In May of 1953, Lester Sumrall entered the Billibid prison in Manila, Philippines and simply said, “I’ve come to pray for Clarita Villanueva, the girl who is being bitten by devils." Clarita was suffering from demonic attacks that left bite marks on her body.
The spiritual warfare that ensued and her miraculous deliverance miracle was only the beginning of a powerful mass revival. When the press reported her miraculous deliverance, Lester Sumrall’s picture was on the front page of the all the major newspapers in the country. He became a celebrity overnight.
Lester recalls that, “When I walked down the streets, 20 people would suddenly fall down on their knees and kiss my fingers before I could stop them.”
Soon afterwards, when Lester Sumrall met with the mayor of Manila, he asked him if he could hold revival meetings in the park across his office for the next six weeks, which he did with the help of Voice of Healing evangelist Clifton Erickson.
The six week revival led 150,000 people to the Lord.
He also ministered in various churches across town and showed them the movie “Venture into Faith” produced by Oral Roberts (available on youtube).
One time at the local Manila post office, Lester Sumrall heard the following words from the clerk;
"There’s Dr. Sumrall. He casts out devils."
Deliverance became the hallmark of Lester Sumrall’s ministry.
In the 1960s, Sumrall released a 30-min movie on the deliverance of Clarita Villanueva called “Bitten by devils”. The picture on this post is from the filming if this short movie. First pic with actors. Swipe left to see a picture of the real Clarita Villanueva with the Sumralls.