Casting Out Demons in the OR

Last Thursday, I (Nate) had one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. Here's the true story that is too strange to make up:

A 20 year old girl comes into the orthopedic clinic complaining that she cannot straighten the fingers on her right hand. It started about two weeks ago with some sort of seizure/convulsion, and since that time her fist has been clenched. Even touching her fingers to see if they would move causes excruciating pain. An x-ray reveals no abnormalities, so we tell the girl and her mother to come back the next day with the plan of putting her under anesthesia to manipulate her hand and put her in a splint.

The next day, we take her to the operating room. The anesthesiologist starts an IV and the nurses set up plaster for a splint. The orthopedic surgeon decides something just seems strange and asks to pray before the anesthesiologist gives any medicine. Now this is not that strange, because we pray before every surgery at ALMC. However, this is usually the last thing we do before actually starting the operation. Everyone gathered around the patient, and about 3-4 seconds into the prayer the girl sits up off of the bed and starts screaming like, well, like someone who is possessed. Of course this startled me quite a bit, but mostly I was just confused. Fortunately, the nurses and doctor were not confused. Two of the nurses immediately started yelling at the woman, "Toka jina la Yesu Christo", which is Swahili for "Get out in the name of Jesus Christ". The response from the girl, or at least the words that came out of her mouth, "Hatutoki", which means "we will not get out". Fortunately these phrases were in my Swahili vocabulary and I instantly realized what was happening....this woman was demon possessed and the nurses were casting out the demons. The 6-7 people in the room all laid hands on the girl and began praying fervently. After about 30 seconds of this yelling back and forth, the girl went limp. Her vital signs were stable, but she was just staring off into space, obviously having mentally/emotionally/spiritually checked out. The nurses continued praying for her and even brought in a Bible to put on her and rub her hand with special oil. After some time, the girl eventually woke up, with a fully functioning and pain free hand.

Now I am a skeptical person by nature, especially when it comes to this kind of stuff. Seeing the miracle healings on tv usually just makes me sick. Do I believe that it is possible to have healing brought through prayer? Of course...I've spent enough time in hospitals and in church to see things that science cannot explain. However, I've also seen the "miracle workers" who fly around the world in private jets and live lives that look a little different from that of Christ and the disciples. I also have heard stories from friends I trust who have seen similar things in foreign countries. Now I have had such an experience.

All I know is that this girl came to us with a hand that stopped working all of the sudden, a prayer made her go crazy, others started yelling at something to get out in the name of Christ, there was a response of "we won't leave", and then the girl was healed. It seems a bit like the blind man whose response when people questioned him was basically, "Look, I don't know how it happened but I was blind, this Jesus dude came and did some stuff, and now I can see. What else do you want me to say?"

There are many unanswered questions in my head. Why this girl? Why just one hand? Why doesn't this seem to happen in the States? I will probably never find answers to these questions and many others. However, it was a very powerful witness to who is really in control during all of the healing we try to be a part of, which is something I will need to be reminded of many times in the future.