What do you do when God puts you in situations that are completely over your head?
We were walking through a village, and praying for the people there, when we came across a woman and a boy. The woman explained that she was a caretaker for the boy as well as a man inside of the house.
We entered the hut, expecting to pray but not prepared for what we were facing. The sun was beating down on me, I hadn’t had a drop of water in 24 hours, and I was tired and filthy. I was struggling to be in the moment. My team and I circled around the man inside the hut; he was laying on the ground with a blanket over his legs.
The pastor began speaking to him in his language, and when the man lifted the blanket from his legs, the atmosphere changed for me. The wound spread up his leg like it was eating him alive, and the putrid smell filled the little hut. He’d been struck by lightning, and an infection had set in. In that moment, I felt myself become sober. I felt helpless and at a loss, and I could feel the heaviness on my teammates as well.
“I was not expecting this,” the pastor was saying, “It disturbs me.”
After he said this, the only emotion I could feel was compassion for this man.
I felt the same sense of compassion mixed with helplessness on our last day of village ministry. She was an older woman, sitting on her bamboo mat, and I saw her hands almost immediately.
She had an illness that was causing her to lose her fingers. Her left hand was already eaten away by the illness, and aside from her thumb, only a nub of flesh remained; although she still had fingers on her right hand, it was beginning to look like the other. She explained that she also had a wound on one of her legs and that she’d go without eating on some days because it was painful for her to crawl to her food.
God what am I doing here? What do You want me to do? I prayed silently. You can heal her right now. I want her to be healed. I want to help. What do I pray for?
But God didn’t tell me to pray for her to be healed.
Show her compassion, He said.
Compassion was the only word I heard from Him in that moment.
My teammate, Rebecca and I both kneeled before her, Rebecca took one of her hands and I took the other. There was nothing I could do in that moment except grasp this woman’s hand and pray for her to feel worthy of love. After we prayed, Rebecca kissed her hand, and the pastor looked at us, explaining that he’d never seen this before, but he would keep us in touch with how she was doing as well as make sure she got food the next day. He began to lead the team to the next hut, but I still couldn’t shake the compassion that I was feeling for this woman.
I stretched out my arm to shake her hand and she took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. There were about three or four of us who were still around, and she began speaking to us in her language. We looked at each other not knowing what to do in this moment.
We knelt beside her once more, and prayed gently over her. I had no idea what else to do, except feel compassion for this woman. After we prayed again, I took both her hands and kissed them. Let her feel Your love, Jesus.
I’ve seen healings this month, and I’ve seen people in so much need that I don’t know where to begin. Sometimes God leads us into situations where the only thing He allows us to feel is a piece of His heart for the broken and hurting. It’s compassion that moves us in these situations.
I’m not sure if we will ever know or understand exactly how these people were affected during this month, but my trust is that God is moving in this place. I trust that He allowed my team and I front row seats this past month to see and feel His heart for the people here. Sometimes compassion is the only response we are expected to have.
