First of all…I apologize for not telling you this story sooner. There are only a few reasons that I could think of that might have hindered this experience: 1) That I needed time to really process and understand what happened; 2) That I was too scared about what you might think of me (if you would believe me or not); 3) That I was too selfish to share how amazing God is. Those are what held me back from sharing our glorious God to you all…I apologize to you for that. So, here is my story now!
I have to take you back to the Philippines, to a family that most seem to turn there backs on b/c the father is never around and the mother is a drunk leaving her to two small children behind all day without food. One day, we were in the tunnel community of the Quatro Community celebrating our friend Jason’s birthday with a spaghetti meal (his favorite), when Braedon asked me if I would speak with Loni (the drunk mother). Now, I started this day without any kind of feeling towards what we were doing today…I almost kind of didn’t want to even go to this party…I was very indifferent about things today. Well, actually, Braedon asked if I felt called at all to speak with Loni…and I told him “Not really! But God works differently and if He is telling you that I need to, then sure.” And that was it…I walked right into her home and started talking to her.
She told me (with the little bit of slurred English-which was really not any-that her son (who is two) was sick. And then she pointed to the head of her daughter (who is like 3) and showed me the scabs on her head. Her daughter’s head was covered with these scabs that I have no idea what caused them. She kept telling me the best that she could that her kids were sick and I could see the concern that she actually had for them. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that Loni is pregnant, too…and she drinks. I started to ask her questions about bathing them…how often they get bathed and so on. As I’m asking these questions, I begin to feel this desire to just lay my hands on her kids and ask for healing…to stop with what I’m thinking (questions aren’t going to get me anywhere), but to just lay my hands on them and pray….I was hesitating. Next thing I know is that I hear Lindsay in the doorway of the house saying, “Hands! Them! Pray! Healing! Now!” And I just threw my hands on them.
I wish I could show you what I experienced next, but I don’t know how! All I can do is tell you what it was. I laid my hands on the little boy first asking for healing….praying over and over for him….and then my hands just automatically went to the little girl. I began praying for her and I was just hit with an overload of emotions. I could feel the pain that that little girl had. I could feel the spirit of fear, the spirit of abandonment, the spirit of loneliness, the spirit of abuse, the spirit of longing, the spirit of hate….I could feel how hurt this little girl was already at age 3. I could feel her pain! I began to cry for her…I was being filled with the compassion that God had for this family…the love that He feels for them. He gave me a taste of his everlasting and unconditional love that He has for that one little girl…and I was completely overwhelmed. I was lost for words…I didn’t know how to pray anymore…no words would come to me…I just kept crying for her, for them, for God’s children! I had to free my hands from the little girl and walk away…I had to get my composure back…I began to pray over the house, letting my hands fall over anything that came close to it…this is where God was leading me…to speak over this house, this family…to claim them back in the name of Jesus.
Lindsay and Cindy prayed with Loni while I prayed over the house. I don’t really know how long we stayed there, but I knew that when we left, we had done all that God wanted us to do. A few days later, another team came in and lead Loni to Christ, and another team equipped her with a bible. God is truly incredible and knew what was needed for that family. I am truly blessed to have been a part of God’s plan with that family and for Him to want to use me in that way and show me a little bit of His love for that one family.
Please pray for Loni and her family. Pray that she will truly seek God’s face and the lives of her and her children will change to bring glory to Him. I apologize for not sharing this experience with you sooner…I should not be ashamed to share something that can only reveal how much more amazing our Lord is. I hope that this story has brought glory to His name only!
