Part 1: Possessed at 11

By Andrew McChesney

Sweat poured down 11-year-old Eduardo’s face as he raced his skateboard back and forth on the street outside his house on a hot summer morning.

“Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos!” Mother called. “Come in and take a shower before lunch.”

Perspiring and panting, Eduardo headed straight for the kitchen, forgetting the shower and thinking only about lunch. Eduardo ignored a stranger seated in the living room, waiting for her nails to be painted. Mother ran her own home business, a beauty salon offering manicures and haircuts.

Before Eduardo reached the kitchen, he was stopped by his 12-year-old sister. “Sit down and catch your breath,” she said.

Eduardo obediently plopped down onto a hallway chair. Immediately, an unholy shriek escaped his lips. His young body began to convulse. Mother rushed to the boy. A low, distorted voice spoke from Eduardo’s mouth, telling Mother to hand over her son or watch him die.

Mother began to cry. The stranger in the living room came up behind Mother. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Your son has been chosen to be part of our group. I am a Candomblé leader.”

Mother had heard about Candomblé, a religion that arrived in Brazil on slave ships from Africa in the early 19th century. Candomblé teaches that people can be possessed by the spirits of gods. The spirits, however, aren’t gods but fallen angels. Eduardo had been possessed by one of them, an evil spirit from a legion that surrounded the stranger.

After some time, the evil spirit left, and Eduardo returned to normal. He didn’t remember the incident, but Mother couldn’t forget, and she took him to the Candomblé temple. The temple priests welcomed Eduardo like a king.

“What an honor,” one said. “You have been handpicked,” said another.

Only 11, Eduardo was introduced to spiritism and devil worship. Over the next seven years, he spent much time at the temple, learning to be a priest. Evil spirits spoke to him and through him. The most important lesson, they said, was never to leave a job undone. If he started a task, he had to finish it.

As an adult, Eduardo became high priest of a temple. He earned money from people who wanted him to curse their enemies. But he couldn’t curse everyone. The evil spirits forbade him from placing curses on Seventh-day Adventists and other Protestant Christians. They are protected, the spirits said, adding that any attempt to curse them would cause Eduardo to lose his powers. The spirits also banned Eduardo from communicating with Adventists and other Protestants.

Eduardo found a common-law wife, Sidilene Silva de Oliveira, and they had a son, Eduardo Junior. Life was peaceful until the day Junior said he wanted to join the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open eight churches in the South American Division, including four in Brazil, where Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos and his family live.

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

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