Continued…
In his book, Messy Spirituality, Michael Yaconelli talks about how desperate people seek Jesus in a different way than we often seek Jesus. In the bible people came desperately to Jesus wanting his healing power to overcome their bodies’ condition. They did not care what they looked like to those around them. They did not care that they would be scorned for inappropriate behavior. This night I was especially reminded of the story of the woman that comes to Jesus on behalf of her daughter who is demon-possessed. She was brushed aside, compared to a dog, not included, and still fixedly sought after the healing she had come to Him for. She was desperate and willing to endure anything to see her daughter healed.
We had just passed her. I remember seeing her and the baby, but I did not note anything about her. I am pretty sure that she said something to us trying to get our attention, but so does everyone else in the village so it is easy to begin ignoring. She did not give up though. She wanted us to pray for her brother, she knew we serve a God that is able to heal his body and his soul. She was willing to be brushed aside and still adamantly seek that healing. What great love this girl showed for her brother and great faith she showed in our Lord.
As I slept this night his face remained in my head and put such unbearable grief in my heart. As this boy invaded my dreams and my idle thoughts I made a great effort to let my heart break. I don’t want to be stoic, I don’t want to be unmoved by such pain. I have asked God to break my heart for the things that break his and this baby’s pain does bring great pain to his heart, so this is what I signed up for.
As we were doing ministry the next day Stacy was talking to a man on the street while Jenn and I entertained the crowd of children that followed us everywhere we went. I had sat down on a straw mat next to a mud hut and was talking to three “tween” girls while Jenn was praying blessings over the younger children. Stacy called my name and pointed to a girl who had come up to their gathering to ask for prayer.
It was the same girl with that same boy tied to her back. She had tracked us down as we were moving throughout the village that day. She told us how to get to her house and when we were finished with the man Stacy was talking to we moved to her house. Here we were greeted warmly by the girl. Her mom on the other hand chose to stay inside the house but allowed us to pray for the children while we were outside. When we asked if we could pray for her she told us no. She claimed to be demon possessed and was actively involved with demon worship.
Wow! This girl has come from a house where mom is demon possessed, brother screams all the time because of the agony that is his body and here she is desperately seeking the one true Lord. We later found out that she was saved at school a few years ago, and now sneaks to go to bible teachings and even showed up at our open air crusade. It was such a blessing to see her singing praises to our Lord.
Stacy, Jenn and I prayed for the boy and the girl. She told us that the baby has AIDS and that is what is causing the horrible boils. We believe that our God is more powerful even than AIDS, we believe that he loves this little boy. We prayed and prayed for him. I was standing there fully expecting the boils to clear up and scabs to fall off.
I did not see that happen at that time and I will probably never know if they do. I do know that I saw a powerful example of desperately seeking Jesus’ power, self-sacrificing love and unwavering faith in that little girl.
It caused me to reconsider how desperately I seek Jesus’ healing everyday.
