Satan Lost
By Matt Pritchett
A feeling of darkness and pain instantly developed as the campers walked off the bus Monday morning. Sarah found my wife Tarrah to tell her that her foster brothers had come to camp and that they were ready to beat up another camper who they hated. She said, “They are all Satanist and they do not want to be here." A great spiritual battle was unfolding before our eyes.
Our theme for the summer was, “The Invisible War." It was a perfect theme for this group of Satanists. Through skits and Bible studies they learned that there really is a war going on that we cannot see. We talked about how their families were caught up in this Invisible War. The sinful choices their parents had made landed them in foster care. Anthony, one of the Satanists, shared with us about his pain. “How could a God forgive me for the Grand Theft Autos I have done, or for hitting a kid with my gun and putting him in a coma? Satan takes care of me.”
We encouraged the group of Satanists to move away from the darkness, to be forgiven and live the life that God has for them, a life with future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We shared James 4:7-8, “If you resist the devil he will flee from you," and that “if you draw near to God He will draw near to you." It felt hopeless. If we were going to win this battle we needed even more prayer than we were getting from the 27 churches that were praying for each child by name. Our staff and counselors called and emailed to have more people begin to pray for their souls. Our junior counselors prayed diligently from Tuesday on that God would win the victory.
We began to see glimmers of hope, as one by one the Satan-worshiping campers began to receive the love that was being offered to them. Thursday the walls began to come down as Anthony, their leader, began considering what we were saying. He came to us again asking, “Could God forgive me for the things I have done, for the cars I have stolen, for the people I have hurt, for being involved in gang fights?” Anthony had been shot in the leg during one of the fights and had severely injured the young man he was fighting. He had spent lots of time in Juvenile Hall. He said, "I know if I continue down the path I am on, I will end up in prison.” He began to see the plans Satan had for him were not for his good, as he had previously believed. He was leading him down a road of destruction and death. His blind eyes were opening and God’s word was penetrating Anthony’s heart.
That night Anthony’s counselor overheard a conversation where our Satan worshiping campers were talking about giving God a chance. Anthony was sharing how his life was getting worse and worse, “More violence, more time in Juvi. I don’t want that." He said, “Maybe God really does have a plan for my life, a good plan with hope and a future." Tommy lashed out at him in anger, “No we cannot follow this God. If he is a good God why would he have created hell just because Satan disagreed with him?” The deception on him was heavy.
Another, Tommy had been to camp three times but was one of the few campers that came to camp more than twice without receiving Jesus. He was always angry. He knew anger was his friend. He could control his world with it. No one wants to get close to an angry young man. With no one close to him, no one would hurt him. But his counselor Wayne would not be pushed away by his anger. He would not let the threats, the yelling, the dirty looks, and the talk of Satanism dissuade him from showing the love of Jesus to this broken soul.
Alan was the third. He had been involved in black magic since he was a child. His parents were Satanist and would ritually abuse him and his sister. During one of our campfire talks about how to protect yourself from being sex trafficked, I asked the question, "What is sex trafficking?" Alan raised his hand and I called on him. Then he slumped down in his seat, put his hood from his sweatshirt low over his eyes and began to share.
“You would be moved from city to city, and at each new location they would take you out of a locked van or cargo truck. Late at night when it is the darkest, they would move you into a warehouse. When you arrive they would inspect you. They would look at your hands and feet. They would check your teeth to see if you are healthy. They would shower you, and you would be taken to another location for a couple of weeks where they would sell you and men would rape you. Then the whole thing would begin again, in another city, another state. That’s what it’s like.”
Alan was thrown out after they checked his teeth, but his sister is still gone. He has not seen her in years.
With all the pain these precious campers felt, they had to be overwhelmed with a tsunami of the love of Christ. It happened at our campfire time on the last night. One by one each of them was overcome by the love of God. Through song and tears, God revealed his great love for all the campers. Each one of our Satan worshiping campers asked to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. They committed to turn from their sin and follow Jesus. The evil presence we had felt at camp was gone. The campers celebrated, "We are free!" During the game time we have after campfire, they all kept singing. We finally gave up on games and worshiped the Lord for another half hour. At Pinecone Ceremony we added extra worship songs in because the whole camp was pouring their hearts out to the King of Heaven. Our Satan worshiping campers were now worshiping Christ for the first time. They stood singing at the top of their lungs with their hands reaching out towards the heavens praising their God and King. Anthony said, “What’s wrong with me? I can’t stop singing. I can’t stop smiling, I never smile!” For Alan it was obvious that his burden had been removed. Finally Tommy, in whom I have never seen anything but anger, stood before us, hands raised in victory, singing with a smile on his face and tears running down his cheeks.
God had won the VICTORY!
