maybe more enhanced then the other Nabaks. Please note that at this point I was still open to accepting that he had a mental condition possibly from one time damage from demonic influence...this is possible and has been evident in some of the cases I have been involved in.
5. The clincher for me to proceed with a major act of deliverance was when it was apparent that the spirits were telling him to kill himself despite the assurance that his wife was still alive. It was too clear a picture of Satan's main objective to 'steal, kill and destroy'. So since a mental option would mean we do nothing and simply advise Grace to get him help, while a demonic option would lead to (a) a need to break any connection from the past, (b) break the pattern of hearing voices as a practice among the Nabak, (c) then claim healing for him (including damage to his mental faculties)...it became obvious that we should consider ministering to him deliverance. So since it was a confidential situation and there was no harm in proceeding to deliver him since God could use it to heal him of a mental schizophrenic condition as well (even if there was no demonic involvement), we proceeded to pray for him.
As you know there was no follow-up opportunity, but from what was reported it sounded like with other help he got, he recovered well and drew near to God and even wrote hymns in the Nabak language etc etc while in prison. To me I saw this as proof, to some extent, of the fruit of deliverance. Of course others can deny us that but Scripture says that whatever we do in the name of the Lord will not come back void and so I chose to believe that, in this case.
Hope I have not confused the matter more, but I guess the Lord will sort everything out for us in His time.