Hello everyone 🙂 i don’t usually do blogs back to back, but since i haven’t had much internet this month, i must share this other story with you!So here it goes….
The 3rd day we arrived in our remote village in Central Malawi at the beginning of December, we were invited to the head chief’s house. This is a HUGE honor & privilege, especially for us Mzungus (white people). We walked a mile to his house with our translator/ministry contact Elliot & met the chief’s son Lazerus & his wife Marrietta. The chief himself was not there that evening but his son greeted us & relayed an urgent message to us from his father, Lucyano; the chief. Lazerus asked us to pray for his mother’s face. Due to a major tooth infection that hadn’t been treated, the right side of her cheek was swollen like a basketball, about 7 or 8 inches away from her face.She was in such excruciating pain that she couldn’t speak Chi-Chewa or smile. They had been to the hospital which was over 3 hrs away, but the doctor was not able to cure her. But we knew The Physician who could heal her! Jesus! She had a relationship with Jesus & she was so thankful to meet us. Her eyes filled with hope. My team & i layed hands on her & prayed in faith that God would heal her face,take the pain away, comfort her, & give her His peace & joy. We shared a few encouraging verses with her as Elliot translated & sang some worship songs together to help lift her spirits. We saw her attempt to smile but the pain was too great & she cringed & looked back down at the floor in humiliation. It was getting late so we thanked her & her son for welcoming us & mentioned that we would love to meet her husband, the chief, sometime soon.
When we walked back to our house, Sarah & i felt that God was calling us run to her house everyday & pray over her & her house, rain or shine. At sunrise around 6am the next morning, we ran a mile down the main dirt road to the chief’s house, in our long ankle-length skirts! Since we had just met her & her son yesterday, we didn’t feel comfortable entering their yard unannounced, so we just walked around the outside of their property & prayed for her healing & for God to bless their family. We then ran back to our house. The next day, we ran again & prayed outside their property. We continued this routine for a few days, until one morning we saw Marietta sitting outside on her porch. We slowly walked into her yard & waved to catch her attention. When she saw us, we put our hands together to motion that we wanted to pray for her & waited for her to welcome us. She motioned for us to come to her. As we stood next to her & greeted her in Chi-Chewa, we could visibly see a change in her right cheek. It was a few inches less swollen then the night we met her. Praise God! We pointed at her cheek & pointed to the sky & gave her a thumbs-up. (Malawians like to give us Americans a thumbs-up) She attempted to smile but couldnt due to the pain still in her mouth. Encouraged to see that her face looked better, we both layed hands on her & prayed again, persistently in faith, that God would KEEP healing her & taking her pain away. She seemed surprised that we would run there to come see her. Since we didn’t have a translator, we werent able to share with her that we had prayed over her house the last several days while she was sleeping. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the chief but he was not outside of his house. She thanked us & we shook her hand & ran back, thanking the Lord for what He had done.
The next morning she was outside her house again, & her face was less swollen then the day before. She was finally able to smile a little bit & she seemed like she was more joyful. We prayed for her like usual & were walking away from her house when we heard a deep male voice shout “wait! come back!” We turned around & saw a man walking to us with a big smile on his face. This must be the chief himself! He shook our hands firmly & continued to thank us in Chi-Chewa. He only knew a few words in English. Apparently “wait” & “come back” were a few of the only English words he knew haha. We were excited to finally meet him & he was excited to meet us. For the next few days, the chief & his wife sat & waited for us now each morning on their front porch. I remember there was one morning where Sarah & i woke up & it was raining & we were tired. The thought of running a few miles in the rain in our long skirts & on the muddy dirt roads was the LAST thing we wanted to do at that moment. But, we remembered our promise:rain OR shine. So we ran over there & when we got there, she had a HUGE smile on her face from ear to ear & was not in pain anymore. Her cheek had also returned back to its normal size. The swelling was gone! She was able to talk, smile & laugh again & she was in high spirits. We were able to celebrate with her & her husband & her son! We praised Jesus for His miraculous healing! We knew that He was just seeing if we would be persistent in praying & seeing if we would keep our faith & trust in Him. I also knew that God was teaching me to stick to my word. If i give my word on something, i need to follow through with it. We never were able to send a translator over with us but we knew beyond a doubt that words werent as necessary as the actions. God broke through the language barriers with His amazing power & love & grace. Experiences like this grow my faith in Him so much! And my prayer is that they will grow your faith in Him also! Thanks for reading! May God get the glory & praise!!! I truly felt like she was one of the main reasons why God led us to that village this month. God gave her & Lucyano those high positions in that village & this miracle He just performed in her life will be shown & told throughout the village for years! People will see & experience God’s mighty power & praise Him!
Love His Servant, Luke 1:37 “For NOTHING is impossible with God!.”
Michelle Smith
