So remember the young man in the wheel chair Kaitlyn and I prayed over last Sunday?
First off his name is Chicaizo. (I finally got his sister to write it out for me yesterday at church)
On Friday night Kaitlyn, Amanda and I had the privilege of going to his house, a bumpy 30 minute drive directly uphill, overlooking the city lights. When we got there we met Chicaizo's father, mother, siblings and nephews.
Upon getting to know him further, we discovered that Chicaizo is slightly mentally retarded and his legs are actually cut off just above the knee. He was wearing fake legs last Sunday.
Chicaizo has two younger sisters, one with a son (who I mistook as his wife and son last Sunday.) He has an older sister who is also wheelchair bound, suffering from cerebal palsy and mental retardation.
There was also a little boy in a wheel chair around the age of 8, Rolando. He has his legs but they do not function from the waist down. Apparently Rolando used to be a lot worse, but after much prayer has made huge progress and is now getting himself around by walking on his arms and dragging his legs behind him. He is such a cheerful, playful little boy. We weren't sure if they were all related, and found out afterwards the woman in the wheelchair had been raped, and Rolando is her son.
Pastor Raphael read from the bible, then asked us to pray. I had the honor of praying over Chicaizo's older sister and just loving on her by massaging her and holding her hand. When I stared into her eyes, I saw her the way God sees her. It was beautiful.
I also really wanted to pray for Chicaizo again, so I joined Kaitlyn in prayer over him while Amanda prayed for Rolando. I took his hands, crisscrossed in my hands. He gripped mine back strongly and I began again asking for bold things in the name of Jesus. The entire time I was praying he kept saying with passion and desperation on his face, "Gracias mi Padre, Gracias Mio Dios," "Thank You my Father, Thank You God," and "Yo creo que caminaré," "I believe I will walk," over and over again.
We found out after as-well that not so long ago he used to have anger towards God, asking Him, "Why God! Why me?" And Milton said to see him now thanking God and saying he believes he will walk is absolutely amazing.
The love and dedication that Chicaizo's father and mother have for their children is truly touching.
On the drive home Milton pointed out a Christian church that is right beside their families' house. The fact that they choose to make the much longer journey to this church, El Verbo de Dios (The Word of God), says a lot. It is obvious to me that God is doing something big in this church; in this town. The presence of the Holy Spirit is most definitely tangible here.
Even though we only have a week left here in Conocoto, our ministry is becoming more and more clear. There is so much darkness and hopelessness here and we are fighting for these people's freedom. We are crying out for them on their behalf. Satan knows God is about to use us to do something big, and he is doing everything in his power to stop us and tear us apart. As a team we have been experiencing a lot of spiritual warfare. A lot of us have been attacked in dreams, some of my teammates with the gift of spiritual discernment have been sensing a lot of bad spirits and death, and every single one of us has been physically sick. He's even been trying to turn us against each other. Yesterday I was severely attacked right before the church service, and again last night, as well as being physically sick. Satan is doing everything he can to knock us down, and keep us down, but he will not defeat us. We know when this happens, we have the authority of Jesus, the strength of the Lord, and it means something great is about to happen. We will persevere. The people of Conocoto will experience freedom and healing. We are here to remind people that there is no condemnation, and to re-inspire them to seek the Lord in times of trial and tribulation, for He hears the cries of His children.
Chiztazio and his family were the first people at church yesterday. His father played the accordian and sang emotionally in the quartet. Again we had a bigger turnout than last week. We performed a skit portraying how we were made for intimacy with Jesus and how the schemes of the devil (lust, alcohol, vanity, drugs, suicide) come into our life, distracting us from Christ. We have to run to Him and once we do He steps in and fights for us. The audience loved it, and comprehended, even though they couldn't understand the lyrics of the song.
(Check out on youtube Everything Skit – Lifehouse)
Similar to last week we asked anyone who needed to be prayed over to come foward, but this time we all laid our hands on one person at a time, and prayed all together. We prayed over about 20 people, old and young alike, tears streaming down there face, overcome with the Spirit.
Chizatzio hadn't come forward during the service so before he left I asked if I could pray over him. Knowing more of the specifics I was able to pray over him more in detail which was great. I still believe he will walk, whether that means God growing back his legs, or providing money for him to see a doctor and getting prosthetic legs or whatever that looks like, HE WILL WALK! God has most definitely put this young man on my heart…
Can you pray for Chicaizo, that his belief would be so unwaivering that he wouldn't have a doubt in his mind that God will pave a way and that he will walk. That HE WILL RUN! Can you pray for his family, for continued strength and faith. Can you pray for the this church and the town of Conocoto, for protection from evil spirits and for freedom and hope.
