By Nnaemeka Chineyere

SAFACS 2023 ENTRY 13

Tonight she sensed him.

Anita recognised the thick darkness that descended; that familiar creeping fear circling her tiny room with a choking stench that reeked of evil. Egwa was here.

Uche had warned her earlier that Egwa would return. But she didn’t expect it to be so soon. She wasn’t ready to ‘deal’ with him just yet.

She had just returned from a two weeks Encounter Retreat where she had undergone series of intense deliverance and discipleship training. She had left Camp fired up for Christ, convinced that the consuming fire she carried on the inside would scare him away. So how was he here now?

Anita panicked more as he fluttered about her. She could perceive his sulphuric aura, and hear his deathly silence as he circled her like a predator sizing his prey. She tried to speak but there were no sounds to accompany her words. She struggled to reach her anointing oil, but her body laid in total paralysis. Nothing could move, save her lips.

The familiar blanket of claustrophobia enveloped Anita, chilling her from within. She wished Uche had slept over. How was she going to fight him? Egwa was so cruel he always left physical marks.

Tears welled up in her eyes. All her life, she had been tormented and abused for the sins of her mother. A transaction she had no part in was her constant nightmare. Yes, her mother was desperate for a child, but did it have to come at the cost of her peace?

Three months ago, Anita met Uche. Uche spoke to her about Jesus, inviting her to attend Encounter. Desperate for a remedy, she agreed.

Throughout the two weeks she was there, Egwa never showed. Until today…

‘I want to die. Please let me die.’ she cried wordlessly.

She felt his nails scratch a thin line on her face as his gnarly fingers caressed it. He grabbed her neck.

Maybe she shouldn’t have returned, she thought to herself as she struggled for air Suddenly, a voice, like Uche’s, bold and clear, torn through her subconsciousness. ‘RESIST HIM!’…

She strained her ears to be sure, grasping and flailing under Egwa’s tightening chokehold.

‘You are no longer a slave... Christ has redeemed you and bought you with a price… it is the blood of Jesus… You are now a Child of God, a new creature; old things are passed away…!

Egwa squeezed tighter. Uche’s voice grew louder.

‘The weapons of our warfare are not carnal sister… Open YOUR MOUTH… RESIST HIM!’ Anita summoned all her will and let out an ear-piercing scream. ‘JESUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!’

No sooner had the name of Jesus left her mouth than the paralysis lifted and she jumped up, surprisingly not grasping for air.

A holy anger was building in her. It felt like a hot white fire that was exhilarating. And for the first time, she was assured of victory.