Christine found the house quiet and knew that Debbie had left. She took her phone from her bag and called her. The phone rang and rang without answers. She grabbed her car keys and locked the front door of her house. Before she kicked in the accelerator she texted the Pastor to come when she got back.
She drove the car to town, driving at high speeds. She adjusted her speed slowly, watching the street vigilantly. Two minutes passed, she still hadn’t found Debbie. Then she decided to go back home.
Something stole her attention by the corner when she turned the car to return. Debbie was sitting in a café, drinking alcohol. She parked the car and ran to her.
Debbie wasn’t startled to see her mother but kept drinking beer from the bottle.
“Debbie, let’s go home, ”she grabbed her hand but Debbie pushed her away.
“Lord Jesus, I need you to intervene,” she held her hands together. “Let’s go my daughter,” she said, grabbing her up steadily.
Debbie didn’t argue but walked with her to the car. She walked bending, as if she didn’t have strength. Debbie could barely open her eyes. Christine helped her by holding her arm, pulling her while she walked in front.
She opened the back door and helped her sit and she slammed the door. She quickly settled down and wrote a message to Pastor. She drove home.
Upon arriving at the gate, Pastor stood holding his Bible under his armpit, wearing a black suit. She drove to the car garage and parked inside.
Christine opened the door and grabbed Debbie’s hand slowly and Pastor held her other hand. She struggled to unlock the door, her daughter was asleep. They walked on slowly and put her on the sofa.
“Christine, I need you trust God and he will answer your prayers. David put his trust in God. Psalms 56 verse 4, says that ‘I trust God and am not afraid; I praise him for he has promised. What can a mere human do to me?’ Do you trust God?”
“Yes, amen. I trust in God,” she said kneeling in front of the pastor and her daughter.
Pastor started to pray in tongues. Christine lay her head down and Pastor was shouting at the top of his voice. Pastor prayed for more than ten minutes then he lay his hands on Debbie’s head. She began to roll and bent her body until she was on the floor.
“Leave, in Jesus’ name. Leave! She is a child of God. Father take control,” he said loudly.
Debbie started to fight against the pastor but he wouldn’t let her go. The demons didn’t want go but because God is power, they released her.
She lay motionless as if she was dead. Christine stood watching what was happening to her daughter, her mouth wide open, holding her hands closer on her chest.
“Those demons are gone in Jesus’ name, they are gone. Our God is faithful and powerful,” he repeated.
“Amen. Our faithful God, thank you. You are powerful,” she whispered.
Pastor got down to wake Debbie who looked at them confused. Pastor and Christine sang the song ‘I want to thank you Lord’. Christine felt alleviated.
Christine made tea after the prayer and Pastor asked Debbie to give her life to Christ so she can understand the word of God. Debbie didn’t hesitate, she gave her life to Christ and confessed all her sins. Christine was petrified to hear she murdered two people but understood.
Everything she stole was burnt and now Debbie attended church. She told the youth about her demons and it was a testimony to someone out there. Her parents also attended church but Calvin never knew that his daughter was a murderer. He was astonished to see Debbie’s character and mood swings gone.
Debbie bore the fruit of the Holy Spirit: kindness, caring, good listener, polite, gentleness, love, giver and other good fruits. People noticed her change and a many didn’t understand. She loved people now and enjoyed encouraging them to give their life to Christ. It hurt her more seeing people doing bad towards one another.
Looking back where she came from brought tears but she rejoiced that it wasn’t late to accept Jesus as her personal Saviour. She has to put the past behind her to move on. She changed her name to Hope and her parents loved it, but it was a name she used at church and surrounding except on her ID.
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Tell us: Do you think Debbie should’ve gone to jail?