Cross-cultural prayer

I prayed with a young man today for healing - specifically healing from the bondage of evil spirits - which doesn't happen a lot in my ministry.
He is from Congo - more fluent in French than English - which also took
some careful listening. As he told his story, it became clear that his
concerns are real and deep and have wounded him for a long time. He
also wanted to grow in faith and prayer. Two thoughts kept coming to me
after our meeting:

First, in affluent Western culture I rarely am asked to pray for healing.
When I was doing urban ministry in Cleveland - particularly with Puerto
Rican gang kids - we prayed a LOT for healing. And for protection from
evil spirits, too. I also was asked to do an exorcism from a house the
family was certain was "possessed" (however you understand that term.)
So I did - I felt the chilling coldness of evil in that house - and
experienced the fear that seemed to be alive within its walls. And
while I don't even pretend to understand the totality of it all, I also
know that evil is real and palpable and I respect it profoundly.

I
was grateful that this young man felt safe enough to come to me for
these prayers because there is so much that divides us: race, culture,
language and history. But he knows that
in Christ we worship a God of grace and healing and that God is bigger
than all our differences. After prayer, I gave him a very basic daily
prayer guide and told him to meet with me again next week after he had
started to pray each morning and evening.