Devil attack at Trinidad & Tobago, follow up

On November 16 I reported (HERE) that an incident had occurred in an elementary school the previous week, in Trinidad & Tobago. Seventeen girls from the upper grades seemed to become suddenly demon-possessed. They exhibited behaviors such as the Gadarene demoniac had, and were en masse rushed to the hospital. Please read at the link for the initial story and background. But the first reporting is never the whole story. Stories unfold, as new details emerge. And new details have emerged as this incident becomes more fully known.

Here is one follow up to the original story-

Pupils collapse; parents want exorcist
"More than two dozen secondary school pupils were being treated at hospital last night, after they collapsed in their classrooms. And their parents are convinced that the teenagers, all girls, are possessed by demons and are pleading for an exorcist to intervene. The pupils were taken to the San Fernando General Hospital and Princes Town District Hospital but medical experts were unable to say what caused their children to scream and then collapse. "The children came in here, screaming. They shouting that a fireman running them down and they running around the wards. We are trying do simple tests, like blood pressure readings, and the machines are going crazy. I don't know what is happening," a nurse said."

Hmmm. The school was in a panic. When transported to the hospital, the hospital went crazy. The machines used to test the girls were going crazy. Empirical data. However, psychiatrists are not convinced:

Mass hysteria, not demon attack, say mental health experts
"Mental health experts have dismissed claims of supernatural activity at the Moruga Secondary School where pupils reported being "attacked" by an unseen force yesterday and on Wednesday. Psychiatrist Dr Hari Maharajh said the "demon attack" appeared to be a case of mass hysteria. A similar opinion was given by consultant psychiatrist at the St Ann's Mental Hospital Dr Iqbal Ghany."

That prompted a reader to send a letter stating his opinion:

Hysteria or demons, Trinidad and Tobago wants to know
"Many faiths (Christianity, Islam and others) teach as doctrine the existence of unseen beings, albeit by differing names (ie jinn in Islam, spirits in Christianity). What is disappointing but not surprising, however, is that some intellectuals (self-proclaimed or degree-qualified, it doesn’t really matter) in our society seek to explain these strange occurrences from a psychological/scientific perspective. Their idea is what cannot be proven through the basic human senses cannot exist. There’s no denial this may be the case sometimes, but when there’s overwhelming opposing factors, one has to think twice. Qualified psychiatrists are dismissing the event as merely episodes of hysteria and copycat behaviour (psychological illnesses, not demons). We ask however, how will they explain to the many eyewitnesses (students, teachers, even MTS security guards) who saw unimaginable feats of strength (confirmed report), gravity defying leaps, speech in tongues and suicidal whispers (reported by a victim)?"

Which in turn prompted another reader to send in his opinion:

Demon possession? get real, people
"The report of female students at a high school in south Trinidad simultaneously stricken by a mysterious illness, which had them fainting and flailing on the ground screaming, is rightfully a cause of great concern and fright for many. Given that T&T is a land ruled by the organised superstition we call religion, there is now the typical talk of demon possession, pagan devilry and spiritual forces at work in the school. Similar events like this have been recorded throughout history but it is only now they can be observed and scrutinised with the light of science and reason..."

People who believe and people who do not believe will go on back and forth ad nauseum. However, in researching the follow-up, one sentence in one of the articles alerted me to the true status of this incident. It convinced me it is a true case of demonic possession. Aside from the men in authority at the school observing that the girls were not faking and called EMTs, aside from the hospital workers trained to observe symptoms and deciding how to act accordingly, aside from the fact that the machines were "going crazy", there is something embedded in the statement one parent made that prompted me to search further:

It turns out that Hindu Pandit Bramdeo Maharaj, former president of the Inter-Religious Organisation, had conducted a Hindu celebration at the class. One parent believes the demons were released during the Divali pooja (Hindu prayer) at the school. "I think the man (pundit) did something wrong and released bad spirits. I think the spirits are looking for souls, but I know what to do and they not getting my child," he said." His daughter, age 16, was being treated at the San Fernando General Hospital. "She is conscious and looks good. I heard that she had to be strapped down because she was uncontrollable. [italics mine].

Divali, or Diwali, is short for Deepawali, a pagan Hindi festival celebrating false deities. A pandit is a scholar, a teacher, particularly one skilled in Sanskrit and Hindu law, religion, music or philosophy. The English loan word pundit is derived from it. The background to the festival is that Narakasura, a demon, ruled the kingdom of Pradyoshapuram. Under his rule, the villagers suffered much hardship as the demon tortured the people and kidnapped the women to be imprisoned in his palace. Seeing his wickedness, Lord Khrishna set out to destroy the demon and the day Narakasura died was celebrated as Deepavali, the triumph of good over evil. Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama, along with Sita and Lakshman, from his fourteen-year-long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and burst crackers.

The class was doing a pooja (puja) which is the act of showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or another aspect of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals. An essential part of puja for the Hindu devotee is making a spiritual connection with the divine. Most often that contact is facilitated through an object. Shortly afterward the prayer, the girl called her father and mentioned that the classmates were "acting strangely." When the father called his daughter back a little later, he was told she had been or was being transported to the hospital.

So! All becomes clear! We know that there is NO "connection with the divine" aside from walking in faith with the One True God. If people were making connections with the divine, invoking gods, or otherwise worshiping something other than Lord Christ, they were in fact consorting with demons.

If you ask a demon to come, he will. They seek lives. In the story from Mark, many of them possessed the man from Gesara. He lived in torment for years as the demons wrought havoc and violence with impunity. It got so bad that no one would even pass that way any more. When Jesus arrived, the demons begged Him not to send them from the area, but instead, at least, allow them to inhabit a body, any body, such as begging to be sent into the herd of pigs nearby. They want lives, as the parent said, and this is true. Satan comes to steal and destroy.

MARK 1:39 – “And He went through all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and expelling the demons."

If you are a Christian reading this who disbelieves that demonic possession can occur today, ask yourself why you disbelieve. Prior to the bible's recording of Jesus expelling demons, no record exists of such expelling. That is because ONLY JESUS has that power. Then Jesus came and He demonstrated His power over them by casting them from bodies and locations. In Matthew 10:7-8 He gave the Apostles the power to cast out demons, again as a sign of who He is and that His power has now come to earth. (For the record, I believe only the Apostles had the power to expel demons, a sign that expired upon their death. My interpretation.) We are repeatedly told in the bible that the kingdom of satan is on the earth and its near environs (Eph 2:2; Job 1:7; Mt 4:8-9). Demons exist and they want you. Inviting them in through false gods is one easy way to enter. "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24-26). The are aware, have intent, and will return, if your house is not filled with the Holy Spirit!

Those girls need prayer. They would not have been entered if they had been filled with the Spirit. Pray that they are convicted of their deeds (worshiping false gods for one) and that they will allow the Spirit of the One True God to fill their house, so that no spirit may ever enter again!
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