You know about the new kids that we are picking on our church van. There is one little five year old girl who causes some problems. You must watch out for her constantly for she likes to run off. I've sensed that there is something not quite right about her, but have yet to figure it out. She got in trouble last Sunday during Kids Church. I made her stand by the wall for a few minutes. After that, she was fine. Last week during VBS, she had one night that she threw a tantrum. But she soon fell asleep. I decided it was because she had had a long week & was so tired.
Then came last night. She was supposed to be in my Rainbows class. She decided she didn't want to go. She kicked & screamed & threw a major temper tantrum. She decided she wanted to go out front, so I let her. A little later, she was brought back to me. This time, she started hitting me, kicking, screaming "I don't love you," etc. This stuff I didn't like, but I could handle. But her eyes changed. They constricted and got red. I have never seen hate, anger, & evil like this come from any person, let alone a beautiful 5 year old girl.
I don't know what to do. Dh says that we need to really pray for her. I know that. But something else is going on. I believe in demonic forces, possession, & all. I'm not saying this is what is going on. I honestly don't know. There are 8 kids in the family. She's next to the youngest. The other kids also take a lot of time & attention. Some have gotten a little irate, but after a talk (I've had to come down pretty hard on one brother) they have calmed down & been very polite.
Are her parents reasonable people? I know you said she comes on the van, but maybe this would be a great time to call up her parents and invite them to chat, and just let them know what is going on. There could be abuse or something else going on that they don't know about.
Be careful, though - make sure you have at least one other person with you when you talk to the parents and DEFINITELY when you discipline her and her brothers and sisters!
The reason is that many kids who are being abused - esp. sexually - will tell their parents, but will not tell the truth right away about who is doing it. And many times the church takes the fall for it. Like say Grandpa is molesting a girl, and she wants her parents to know about it, but is embarrassed to tell the truth about who it is, she may say it's someone at church or school. A kid's logic says that "Mom and Dad are all-knowing and they'll sort out the truth and figure out who it really is." But of course, that's not true, and the church could have some huge problems...
Nonetheless, this could be a great opportunity to reach out to the parent(s) and let them know that you care about their kids, and about being a support to them, too...
I hate to say it - but it does sound like something demonic going on. I am not one who looks for demons under bushes everywhere either - but--try just silently praying over her that whatever spirits is tormenting her - cannot come into the church. Tell them to be silent and still. You probably can't techincally cast them out until you discuss this option with her parents - but you have spiritual authority over your classroom. I would try to connect with the parents and share your concern with them. Take the backdoor approach of "So and So is a lovely girl and we enjoy having her, etc., but sometimes she has "little" outbursts. Any ideas as to what I can do to help her?" Somethiing like that??
