Our first day of ministry in Rwanda was visiting and preaching at one of the local hospitals. For reasons I still can’t explain, I was really excited for this ministry. It was the only time we would be doing hospital ministry all month, so I was ready to make the most of it. I couldn’t have prepared myself enough for all that happened that day.
One thing I have been talking to the Lord and learning a lot about is the Holy Spirit. I know He was a super active and powerful guy back in the early church, but it was just hard for me to believe that He was still active and powerful today. I realized that I am missing out on so much of the life God has for me by pushing the Holy Spirit aside. So I asked the Lord to start teaching me about this incredible Spirit that He gave as a gift to me.
The first room we walked into was the maternity ward. In there was a woman who had given birth the previous day, and a woman who was seven months pregnant and fighting Malaria. As we were talking to the new mother, our host Fatier turned to us and said the woman wants to know if we want to name her baby. We looked at each other like, “What?” The name Ruth immediately came to mind, so I offered that as a suggestion. My teammate said she was thinking Ruth as well. The mother accepted the name, and just like that we named a baby five minutes into our first day of ministry. Okay Holy Spirit, that was cool.
The next group we visited was several pregnant women who were at the hospital for their regular check ups. Another teammate preached to them and then we split up to pray for each woman and her baby. I approached this beautiful woman and asked if I could pray for her. She didn’t speak any English, but I could tell that she was open to prayer. I placed one hand on her shoulder and one hand on her stomach. I started praying and her baby immediately began to move in her stomach. I was like, “Oh wow Lord, thank you so much for allowing me to feel that.”
I finished praying for her and went back to my team. The Lord reminded me of the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth when they were pregnant with Jesus and John the Baptist. When Mary came near, John the Baptist began to leap in Elizabeth’s stomach. He recognized the majesty of Jesus before either of them were born.
I was going to share this with the woman, but when I looked over she was already gone. I was disappointed, but we had to go to the next room. On our way out I spotted the woman. I pulled Fatier over to her and asked if she could tell the woman what the Lord told me. I touched the woman’s stomach again as I was explaining this to Fatier. The woman said something in Kinyarwanda, and Fatier said, “She wants to know why her baby moved when you touched her stomach back there and why it moved again when you touched her stomach just now.” I replied with full confidence in the validity of this statement, “Because your baby knows Jesus even now! He’s going to grow up knowing the Lord, and God has big plans for him!”
I don’t know this woman or her faith. I don’t even know if she’s having a boy! But the Holy Spirit gave me words to speak over this woman and her baby. There was no way I was going to hold that back from her. Wow Holy Spirit, you’re really here. Okay, let’s do this.
We walked into our last room and I was overwhelmed by the sight and sound of a girl lying on one of the beds writhing in pain. She could barely breathe and you could just tell she was not doing well. Our host said she had been brought to the hospital for ulcers. We decided to pray over her before we preached to the other patients.
I felt very led to pray over her. We started praying and I was overcome with emotions. Any thoughts of an eloquent prayer went out the window. I was just standing there crying and praying. All I could say at one point was “Jesus” and “Holy Spirit come.” I ended my out loud prayer and bent down to continue praying over this girl. I was whispering things into her ear and over her body. I could tell the rest of my team had moved on to the other patients, but Holy Spirit wouldn’t let me leave. I knelt at her bed crying and praying until the doctor came in and needed to assess her.
There was no miraculous healing like I was praying for. I will never know the outcome of that situation probably until I go to Heaven. What did happen, however, was that Holy Spirit broke my heart for what breaks His. I experienced just a portion of the pain He feels when He sees His children in pain.
I did not feel weak. I did not feel helpless. I did not feel like the Lord let me down in not healing the girl in that moment. No, I felt more in tune with Holy Spirit than ever before. I knew that He was present and watching over her. I was confident in His love for her. I declared that over her with complete conviction.
I walked away from the hospital in this kind of emotional daze. I was trying to process everything that had just happened. My team leader held me back and said she saw the Lord do a great work in me back there. She could see that He broke my heart for what breaks His. She told me she could see that I have a heart and a passion for the sick and hurting because I was the first to step up to pray, and she encouraged me to press into what that might be revealing about the Lord’s calling for my life.
When I asked Holy Spirit to teach me who He really is and what He can really do, I didn’t expect Him to do it so quickly. I left the hospital convinced that He is alive, He is powerful, and He is without a doubt still active today.
I responded the only way I knew how. I said, “Holy Spirit, you have total control now. I will walk with you every single day of my life. You can lead me anywhere you want, to do anything you want, any way you want. I am standing before you ready to say YES! to whatever you have for my life.”
And that’s how I met Holy Spirit at a hospital in Rwanda.
