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               Here in Honduras we usually do ministry from Monday- Friday so Saturday is our designated “day-off”. This week we were supposed to spend the day in a small touristy town about an hour away, but God decided to change our plans. As we were getting ready that morning, Tony (our host) gathered us together to share some updates and ask for prayer. He told us about a mother who has 3 children and was currently in the hospital. This family comes from the poorest and most dangerous part of town and has no father. She has been struggling to provide for her children and they often go without food. For the past month she has had severe stomach pain and Tony and his wife have been helping to care for her kids. On Friday, they took her to the hospital and were told that she probably had stomach cancer and that it could be fatal. Tony asked us to pray for guidance because he did not know what would happen to the children. As our squad of 52 people prayed for this situation and began to discuss what we could do, several people felt that God was leading us to abandon our plans and go to the hospital to pray.   

          

            So that’s exactly what we did. We arrived outside of a small private Catholic hospital in the hills and spent the day worshiping and praying. The doctors were running tests all day and we were to know more about the diagnosis by 3pm. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to show up and for healing to fall upon this woman. Some of the lyrics we sang were “My God is mighty to save” and I truly meant those words with all that I had. I looked across our group and saw Carlos – the 8 year old son of the woman who lay sick in a hospital bed. He didn’t really understand why we were there or what we were praying for, but God broke my heart for him. I prayed, “Lord save their mother. They need her. God, I don’t want these kids to feel the pain of losing a parent. They don’t need more hurt – they need You and they need their mom to be healed. We trust in your mighty power.”   It was really awesome because just that morning during my personal devotion I prayed that God would help me to see the people of Honduras the way that He sees them and just a few hours later I was overcome with emotion for this innocent child.

 

            A friend of mine led us to read Psalm 116 which spoke to us greatly in that moment:

I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy.
Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
Death wrapped its ropes around me;
the terrors of the grave overtook me.
I saw only trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the Lord;
“Please, Lord, save me!”
How kind the Lord is! How good he is!
So merciful, this God of ours!
The Lord protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.

            After a few hours, a couple of people went inside to find out information from the doctors and came back out to share of His faithfulness. She didn’t have stomach cancer it was simply a severe bacterial infection which could be treated with prescription medication. She was released that afternoon and greeted at the hospital gates with cheering, applause and a special embrace from her children. 

 

            God changed our plans so that He could change lives. We witnessed the power of prayer, the joyfulness of thanksgiving and healing for a family who desperately needed to feel the love of the father in their lives.