From demon-possessed addict to finding freedom in Jesus: Evangelist shares her testimony
The saying "opposites attract" is how 34-year-old Oklahoma resident Casie George describes the "toxic and abusive" relationship with her parents as a child. And the phrase "you are a product of who raised you" rang true in her life before she came to know Christ.
In an interview with The Christian Post, George, who describes herself as a nondenominational Christian street preacher and minister, often reflects on her "painful" journey from childhood to adolescence into adulthood.
She'll never forget how her alcoholic biological father abused her verbally, physically, mentally and emotionally.
The traumatic encounters George faced in her youth led her on a downward spiral into adulthood.
By the time she reached her early 20s, she was heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol. She said she was also fully possessed by a legion of demons that oppressed, provoked and tormented her nonstop for under 12 years of her life.
"I really hate mentioning their names. But I was possessed by the demon of Jezebel. There was a demon of trauma provoking me and tormenting me. There was a demon of rape. I had a murder scene demon. I had a demon of rage. There was an evil spirit of rejection and a demon of molestation," George described.
"I was completely taken over by these demons to the point where I do not remember most of my daughter's childhood, and it breaks my heart. There are gaps in my mind with missing memories from during the years I was being possessed and oppressed by demons."
After about a decade of demonic possession, George said she found freedom after seven intercessors, Christian "prayer warriors" and pastors conducted a prayerfully-led deliverance and healing session over her mind, body and emotions to cast out the demons.
"If it wasn't for Jesus, I would not be walking in freedom," George said.
As an evangelist and disciple of Jesus, George said she could not help but go out into the streets and share the Gospel with people from many different walks of life, leading them to know Jesus.
"Childhood experiences have the potential to shape a person's adulthood," she said.
George grew up in Sapulpa, Oklahoma — a "small town with an urban twist" — just outside Tulsa. George was the middle child of two brothers and a sister.
From as far back as she can remember, her parents were polar opposites.
George's most painful memories were formed around her father, who she said was a very loud alcoholic who often rejected and abused her.
On the other hand, George said her mother was not heavily religious, but she still held to some Methodist teachings in small ways.
George's mother was quiet in nature and highly submissive to her husband. Her mother would often bring George and her siblings to after-school church religious programs, which helped instill in George the foundations of the Christian faith.
"My parents were not in church. But my mother set the ground bases for us kids growing up by dropping us off at church every Sunday. They never kept us from going to church. I remember starting in middle school, I would go to an after-school program at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa," George recalled.
"I'm thankful and grateful for my mother because if it had not been for her, I don't think I would have ever had a knowledge of biblical principles and about the Lord."
Personal 'punching bag'
Looking back on her younger days, George wishes she didn't face the trauma that caused her spiritual, mental, social, physical and psychological distress, impacting the trajectory of her life into adulthood.
George said her father often treated her as his personal "punching bag" as he went on frequent drunken rants. She said her mother tried to stand up for her against her father's abuse but was unsuccessful.
George recalled her mother always remained prayerful and hopeful that things would improve in their home. George's mother's "fervent" prayers would be her "saving grace" later in life, as they played a role in her eventual deliverance.
In addition to an "unstable and trauma-filled home life," George said she was severely bullied in elementary school by her peers, causing her to harbor anger and deep internal sadness.
By the time she reached middle school, she had become a bully herself.
"I bullied others in an effort to handle my inner pain and anger. And at that point, it was kind of like everybody was scared of me," George recalled. "So, they just expected me to be around and just kind of dealt with me by putting up with me."
In high school, George said she became exposed to "more intense peer pressure" as she turned to alcohol and drugs.
At 17, she attended a party where she had her first alcoholic beverage. From that time on, she said she began binge drinking every weekend, which turned into binge drinking daily. Soon after, she began exploring heavier and more addictive alcohols and drugs daily.
George was also prescribed Adderall for her Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
"At that time, Adderall was a very big drug of choice. And a lot of kids were like, 'You got that, … like let me get some. Let me buy that off you.' So, I became a dealer within the school, selling my pills and not telling my mom. I didn't like the way I felt on Adderall at that time," George said.
"I became a drug dealer, and then it led into other drugs because I was trading the pills for other pills that I liked such as Lortab, Norco, oxycontin — whatever I could get my hands on. And then, it led to getting high and marijuana. And then, those led to me doing methamphetamines and then crack cocaine."
George eventually dropped out of high school and became an alcoholic and a drug addict.
George later married her husband, Steven George, a Christian man, and gave birth to her daughter shortly after.
In 2014 and 2015, her addictions began to take a detrimental toll on her marriage. When she was 25, her husband started to realize she had also become possessed.
"My husband knew about my addictions for years, and when he discovered I was under demonic possession, he stayed with me. He went through it with me. And he continued to pray, stay by my side and intercede by fasting for me for many years," George said.
"When my husband first met me, he knew about my addictions, and we were young. And he later realized I was demon-possessed. But he stayed by my side, by the grace of God, and we are still together to this day."
Spiritual intervention
On March 3, 2016, Steven George sought help from Christian friends whom he knew were "prayer warriors" and they held a spiritual intervention.
The group prayed over Casie George for what felt to her like an entire night. From that moment on after the intervention, she said she was delivered and freed from every demon that had ever tormented her.
"The Lord used my husband because I had a problem with submission. So, my husband had to be the one to do the deliverance session. There were pastors there. There were also intercessors and prayer warriors standing around," George said.
"It started out with three people, but by the end of the deliverance, there were about seven praying over me and rebuking and casting out the demons by laying hands on me and declaring the power of the Holy Spirit over me."
Despite being freed from the demons that tormented her mind, body and emotions, George said she continued to struggle with her drug and alcohol addictions.
"I was dealing with a lot of oppression. The enemy was still trying to take me out and take me back to who God just delivered me from, and that was through the pills," she said. "It was the drug addiction that I had to let go of that I was still holding onto."
On Aug. 2, 2016, George overdosed.
"It was an accidental overdose. I did not want to die because God was already dealing with my heart," George recounted. "I had already had my deliverance on March 3, but sometimes, deliverance is a process. And so, I accidentally overdosed. And that's when I had my encounter with the Lord that changed me forever."
While in her hospital room with her mother, George said her heart was barely beating and thought the life was being sucked out of her. At that moment, she knew she needed to hear the Word of God read aloud immediately.
"I said, 'Mom, I know you have the Bible app on your phone. I need you to pull it up.' I was hearing a particular Scripture, and it was Romans 10:9-10. And it was like she was ignoring me, but I'm sure she was answering me. I just wasn't completely coherent at that time. I was barely talking," George recalled.
"But, on the third time of me asking my mother, she was standing in the threshold of the hospital room door, and she pointed at me, and I could feel it in my spirit. When she pointed at me, she pointed with all power and authority given to her through Christ Jesus. And she said, 'You know, the Word.' And as soon as she said that, the word of God just started flowing from my belly."
'Risen with Christ'
George said a light came through the ceiling and illuminated her whole hospital room. She said, "the colors seen on Earth are nothing compared to the colors that someone has the potential to see in the presence of God."
"Then, a nurse came walking into the room. And he did not look like the man that everybody else said they saw. And on his badge, it said the words: 'I am.' He didn't come to me as Jesus. He didn't come to me as any other name, but he came to me as 'I am,'" George said.
Since that August 2016 day in the hospital room, George said she has never again struggled with drug or alcohol addiction.
"It was a process that I had to go through of fully surrendering everything to God and soul searching, like going deep down in my heart and examining my heart. And saying, 'Lord, I need you to remove this.' And my spiritual eyes were opened," George said.
"I was sensitive to the Holy Spirit after the encounter with Jesus in the hospital room. And so, God was showing me things that I needed to let go of. And when I was at that place of full surrender, that I was never going to look back because God told me, 'Casie, if you go back, you might not make it out next time.' And that scared me to death for a reason because I had to die to myself so that I could be risen with Christ."
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: nicole.alcindor@christianpost.com.