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Encounters with the Supernatural
By Isaac Leeward, Pamela Jones AuthorHouse LLC
Copyright © 2014 Isaac Leeward
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4969-0616-8
CHAPTER 1
BIRTH OF WONDER
I was born on June 17, 1955 during a church convention at Abura Edumfa near Cape Coast in Ghana. My father named me after my grandfather, Isaac Korsah Leeward.
When my mother was in her ninth month of pregnancy, she went to the nearby forest to pick firewood. On returning home, she was bitten by a poisonous snake. My father took her to a hospital in Bibiani, a gold mining town. While walking to the hospital in pain, a man unexpectedly approached them and inquired why my mother had a swollen foot. My father explained, and the man then requested to be shown the area of the bite. Wordlessly, with a serious look, he examined the wound, and then told my parents to wait. He dashed to the nearby bush and quickly returned with certain leaves in his hand. To their amazement, he retrieved a blade from his bag, and confidently proceeded to cut the affected area. He quickly took his leaves and squeezed them together in his palms until they released a green liquid, which he dripped onto the affected area. All of a sudden, the fangs of the snake appeared and he pulled them out.
They thanked him for his help and continued to walk towards the hospital. As they glanced back to take one last look at the man who had helped them, there was no one to be found.
At the hospital, the medical staff was glad the fangs were out. My mother was treated and released a few days later.
When she arrived home, my father told her to get ready to go to her parents at Abura Dunkwa from Bibiani Goldfields. Because my older brother died two weeks after birth at Bibiani, he wanted her to be with her parents where she would get better care. My mother mentioned that my movement in her womb stopped the day she was bitten by the snake, and from then on her stomach felt cold.
During this period, my grandmother had a dream of my mother in a plane waving a white handkerchief, which was symbolic of death. After this dream, my mothers' parents began fasting and praying for seven days about their daughter's pregnancy
When my mother arrived at her parents' home, they were expecting her because of the dream.
The proceeding day her parents left for a church convention at Abiira Edumfa, which is about eight miles from home. Early the following morning she was awakened from sleep, and as if someone was telling her to take her bag and board the first lorry (bus) to the Musama Disco Christo Church (MDCC) church convention, and she complied.
She got to the convention around 7am, when they were conveying for the early morning prayers. As she was approaching closer to the church, she felt labor pains for the first time since the snakebite. One of the convention attendees ran to her aid and took her to a room. There she delivered a stillborn baby, tragedy struck a second time. Afterwards, she immediately sent for her parents.
When her parents arrived and realized that it was their daughter, they were astonished. Their daughter had given birth to their second grandson, and he was also dead. After which her father said authoritatively, "I am not going to leave this room until God restores the life of my grandson. What are we going to tell the world? That we went to a church convention to worship our Lord and he allowed the devil to kill our grandson."
Consequently, her mother went to inform the head of the organization of the church what had happened. He called seven women to go to the delivery room to pray. At noon, he sent another seven men to add to the strength of prayer. At 3pm he came to the delivery room and said that he has received word that this child has come to live. He then requested for the umbilical cord to be cut and the child to be wrapped in a white cloth. He asked for the child, lifted him up and began to pray:
"Lord if you restore the life of this child, he will praise you the rest of his life."
Immediately after the prayer, the fellowship of believers in the room heard a cry. My mother and everyone else were amazed. As the head of the organization had promised, my life had been miraculously restored.
The Guardian Angel
It is stated in the bible in Mark 11:24 (NIV), "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
God answered the prayers of the fellowship of believers and I came to life. There was great jubilation of what had happened.
CHAPTER 2
CHILDHOOD
I spent my early childhood with my grandparents, who took me to church twice a day for prayer. In the 1950's and 1960's, it was a lifestyle for Christians in Ghana to go for morning and evening prayer service.
One evening, my mother came home complaining of stomach pains, when I heard that I went away and returned with a cup of water. I prayed over it and gave it to her. At this time I was 4 years old. She started to laugh but my grandmother encouraged her to drink it. To her amazement, the pain stopped after drinking it. My mother asked, "Do we have another prophet in our midst?" Then my grandmother reminded her of what the minister said at the convention about my birth. This message was not revealed to me.
What prompted me to pray over that water was an observation in church where by ministers prayed over water to be used by those that were sick and afflicted. As a result of people drinking this holy water they got healed. Acting on faith I did the same with my mother at home.
My parents separated when I was five years old. My mother took me to Takoradi, the third largest city in Ghana, where she traded in fresh palm nuts. I did not stay there for long, and she requested for my father to come back for me. She later said to me, "The reason I asked your father to come for you, was because one day you gave me the shock of my life."
"I took you to the beach to purchase fresh fish," she explained. "At the beach we had caretakers who took care of the children while the mothers bargained with the arriving fishermen, as we were trading a big wave came in and showered everyone. We then realized you were gone. This big wave drew you to the sea. As the caretakers were counting to make sure every child was there, they found one child was missing, and it was you. As we looked at the sea, we saw the last fishing canoe that was late arriving that morning, picking you up and they brought you safely to the shore. Imagine what would have happened if the fishermen were not late that particular day?"
This experience explains why for the longest time I did not have a fascination for swimming.
Peace Be Still
Jesus says, "PEACE BE STILL!" to every storm of life that we face. Trust in Jesus to calm the storms of your life.
God's Protection
God's supernatural protection is there for all those who believe. The prayers of parents and grandparents for their children are never in vain. I had praying parents and grandparents.
After the traumatic episode, my father came for me and took me back to Bibiani, the gold-mining town where he worked as a miner and a tailor part-time. He made the best custom designed suits. Though I admired his craft, I was more inclined towards business and politics.
My father told me that when he wanted to become a sailor, his father [my grandfather], who was one of the first Ghanaian Methodist ministers, told him that if he did not preach the gospel, he would give birth to a son who would. At that time I said to myself without any form of enthusiasm, "Maybe in my old age."
At Bibiani, I stayed mostly with my aunt Victoria Anaman and her husband Reverend E. H. Anaman and their seven children. There we often went to the early morning prayers before going to school. On Friday nights we slept at church. We were accustomed to all night prayer meetings on Fridays, from 11pm to 5am.
We would walk about two miles to the prayer meetings. During these gatherings, they prayed for all the children for God's protection, guidance and use.
I did not like going to the prayer meetings. I dreaded walking home for two miles half-asleep every Saturday. I also disliked the activities of the prayer meetings like dancing and clapping. But I kept all this to myself to avoid punishment. It was an obligation for me to go for prayers and I had to respect this. Nevertheless, though I didn't know it at the time, this praying would prove to be a perfect foundation for my life.
I remember my father's nephew, Bishop Paul Hackman actively involved in the all night prayer meetings. I believe this was the foundation for his calling into the ministry. His enthusiasm in those prayer meetings was an encouragement to me. When I was in my slumber land, I could hear the tenacity of his voice and his passion for the word of God.
Encounter with a Traditional Healer
When I was 10 years of age my mother's father (grandfather) died, and my father brought me to our hometown Abura Dunkwa for the funeral. At this time I had not seen my mother for 5 years, my grandmother out of curiosity and excitement lined my two aunts and mother, and asked me to indicate which one was my mother. All three had different complexions. I selected my mother's younger sister who was fair in complexion. When she realized I could not recognize her it brought tears to her eyes.
The next day after the funeral my mother told me she needed to take me to see somebody. She took me to a traditional healer, a couple of blocks from her parent's residence. I was introduced to this man, and he initiated the meeting by libation, which is an act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice (as to a deity) according to Merriam Webster Dictionary.
Furthermore, he proceeded by cutting the foreskin of my wrist, and smeared black powder into it. It was painful for a while. I asked my mother why she did this, and she said that she wanted me to be protected from witchcraft. This was when I recognized the fear my mother had about witches, and I said to myself one day I will demystify witchcraft.
My Daughter's Divine Interception
As I was writing this chapter, I got a text message from my daughter, Jasmine, a student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She said, "Dad, didn't you tell me that your mum was bitten by a snake before you were born?" she wrote. I responded, "Yes, when she was in her ninth month. I am writing a book and it is in the first chapter." Jasmine replied, "This book I am studying for my class says that people used obeah spells in Africa to make women lose their babies by having a snake bite them." Then she asked, "Do you know about obeah?" I replied, "No! It is the first time I am hearing about it, and I want 'to include it' in my book." Jasmine responded, "It is an excerpt I read from a book called The Promised Key by Leonard Powell on the Rastafarian faith. He is kind of crazy but it talks about snakes biting women being something of witchcraft, which is called obeah. I responded, "Thank you, it makes a lot of sense. My mother thought it was an act of witchcraft that a snake bit her at her ninth month of pregnancy. She texted back, "The book was actually published in Ghana, they say in the 1940's."
Interestingly, my daughter did not know I was writing this book, which was another divine encounter of its own. By divine intervention she helped me solve a mystery of my childbirth. I remember telling her this story when she was about ten years old. She wanted to know where I was born.
This goes to show that there are two forces at work in our world. The power of darkness and the power of light, the power of darkness comes to steal, kill and destroy, whilst the power of light comes to give life more abundantly.
In the scriptures it is stated:
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. (John 10:10-14, NKJV)
Our Creator is the good shepherd, the wolf is the devil and the hirelings are the agents like the psychics, fortune tellers, witches, new age leaders, occultists and false prophets.
The evil one comes deceptively as a wolf in sheep clothing to deceive mankind, and he makes what is wrong seem right, and what is right seem wrong. When we are opened up to his deception, his demon spirits use our human body as their residence.
At this moment in time, I was not confident about writing this book, but I was encouraged by a dear friend, Marlon Katsigazi, who believes that the world needs to know about these spiritual encounters. He asked me, "What is my ultimate goal in life? You have all these wonderful ideas." Without hesitation I said, "To populate heaven."
The text from my daughter and Marlon's encouragement were confirmations that this book needs to be completed and shared with the world.
CHAPTER 3
ENCOUNTERS WITH FALLEN ANGELS
At the age of twenty one I graduated from Pinamang Business College with a degree in Accounting and Economics, my father contacted one of our relatives, Uncle John V. Kwegyir Paintsil, the Personal Manager of Prestea Goldfields in Prestea, Ghana. This uncle provided me with mentorship and career guidance. When I was there, I was hired to work in the Accounting department. Staying with my uncle enabled me to save and take corresponding courses in advance studies in Accounting. These corresponding courses enabled me to be promoted on a regular basis, which brought great financial rewards. I also did not worry about living expenses when I stayed with Uncle John. It was truly a blessing, and it helped me to strategically plan for my future.
From childhood, I had a desire to know the God of the supernatural and certain questions attracted my curiosity: I remember walking with my oldest cousin, E H Anaman Jr asking him some questions on this topic. His response was that I ask too many mysterious questions that he does not have answers to.
These things were curious to me:
1. What is above the clouds?
2. How can a continent be the richest in mineral resources in the world, but most of its citizens are in poverty?
3. What makes other people feel they are superior to others?
4. If God created all races, what is his response to racism?
5. Why are people afraid of witches, and how can they be demystified?
These questions drew me into the secret societies, thinking they may have answers. They kept me reading ancient manuscripts, but I could not find the answers I was looking for. As a result I kept searching, growing up with an unwavering inner desire to know the supernatural of God. I believe we are all born with an inner desire to know our Creator but what we do with that desire is another question.
Although I was taken to church, my heart was not there. I felt there was more than what I saw. I wanted to have a personal encounter with the God of the supernatural.
Now that I had money, I persevered to fulfill my desires, and I believed the secret societies may have the answers. At the age of 23, I was a member of four secret societies. I was eager for answers to my burning questions, but to no avail. Then, I heard about a man who communicated with angels. I urgently wanted to see this mystical man. Fortunately, I finally got to meet him.
This mystical man introduced me to his secret society called The Masters Brotherhood ... He then invited me for a session to have an encounter with the angels. In anticipation I waited. He referred to the angels as "masters". I told him I have questions that I need answering. He was willing to help me answer the questions. It was in the evening around six when I was walking to his house, excited to experience my first angelic encounter.
What I had going for me was that I had a praying father, I knew between 5am to 6am he regularly prayed for my protection and God's direction.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Encounters with the Supernatural by Isaac Leeward, Pamela Jones. Copyright © 2014 Isaac Leeward. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse LLC.
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