Wooden scraps for shelter, a tin roof, two mattresses, and a dirt floor. What if that was the only scenery you were obligated to look at everyday? What if those were your only possessions? For an older Dominican gentleman named Raphael, this shack of house is the only world he knows.
One day last week, Pastor Manuel took us walking around our village, Las Charcas, to visit and minister to the sick. One visit in particular really brought us to our knees before the Lord asking him for mercy for our brother in Christ, Raphael. His legs and arms have been reduced to skin in bones due to (what we surmised with our limited medical knowledge) massive atrophy.
As we entered his little shack and started explaining to him that we were there because we served a good God who loved him, he just began weeping. Can you imagine living in a place like that and never having anything sweet in your ears? No sweet melodies, no joyous words of encouragement, no smiling faces and no tender hands to give you a warm touch.
He said that he didn’t want us to leave because we were good people. We were able to feed him, give him some medicine, and spend some time loving on him that day, but God spoke to us that that wasn’t enough. He said that he wanted us to go back and hold a church service for him at his little house. So the next week, Colby strapped on his guitar, we found a Spanish bible, packed lunch, and marched our tails back to that little shack to bring Raphael some sweet music and encouragement to his ears.
For Raphael that day, we were able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a man who is living without hope. We were able to bring him sweet music to his ears; praises lifted up to Jesus, encouragement from the Word, seven smiling faces, and hands to hold. Raphael clapped, smiled, and heard some amazing words of encouragement from 7 American missionaries.
Its was an incredibly uplifting day of ministry and a boost of encouragement for our team. Please continue to lift up Raphael in prayer; that he will put his hope back in the Lord, and hopefully one day be able to walk again. We have committed to pray for him throughout the race, and I’m excited to see how God uses this experience to reconnect Raphael with Pastor Manuel in the village.
