“So he answered, ‘Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said ‘O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:16-17 (NASB)




It seemed like we came against the occult and demonic more when we ministered in Canada than in many other places we went. I’m not sure why this was. Perhaps God sent us specifically to minister where there were pockets of things that He wanted us to come against.

We weren’t a ministry that made a big deal out of dealing with the devil. We didn’t focus on it at all. But it seemed like there were a few times when he focused on us. Each time, God’s power won the day.

The very first year we went to Edmonton we were introduced to a girl who was said to have been the High Priestess of a Coven before she came to know the Lord as her savior. We did not lead Debra to the Lord. We actually met her about a year after her conversion. By that time five of her friends had been murdered by the coven in an attempt to force her to return to them.

The team at the fair got to know Debra through area Christians and spent a lot of time with her while we were in town. She was in constant fear of being found by her old friends and slept somewhere different every night. She was certain that they could find her through spiritual means. Needless to say we spent a lot of time praying for and with her.

As we went about our ministry at the fair someone always kept her close. Debra was there every day and we encouraged her in the simple truths of the scripture and tried to build her faith in the protecting power of the Lord.

We had been doing this for about a week. Debra seemed to be calming down and God was really moving in our midst. Christians at the fair loved to visit our area. Non Christians saw all the activity and came in to hear the music. Many were coming to know Jesus.

That first year we had Barry McGuire with us. He had been a pretty big music star in the 60’s with several hits to his credit. Since he met the Lord he’d been traveling and singing for Him. He brought so much energy with him. So people were eager to see him at the fair. Jim and I backed him up. Rick Motter and Steve Shubin played bass and drums. We were having a blast!

We also sang with what we called the UnChoir. We weren’t very professional sounding, but we were full of the love of God, and the Holy Spirit, and we weren’t afraid to sing out and praise Him in public. We wrote a lot of our own songs and sang the contemporary Christian music of the day. People seemed to like it and we DID work hard to get better. We had guitar, bass, and drums, and Tony’s wife, Kathy, could really play the piano. We had 10 or 12 singers.

One afternoon I was on stage with the UnChoir for one of the many shows we would be doing that day. Debra was sitting on a hay bale directly in front of the stage. Everything seemed to be going fine. Occasionally I would glance down at her to make sure she was okay. People kept coming in to watch the show and it was getting so full that many were standing out in the midway at the back of the crowd.

Suddenly Debra freaked out. Without even turning around to look she began trembling and rocking. In a few moments she jumped up and ran into the Quonset hut next to the stage. I eased my way off the stage even though the set wasn’t over and went to see about her. I found her in the corner, curled up in a ball, with her head buried in her arms.

When she heard me come in, her head jerked up - eyes wide with fear. “They’re here!,” she croaked. “They’ve found me.”

As I stood there listening to her, the Holy Spirit came over me stronger than I can ever remember. But unlike other times this was an intensely angry feeling. In a moment I heard myself telling her, “You stay right here! I’ll show these people that they can’t mess around with God’s kids!” Then I turned, bolted out the back door of the Quonset, swung around a metal electrical pole at the corner of the building and hit the isle between the hay bales at a run.

The show had just ended, but there were still people everywhere. I looked up and, sure enough, there was a knot of cloaked and hooded figures standing at the back of the crowd. I ran straight for them, never thinking about what I would do when I got there. But I never got the chance to do anything. They saw me. I’ll probably never know what else they saw, but they scattered and ran as fast as they could. By the time I got out into the midway, there was not even one left for me to follow. It was as if they were running for their very lives.

When I got back to Debra she was fine and I don’t remember any further incidents of oppression or attack while we were there. When we left, we turned Debra over to some “on fire” Christians and committed her growth and her safety to the Lord.

Dee Patton