This is a continuation of my previous blog, “A Bridge, A Beggar, and A Baby”, so if you haven’t read that one, please go back and read it! This is the story of Adriano.
Two nights later I returned to the bridge with my teammate Sarah this time. I wanted to see the woman and baby on the bridge again. As we approached she threw her arms up in excitement and a huge smile spread across her face. I sat near her communicated with her as best as I could. A few minutes after sitting down, the man from the massage parlor walked past me. He looked down at me and I could see the recognition and confusion on his face. I reminded him of our meeting two days prior. He introduced himself as Adriano. Then he sat down next to me and asked, “why are you sitting on this bridge?”
His question opened a door. I was able to share with him in more detail what I was doing and why. “I can’t talk to this woman, but I can show her the love of God by just spending time with her and treating her like a human being.” He told me he was raised Protestant but was doing his own thing now. Another one hurt by the church. He talked more of his back pain. Nothing helped anymore. As he talked about it I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to pray for his back. I looked around, nervous and unsure. What if I prayed for healing and it doesn’t work and I just look foolish? Then I saw my teammate Sarah walking towards me and I suddenly got the confidence to ask if I could pray for him.
Adriano was taken aback that I would even ask. He stood up excitedly and said, “of course!” I asked Sarah to pray to, so we both put a hand on his back and started to ask God to heal him.
I don’t the words either of us prayed, but after saying amen, Adriano was thrilled. He never mentioned whether or not his back pain left because he was so caught up in the fact that we stood up on a crowded bridge and prayed healing over him. I can’t describe his excitement. He told us over and over that we had a special energy, something was different about us. Sarah and I just kept telling him that it was Jesus.
He thanked us 1,000 times, walked away, and came back a minute later to thank us again. Then he handed me $5 so he could support what we were doing. So we bought the bridge people dinner!
I was so excited about Adriano’s response, and committed to continue to pray for healing and salvation. I expressed to my team that it would be cool to see him again so I could know if God healed him or not, but it was ok if I didn’t. I trusted and believed that God would heal him.
Two nights after that, we went out again. We returnEd to the bridge to find that the woman and baby were not there. I walked away disappointed. I was looking forward to holding that sweet baby again. We walked the streets as the Lord to lead us where he wanted to go. As we rounded a corner, I looked down an alleyway and saw Adriano’s distinct curly hair! I began to run after him (again, a little creepy!), yelling to my teammates over my shoulder to follow me.
When I was closer in yelled out “Adriano!”, and he turned and greeted me with a smile and a handshake. And then he said, “my back feels a lot better! I can walk a little straighter now.” I knew it. “I don’t know if I can say your prayer healed me; it wasn’t all of the sudden feeling better but gradual. But thank you again for praying for me.” I smiled, gave credit to Jesus, and we said goodbye for the last time.
I got to represent Jesus in 3 different ways that week. If you read my blog “Be Prepared to Give an Answer”, then you know about my conversation with Mike. I got to explicitly talk about the gospel with him over 3 hours. I couldn’t talk to the woman on the bridge from my previous blog, but I got to love on her and give her some of her humanity back. I prayed for healing over and was an example of a loving follower of Christ to Adriano. Through seeing these people the way my Heavenly Father sees them, I felt His love. By accepting His invitations to love the ones he led me to, I was blessed. I saw his love, power, and grace those nights in Siem Reap and all of it just made me want more of God.
