Inside Story: Real Divine Healing ~ Part 5

Real Divine Healing: Part 5

By Andrew McChesney

Almira told her parents about her decision to become a Seventh-day Adventist. She also told them about taking the forbidden classes on the supernatural, the appearance of the evil spirit, and the persistent nightmares.

Mother wept. “If the church helps you, go,” she said.

After her baptism, Almira was never bothered by the spirit again.

Safe in Jesus: Part 2 By Andrew McChesney One afternoon, 16-year-old Almira decided to take a nap after returning home from school, exhausted from months of fitful nights. She lay down on a couch, her face to the open door of the room. She was at home alone. Suddenly, she sensed the presence in the room. Looking toward the door, she saw the presence for the first time. He looked like a gray cloud, completely obscuring the doorway. Almira didn’t know why, but she understood that something terrible would happen if she even blinked. She stared at the doorway for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she had to blink. In that split second, the gray cloud darted to her. Almira felt like she was entombed in a giant stone, helpless and unable to move. She struggled to breathe. She pleaded with good forces for help. There was no response. At that moment, she remembered a prayer that she had memorized. It was a non-Christian prayer associated her ancestors’ traditional religion. She recited it. For a moment, she was free and could breathe. But then the presence captured her again. She repeated the prayer again and again. She was released and recaptured, released and recaptured. Growing weary of the struggle, she frantically wondered what she could do to save herself. Abruptly, she remembered that one of the Russian teachers at the supernatural courses had mentioned Jesus Christ was more powerful than all good and evil forces. The thought flashed into her mind to call upon Jesus. She opened her mouth to speak. She only managed to utter the first syllable of Jesus’ name, and the gray cloud fled. She felt like Jesus had entered the room and thrown the evil captor off her. Almira had no doubt that she needed Jesus. But how? She was not a Christian. So, she went to her ancestors’ traditional place of worship for two months. She began to sleep better, so she decided that Jesus must also visit that place of worship. Then her older sister, Faniya, came home with two friends whom Almira had never seen before. She learned that day that Faniya had started going to a Seventh-day Adventist church located on the same street as their apartment building. The two friends were members of the Adventist Church. Almira related her story to the Adventist girls. “That is Satan,” one girl said. The other girl said Almira had entered Satan’s territory by taking the classes on the supernatural. “But Jesus is on your side,” she said. “Only He can free you from Satan’s power.” Read more about Almira next week. Thank you for your mission offerings that help spread the gospel in Russia and around the world.

Image © Pacific Press

Today, Almira H. Yalysheva, 46, is a linguistics teacher at Zaoksky Adventist University in Russia. Her husband, Kemil K. Yalyshev, whom she met and married while studying at Zaoksky in the late 1990s, is a pastor and the vice president for student affairs at the university. Before working at the university, the couple served for a decade as missionaries to non-Christian people in Russia’s North Caucasus region, part of the 10/40 window. More recently, the couple earned higher education degrees from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in the Philippines.

Almira also is a mother, and she has a rule at home forbidding all children’s cartoons and books that mention magic. After her own experience with evil spirits, she believes that there is no such thing as good or bad magic. All magic opens the door to Satan and his evil forces, she said. Sometimes a parent will ask her, “What will my children talk about with their friends if they don’t watch cartoons?” She tells them that there are more interesting things to watch and discuss, including documentaries about animals and nature, if they choose to have screens in their homes.

Almira’s sister, Faniya, is an Adventist, and their father worshiped with them on Sabbath before passing away. Their mother, now 75, regularly reads the Bible and Ellen White’s writings. She no longer has the headaches that Almira had hoped to cure through the courses on the supernatural. After being baptized, Almira began to bring health magazines home from church. Mother read them, and slowly her lifestyle changed. Once a drinker of only black tea, she replaced the beverage with fresh water and became physically active. The headaches went away. Almira’s desire was fulfilled, but not in the way that she had expected. Mother was healed.

Almira prays to be a healing presence in many lives, saying, “The daring step that I took to give my life to Jesus changed my life. A spoiled, selfish girl has been given the privilege of becoming the hands and feet of Jesus. My biggest desire is to serve Him.”

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!