American Pastor
All
of the Koreans who led
English
services in Korea declined to help
Kristin, but a young American pastor of an English service at a large Korean
church in a provincial town was different. After listening attentively about her
situation, he made some calls of his own, and then replied that if Kristin
could come to his
town, she could stay at the apartment of one of his church members, who kindly
had offered to move out and stay with a friend in the area, and he would minister to
Kristin, who could also attend services at his church. He said this
arrangement would be available until his
family leaves Korea in three weeks to permanently return to the States.
I listened to a number of his sermons, which were solid despite him not having attended seminary, shared the news with Kristin, who agreed to go, so she bid farewell to the youth pastor and his family, and took a long distance bus to the American pastor's town.
The trip went smoothly and she was picked up at the bus terminal and welcomed by the American pastor, his American wife, who was pregnant, and their toddler daughter, and moved into the aforementioned apartment, which was a 15-minute walk from the pastor's apartment, which was very close to his church.
The first couple of days went fine. On the third day, however, Kristin called and said that she had found herself walking down the middle of the road, amidst car traffic, with toothpaste smeared down one of her arms. She said she had no idea how she ended up walking down the middle of the road or how the toothpaste had gotten on her arm, and added that she felt spiritually oppressed in the apartment, which she said had some new age stuff in it. But she wasn't sure if the source of the spiritual oppression was the apartment, the neighbors, the neighborhood, or something else.
I called the American pastor, relayed what Kristin had shared, except for the apartment, lest she seem ungrateful to his church member who was letting her stay in it, and asked him if there could be a housing option which would eliminate the 15-minute walk to and from his place, as walking in the middle of car traffic was obviously unsafe.
He called the next day and said he had spoken with the Korean elders of his church and they had consented to let Kristin stay for free in one of the studios inside the church building that are reserved for visiting missionaries. Kristin moved into it and said she loved the place. She said various services are held in the church building everyday, she didn't understand the words they are singing but could feel that they are praising Jesus, and she felt spiritually edified, not oppressed. The American pastor's house was just a couple of blocks away so the safety risk of walking to his place had been eliminated as well.
It soon became apparent, however, that she wouldn't be getting much in terms of deliverance ministry. Like me, the American pastor had never cast out demons and just went by what the Bible says. He and Kristin read the Bible together in the living room of his apartment, but when he began to command the demons to come out of her, he kept falling asleep.
When she mentioned that and said that it was the demons who were putting him to sleep, I knew what she meant because when I was commanding the demons to come out of her, I also occasionally had been hit with sudden, inexplicable waves of sleepiness that I had to fight off by asking the Lord for more strength and by standing up
After a few days of continuing to fall asleep whenever he commanded the demons to come of out Kristin, the American pastor told her that while he will continue to read the Bible and pray with her, it seemed that he doesn't have the faith to cast out the demons in her, and he was sorry.
I told Kristin that the American pastor should be commended, not faulted. He had taken her in not because he was especially gifted or had anything to gain, but just because he recognized her as a wounded lamb of Jesus. Moreover, if he were to cast demons out of her, it was possible that they could go into his wife, the baby she is carrying in her womb, or their toddler daughter. He was prioritizing her - Kristin's - well-being and even risking the safety of his wife and children because he was loving her - Kristin - with the love of Christ. And when he couldn't cast the demons out of her, he blamed himself, not her, so he was also a humble man of God.
When the end of the three weeks drew near, I called the young American pastor, thanked and commended him for having taken in and ministered to Kristin, and asked if he knew anyone, either an expat or a Korean, who could take over ministering to Kristin. Her living arrangement inside the church was great; if a robust deliverance ministry could be added on, it would be perfect for Kristin.
He replied that he didn't know anyone, and her stay at the church's studio couldn't be extended beyond his departure, as the church needs it back for its visiting missionaries.
Kristin had no one to go back to in USA (I even asked the American pastor if he would consider taking her back to the States but didn't press him on it as that wasn't what he had committed to in the beginning, and Kristin said that his wife seemed to be getting uncomfortable with her presence.), China, or Korea, so she again had nowhere to go.
The only remaining option was for me to take her back as the youth pastor had suggested, but I didn't have the "faith" and "discerning of spirits" (1 Corinthians 12:9-10) needed for spiritual warfare either, hadn't been able to cast all of the demons out of her even after trying daily for a month, and didn't even have a room with the soundproofing needed for spiritual warfare. As a single man, I also didn't want to care for a single woman by myself, so I prayed to the Lord to provide someone better gifted and resourced to take care of her.