One of the things I’ve been looking forward to is working in villages, and today we had that opportunity! There’s a sense of community being in a village. Everyone knows who everyone is, and from my experience, everyone is very hospitable.
We sat down to talk to two brothers. They graciously pulled up many chairs for us to sit in, and we enjoyed a nice conversation. Actually, I’m assuming it was nice because I didn’t understand most of it, but the one brother they were mainly talking to was smiling the whole time. He didn’t go to church, but was still interested in listening to us. We had a translator who would translate maybe 1 min in English to every 10 min of their conversation in French!
As I was sitting there, I was getting a little sleepy since I didn’t know half of what was being talked about. I had been trying to listen to God, but didn’t feel like He was saying anything. However, towards the end of the conversation God put something on my heart.
“Ask Him if he has any pain” said God. I sat there, my heart beating a bit faster now. When should I jump in? They are talking about something completely different. Do I just cut off the conversation? Oh no, it looks like we are starting to say our goodbyes. Should I just ignore what God is saying and be disappointed in myself? No, God wants me to step outside the box. Okay, muster up that courage…
“Frank (our translator), can you ask him if he has any pain”
Attu (the man) replied, “I’ve been having a lot of headaches, my vision isn’t very good when I go into the sun, and my stomach hasn’t been feeling well. It might be malaria.”
My heart is now beating faster. I’m smiling inside, not because of Attu’s pain, instead I knew Jesus wanted to heal him.
“Frank, can you ask Attu if we can put our hands on his head and pray for him?”
Attu, “Yes, that is fine”
I’ve never prayed for anyone to be healed before, but it’s just another example of taking Jesus outside of that box and allowing Him to do whatever He wants!
“We thank you for the opportunity to meet Attu! In Jesus’ name I pray that you would heal his headaches. Please take away the pain he’s been experiencing. We also pray that you would heal his vision, that he would be able to see clearly in Jesus’ name. We also pray in Jesus’ name that you would heal his stomach. That you would take away all the pain he’s been experiencing and make him well again. We thank you for being a God who loves to heal, and we pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Wow, that felt awesome! Should I ask how he feels? Ohh shoot, missed that opportunity we are walking away. Oh good, he is still following us.
“Hey Frank, can you ask Attu how he feels?”
“It is feeling much better” said Attu
“That’s awesome to hear! Frank, can you please tell him that it is Jesus that healed him. It’s not anything that we can do, but it’s God working through us to heal him”
“Yes, thank you!” said Attu
Jesus can do amazing things when we step out in faith! Can’t wait to share more stories with you all! Please share your stories with me as well by messaging me!!
