Her name is Rose Nicas.
She is trying desperately to recover in the TB ward.
Skin and bones are her covering.
Her eyes bulge hungrily from their sockets – full of wonder, full of fading life.
She is beautiful. Her countenance and grace are stunning. She is very sick.
As we shared the Word, she wandered into the room.
Easing her way past me she sat on her bed slowly.
It seemed as though every movement caused her pain.
Her arms were no bigger than two of my fingers put together.
Bones literally bulged from every part of her body – and any amount of leftover skin hung limp.
Her name is Rose, and she caught a piece of my heart and attention today.
Though her frail frame could barely support her upright body, I could see she was cloaked in a quiet strength – a patient endurance, for which she had not yet seen the fruit of.
As Stacey and I made our way around the ward praying for women and their families we finally made it to Rose’s bed. As we laid hands on her to pray, I nearly went into shock. All I was touching was bone. There was nothing to this woman. She must be in so much pain! I felt to place my hand on her belly – it was fairly sunken/swollen, but flat. Then the Lord told me to sing – right to her belly. And so I sang…
“All who are thirsty, all who are weak,
Come to the fountain,
Dip your heart in the stream of life.
Let the pain and the sorrow,
Be washed away, in the waves of His mercy,
As DEEP cries out to DEEP
We sing…
Come Lord Jesus, Come!
Come Lord, Jesus Come!
Holy Spirit Come!
Holy Spirit Come!”
I sang this a few times – and each time I sang “deep cried out to deep” I felt the Lord saying that I was singing to the DEEP…to the weakened spirit inside of this woman. With every note her stomach began to expand. In my mind I saw a picture of vitamins and nourishment rushing to each muscle, tendon, and unhealthy place of her body. I saw LIFE coming to her face – she began to laugh. After singing, I smiled at her and we parted ways to pray for other patients – but I couldn’t get her out of my mind.
I looked down at my hands for a moment and heard the Lord say, “give her your bracelet Christy.” Now, I only had two bracelets on – one birthday bracelet from my Malawian ministry friends, and another, that had been handcrafted for me by Stacey, my squad-mate. I looked at the birthday bracelet and thought “Sure! No problem Lord, she can totally have this one.” His response took me by surprise, “No, I want you to give her that one.” “Wait a minute, my bracelet – the one made for me?….O….Okay.”
Now, it’s important to understand just why this bracelet was so important to me. It was fairly simple in appearance – but it was the word on it that meant most to me – KRANS, which is an African word for “wreathed”. When I received this bracelet, I got a card explaining why, “I was praying about what to give you for a word, I just saw you victorious and joyful in the celebration of freedom and deliverance. Wreaths are evergreens. They never fade, or change with seasons, but they remain green and true throughout dry and wet times of the year. They are given at the end of races, and competitions to the best and victorious participants. I feel as though here in Africa, you are going to be given wreath after wreath of victory through song and prayer.”
Naturally – something like this is special. When I received it, I thought of LIFE, that God has given me life – and wants me to breathe the life in me into others – and into the atmosphere of places He takes me. So realizing that Rose needed LIFE breathed back into her, I unbuttoned my bracelet and walked back to her. Her eyes grew wide with excitement as I fastened it around her wrist. She just starred at it and smiled. Our translating friend ran over so I could speak to Rose and tell her that I was giving her this bracelet as a reminder of the LIFE and HEALING God was going to bring to her body – that He would strengthen her – and no matter what seasons she was going through or would go through to get to that place – she will be victorious!
Stacey and I left the hospital and basically said with hands wide open, “Alright Lord, we trust you with Rose!”…but the story doesn’t end here…It gets even better…
