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Today's Christian, January/February 1997
The Devil in Murakami-san
I had read of missionaries battling demons, but I hadn't expected it in modern Japan
-by Mary Ellen Gudeman
Akuma (the devil) tried to choke me! Every time you said the name of Jesus Christ, akuma tried to choke me!"
I listened with my ear pressed to the small tape recorder, trying to understand the voice of Murakami-san through the heavy static.
I had moved to Osaka to continue a missionary couple's church-planting work and begin an evangelistic outreach on university campuses. One Bible study I led included students from the Osaka University of Economics where I met Murakami-san.
From the first day, something seemed wrong. Murakami-san often arrived a whole hour before the Sunday service held in my home, always catching me downing a hurried lunch and rushing around putting the "sanctuary" together. At the genkan (entrance), he would nervously grin and bow, politely excusing himself for arriving so early.
More than once I shared my lunch with him, sometimes using the extra time to tell him something about the Bible as I cleared away our dirty dishes. He seldom answered, twitching nervously in his chair most of the time, never making eye contact.
One Sunday as we ate our sandwiches, I opened my Bible to the book of Luke and said, "Murakami-san, I'm sorry I haven't taken more time to tell you about God's wonderful love for you." He didn't reply, but I could see he was listening. As I read verse after verse, Murakami-san's face began to flush. Then he began choking! I ran for a glass of water, but he waved it off. After a minute, I slowly continued. Again he gasped, as if he were being strangled.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Grateful for the interruption, I went to the
genkan and heaved a sigh of relief when I saw Kuroda-san, another Osaka University student and a new Christian.
"Come in," I said, then added in hushed tones, "Murakami-san's here but he's acting very strangely. Please talk with him if you can."
As I watched the two students talking, I noticed that once again Murakami-san did not say a word, but he seemed to become less agitated and more relaxed. There were no further incidents during the service.
Faith against the foe
After all the students had left, and I was putting things away, I remembered that this was not the first time Murakami-san had acted strangely when I shared the gospel with him. He had always seemed uneasy during the Bible study, and once or twice a look of fear had crossed his face. But today his behavior had been even more unsettling. It reminds me of the biblical story about the demon-possessed boy, I thought. He was often stricken by seizures. Could it be possible? Could Satan somehow be controlling Murakami-san?
I had read stories of missionaries being confronted by satanic powers, and how they had laid hands on afflicted people, asking God to cast out Satan. Somehow, in "civilized" Japan, I had not given satanic attacks much thought.
Well, there's no way I can lay my hands on Murakami-san and pray for his deliverance, I thought. Doesn't it take a tremendous amount of faith to cast out demons? Do I have that kind of faith?
Praying that evening, my heart was heavy as I thought of Murakami-san. I trembled at the thought of rebuking Satan. What good would it do if I didn't have enough faith?
"Dear God," I finally prayed, "I can't go to Murakami-san's room and touch him … Please touch him for me." Then I added, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast out Satan."
The stranglehold broken
Four days later, I went to the university for an on-campus Bible study. My prayer for Murakami-san had almost been forgotten, since I had dismissed it as a futile exercise. But then I saw him—Murakami-san was waiting for me at the entrance gate, smiling radiantly. He said nothing as he followed me to the classroom. All during the Bible study, he continued smiling. Had God heard my prayer in spite of all my doubts?
Before he disappeared out the door at the end of class, without a word, Murakami-san pressed a tape into my hand.
At home, I couldn't wait to hear the tape. This young man of so few words was telling me an incredible story in his native language. "My life has been very lonely. I've tried to fill it with drinking, smoking, pachinko, and mahjong, but that wasn't enough," he explained. Realizing he needed something more, he had ended up at my Bible study. But each time I said the name of Jesus Christ, akuma had tried to choke him.
"Last Sunday night in my room," he continued, "when akuma again tried to choke me, I called out to Jesus Christ to save me, and akuma left me … and God has filled my heart with his peace."
I wept as I listened to the tape.
Murakami-san concluded the tape by telling me that he had recorded his experience, rather than speaking directly to me, because he was extremely shy. Later Murakami-san, along with some other students, was baptized. From the time he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he had a radiant smile.
A week after he was baptized, Murakami-san wrote me a letter in English, expressing some deep inner feelings. "I was afraid of being baptized," he confessed, "at the thought of many people [witnessing it] and at the thought of my responsibility as a true Christian. My turn came and I felt I might fall down on the floor at any moment. But my uneasy feelings left me and I was cleansed. What a friend we have in Jesus!"
The young university student never overcame his shyness, but he never again experienced any choking episodes. He got actively involved in a church and was witnessing to his family. A great God reached out despite my feeble faith and touched him.
Copyright © 1997 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
Click here for reprint information.
January/February 1997, Vol. 35, No. 1, Page 71
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