adminIn recent years, the media has been awash with nerve-chilling accounts of satanists, confessing on how they set up road accidents, orchestrate aircraft crashes, spearhead disappearances of certain individuals and drink blood from living persons, on top of feeding on human flesh.
All of these terrifying narratives sounded quite incredible and distant like a movie script. That was until a similar incident was dropped right at the city’s doorstep in the recent weeks.
It is hardly surprising that residents from the suburb have started treating each other with suspicion. The 16 year-old-girl has testified that about 60 individuals from the suburb are involved. This means that as long as the names have not been disclosed, it could be anybody: a friend, a neighbour, or even an elder from the church as the teenager aptly pointed out.
A point worthy of note was her disclosure that the heinous cult had a deliberate policy of recruiting school children. A statement of this nature is bound to rattle every parent. The questions that come to mind are: “Why this specific group? What is so unique about this age group?”
Adolescence is a critical and rather problematic stage in a person’s life. It is a point where physical, mental and emotional changes take root as a young person bridges towards adulthood. Most of these changes are, undoubtedly, confusing to most teenagers, leading to a plethora of emotional dilemmas.
As young people try to define who they are, a host of conflicting possibilities manifest themselves lead-ing, in some cases, to a severe identity crisis. They have not quite established who they want to be, who they want to worship, hence are vulnerable to any force that seems to promise fulfilment.
Ahmet Guc, a religious analyst with the Fountain Magazine, recently highlighted that teenagers were susceptible to influence and direction, writing: “They react emotionally when they make friends or join groups, and they cannot always make logical decisions on whether the friends or the groups that they are joining are sound or not.”
The Cowdray Park teenage girl was probably swept away by the force that her boyfriend subjected her to chiefly because she was, and still is, at a stage where she is defenceless from the pressure from peers. It was therefore impossible for her to resist any influence from her boyfriend, an even more important and older person than her peers.
Not to be ruled out is the issue of experimentation among young people. The zeal to experience adventure, no matter the consequences, dominates their mind-sets. Most of the teenagers are perhaps misled by this devilish influence unknowingly, all in the quest to explore new avenues of life. The Cowdray Park teenager flew on an “invisible basket,” to rural areas to drink human blood, a situation that probably satisfied her curiosity. Somehow, she was ignorant of the monstrous misdeed in which she was being involved in.
As young people have a drive to divert from the established norms just for the thrill of it, they become susceptible to any form of persuasive “alternatives”. The cult thus exploits this advantage to sway some youths away from God, the Almighty.
The Cowdray Park incident also shows that this world is hardly a safe place. The fact that a resident has an underground initiation facility without the knowledge of his or her neighbours amply testifies to this fact.
Given the foregoing, parents should take care of their children. They should know whom their children associate with. They should not be afraid to terminate any dubious friendships that might harm their children.
It is imperative that parents monitor their children as they grow up. This will make them wary of any inconsistencies in their behaviour. It took about a year for the Cowdray Park family to discover that their child was a satanist. Parents should monitor the content that their children watch in the media. Most of the much-adored movies like Harry Potter contain themes of witchcraft and sorcery, which might be detrimental to a teenage mind.
Parents should set an excellent spiritual standard that the young would be glad to emulate. Abuse against children serves to alienate them from the norm. They become even more susceptible to evil pressures. The custodians of orphans should be aware that the spiritual well-being of this vulnerable group lies on their hands.
The Government should make spiritual knowledge and education mandatory for every pupil. Though the country has several missions and church-run schools which also cater for Christian fundamentals, spirituality programmes are not satisfactory in most government schools.
Youths should be aware that satanism seeks to plunder, kill and cause disharmony in the society. Christianity advocates for peace, love and hope which a healthy nation needs. Satanists know that if they properly influence the young, then they have a fruitful nation full of those of their own kind.
A Seventh-Day Adventist trainee pastor at Solusi University, under-scored the need for Christians to be united despite the challenge.
“As we baptise members, those who come with evil intentions are never apparent to us. Only God knows them. Most of them are dotted in several Christian denominations just to sow seeds of destruction.
If we start pointing fingers at each other, then we have lost it. We will be satisfying the enemy’s agenda,” he said.
Cowdray Park residents should therefore practise tolerance towards one another. They should bear in mind that this is not a physical war but a spiritual one. It can only be won through earnest supplication to the real God, Father of the Son. They should remember that the innocent girl was rescued from satanic forces because of a relative who was seriously praying on her behalf.
* The writer can be contacted on 0774 027 218.
Online Reporter