
Money cannot buy ~ Holy Spirit
June 20, 2025 at 06:22 AM
Seventeen-year-old Anders complained of hearing voices at Holbrook
Seventh-day Adventist Indian School in the US state of Arizona. The school
counselor, Loren Fish, met with him and determined that it wasn’t a mental
health issue. Staff members prayed.
But then Anders started acting like a possessed person. While at home
during school break, he had attended a traditional ceremony. Back at school,
the slightly built teen began to exhibit superhuman strength at times, and
Holbrook’s staff had trouble controlling him. Other times, his eyes rolled
back in his head. After an attack, he’d sleep for hours. When he awoke, he
acted normal, but he was scared. One day, he asked the boys’ dean, “What
does Legion mean?” He’d heard the word “Legion” in his head. The dean
remembered how Jesus, before healing a possessed man, asked the demon
for his name, and the demon replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many”
(Mark 5:9, NKJV). The registrar, who was mentoring Anders, asked if he
would like for the school staff to pray over him. The boy said yes.
In the school’s conference room, staff gathered around Anders and began
to pray for him. Suddenly, the boy groaned and fell to the floor. No one was
sure about what to do. Several people prayed out loud while others sang
hymns. Still others urged Anders to pray, “Jesus, help me.” Anders could not
get the words to come out of his mouth. It was complete chaos. Then Anders
started to laugh at the staff. It was a strange, unnatural laugh.
The school’s development director, Diana Fish, felt embarrassed. The
devil knows that we don’t know what to do, she thought. Pulling out her
cellphone, she googled, “How to help a possessed person.” She found a
paper titled, “Ellen White on Confrontation with Evil Spiritual Powers” by
Marc Coleman on the Andrews University website. “Listen,” she said. “We
need to be united. We need to command the spirit to leave in Jesus’ name.”
Immediately, a staff member commanded the spirit, “Come out in the
name of Jesus!” Then Anders gasped, “Jesus, help me!” All of the staff
exclaimed in unison, “Praise God!” A loud screech came out of the boy.
The school’s business manager felt something like a strong whirlwind fly
past her and out of the room. Then there was peace. Anders lay, weeping, on
the floor. Two staff members brought in a cot, and the boy slept for the rest
of the afternoon. After that, Anders was better—until he went home again.
When he returned, the harassment resumed, and the student left the school.
“We’re still praying for him,” Diana said. “We know it’s a spiritual battle,
and it’s not over. We deal with the great controversy daily with our students.”
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School
mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org