Updated : 21/08/2001

Black Magic Man’s Encounter With Jesus!
By Tonny Gandakusuma

I was brought up as a Christian and seldom missed church meetings or activities. I also liked reading and was full of dreams and aspirations. I read autobiographies of great men and a lot of self-improvement literature. A book on Benjamin Franklin, in particular, greatly impacted my life. Franklin was a Christian and when he was young, carefully planned his time and carried out his daily chores according to a timetable. I found this inspiring and have done likewise ever since. 

In university, I was actively involved in social activities and eventually became the president of the social club and was responsible for planning school and social club functions. I was also elected the national student representative for outstanding students. All of these were to become the foundation for my future career. 

After graduation, I confidently started my own company. Although devoid of experience, I relied on my ability to plan and resolve problems through research. As I did not have anyone backing me up, I had to work day and night, often until midnight. Business improved but I was always busy and the days seemed endless. I solicited sales and when the sales came in I had to worry if production would be smooth. On top of that I also had to manage the company’s finances. Often I had to learn to be decisive under difficult circumstances. I found myself caught on a treadmill and after ten years felt very tired, not knowing when this would all come to an end. Yet it was impossible for me to leave the business. 

I love my family and wanted to provide well for them. Wanting my children to have a good education, I enrolled them in music classes and spent a lot of time teaching them using my own method. On reflection, things that we think are right are often wrong when we do not have God’s guidance. 

My daughter told me how she often cried while learning the piano, as I was very stern with her. I demanded that she keep practising late into the night or until she mastered the pieces. Despite all his schoolwork, my eldest son started learning to play the violin from primary one. I spent time with him daily and did not allow him to sleep until he played the notes perfectly. He too often cried himself to sleep. I thought I was doing it out of love but now realise I was in fact mistreating them. What I gave them was not love but harm.

I was very faithful and active in church. I participated in many activities, including the choir. At work, I thought highly of myself and refused to give in to my co-workers unless they had much better solutions. One day it dawned on me that despite being ‘religious’ my life was boring and a mess. I had no support from my family or church. In my work place, my colleagues avoided me. I was deeply troubled why although I was a Christian I did not have the peace and joy from God. 

At that time, an acquaintance invited me to a Full Gospel Business Men’s lunch fellowship meeting. I had turned down his invitations before as I had been working through my lunch hours since starting my business. I eventually gave in due to his persistence, however, and agreed to try it out. On entering the hall, I was dumbfounded to find it full of men, many who were not young, jumping and hopping about. 

I wondered if this was some kind of ‘put on’ as I knew some of these men were people of social standing. They were busy people with problems just like me and I wondered how they found the time to jump around the way they did. Was their joy genuine? Or did they just come to forget their sorrows? It all looked so real that I decided to accept it as such and to continue to attend the meetings. I made a pact with God that I would join the group for a year and see if God could change me and give me contentment and joy in the following fifty-two weeks. Except for the two weeks when I was not in Taipei, I was present at all of these meetings. I even made up for two meetings that I had missed by attending others and was therefore a perfect attendee! 

After joining the group, miraculous things started to happen. My burdens became lighter with each meeting, my mood improved and my joy increased. During one meeting, a pastor was preaching: Jesus is our Saviour, He died for sinners, He shed His blood to cleanse us of all sins. I had heard these familiar truths often but that day the Holy Spirit led me to see their special meaning. If Jesus truly was my Saviour, why was I so heavily burdened? In the past I had put God aside and made all my own decisions. I had ‘religion’ but never truly believed. I felt an immense need to release my burdens to Him and at that moment, with tears rolling down my face I confessed and repented. I understood from that moment on, I needed to put God first. My burdens were then lifted, truly and completely from me. 

For over ten years I had been plagued by constant headaches and shoulder pain and I always carried painkillers with me. This happened especially on days when I did not have to work. I had the need to work and when I did not work the headaches would come. The instant I experienced God, I was completely delivered and I have not had to take painkillers since. Nowadays my lunchtime is always spent at FGB meetings. I have decreased my working hours and increased my time serving God. 

Praise God, as I seek first His kingdom and righteousness, my work has become lighter because God has raised more people to help me and change the environment so that work can progress smoothly. I thank God that although there will still be problems at work the problems are not burdensome. There will still be setbacks but the setbacks do not bring sadness. Instead, they become the stepping stones for growth and success. I thank God that I am truly different from the past. May all glory be to God.

Spiritual powers have been passed down in my family from generation to generation. My grandfather was an expert occultist and I inherited my ancestors’ powers as well. My friends introduced me to a teacher who was from a remote area of Indonesia and I furthered my studies with him. I fasted, meditated and learned different forms of spiritualism and magic from him for about 10 years. I also mastered various forms of martial arts. As I was my teacher’s favourite student, I had the privilege of accompanying him every time he made trips to visit people who were demon possessed or bound by spells. If he happened to be too busy, I would represent him instead. In this way, I “helped” many people. 

Some time in 1997, I was introduced to a member of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI). He frequently asked me to agree to be ministered to for deliverance but I never responded and always avoided making a decision. The requests continued to come by telephone and by other means. 

One day I met a man of God who had a deliverance ministry and I began to think about it half-heartedly because my wife, along with many other friends, kept on pleading to me to be delivered. Through the FGBMFI, I had started to know the Lord Jesus and to believe in Him and eventually, I wanted to be ministered to. Since I already had the desire in my heart to get rid my occult powers, I threw out all the amulets, fetishes and other magical objects without understanding that they had first to be destroyed by burning them in the Name of Jesus. 

Together with friends from the FGB, I headed for a church in Surabaya.
As I approached the church I was wracked with tremendous inner torment. I swung between wishing to be delivered and then not and wanting to go forward and stepping back. Eventually I forced myself to enter the church. As soon as I saw the pastor, a voice inside me whispered, "Wow! I am defeated!" 

Up to that point in my adventures in spiritualism, I had never encountered anyone more spiritually powerful than I was. Now I felt defeated even before I started. I was astounded and asked myself exactly what kind of magical power this man of God used. It turned out to be the power from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Within 10 minutes of praying for me, demons started to manifest themselves. I used all my ability to resist them and when I regained consciousness, I felt that some had left me. After that, my FGB brothers and other men of God ministered to me twice a week. Each time, the deliverance ministry started around 7.30 pm and lasted to about 2.00 am. On one occasion, it went to 5.00 am. This continued for two months until I was completely set free. 

The process of deliverance felt exactly like a martial arts movie. There was an intense war going on inside with lightning strikes and swords swinging at me. I encountered a particularly strong demon that I had to struggle immensely against. When the pastor said, "In the Name of Jesus!" I heard the spirits scream. I shouted, whined and kept fighting with all my might. 

At the climax, I saw a “man” wearing a white robe and without footwear coming towards me. He had a shining face that I could not bear to look at. He reached out His hand towards me. I confessed then and there that the power of the Lord Jesus Christ was greater than the power of Satan and all his demons. I then felt immense relief, my body become light and I felt as if I were flying. There was an incredible sense of peace. 

The moment I fully confessed my sins to the Lord and lay prostrate before Him all the remaining spirits left me. I was led to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and to invite the Holy Spirit into my heart and take control of my whole life. Since then my family has been restored. In the past I used to be very cruel to my wife. The Lord turned me 180 degrees and I began to love my wife. I am actively serving even as my faith is being formed and maturing. I love the Lord Jesus more and more with each passing day. 

The love of the Lord Jesus is truly amazing. He is the one who lifted me up from the mire of sin, holds me up when I fall and gives me peace and joy With this restoration from the Lord, now my family life has become harmonious and peaceful. Amen.