I’m coming to you with an update on all the Lord has been doing these past few weeks. I’ve mentioned a lady in past blogs known by Rudy. Well, after all of these weeks we realized that we’ve been pronouncing her name wrong and her name is really Ruth. Ruth is the lady who we’ve been praying for every week since being in Guatemala. She’s experiencing double kidney failure along with intense amounts of pain and swelling all throughout her body. We’re still continuing to believe in absolute and complete healing. Last week, we went to pray for Ruth again and her husband was there so we got the opportunity to get to know him. After talking for a little while, we found out that he is a pastor in the community. He explained that Ruth’s health was declining with the medicine the doctors gave her and so they made a decision as a family to put her health in God’s hands and stop all medical treatment. They made this decision two months ago, which is around the time we came to Guatemala. It’s no coincidence that the Lord led us to this families house when we arrived in Guatemala and that he’s been leading us back there each week to encourage and pray for sweet Ruth. After talking to Ruth and her husband Eddy, we began to lay hands on both of them and pray for healing along with peace and blessings over them and their five children. I cannot imagine all they’ve gone through as they see their mom decline day by day and not be able to do much. The amazing thing is that the family has seen this happening before their eyes, and they still have faith that God will do what he wants with Ruth’s life for his glory. it’s an amazing testimony that has made such an impact on my life! So, after praying a few times that day, Ruth looked up with a surprised face and explained that all pain was completely gone. We asked her if she thought she would be able to walk. Guess what?? She got up and started walking laps around her house. She hadn’t been able to walk on her own in so long. We noticed that her swelling in her legs and feet was still so bad and so we joined together again to pray. My teammate Bri and I laid our hands on her feet and began to pray for her. She had a little more flexibility after we prayed a few times. I got a sense that the Lord was telling me we needed to pray again. I spoke up and we prayed again. During this prayer of declaring life and healing over Ruth, Bri and I looked at each other because we could literally feel the swelling on her feet going down. Wow!! After this, there were tears and so many beautiful moments with the family rejoicing in all the Lord had done. Man, the Lord is SO very good.
Fast forward to this week, we returned to Ruth’s house. She was laying in her bed in a dark room. We asked her about her pain and she said the pain had not returned since being healed from it the previous week. The only pain she had was a little bit in her back and also her feet which were still pretty swollen. We surrounded her and prayed a few times for all pain to completely disappear. She said that all of the pain was gone after this. I sat there, yet again, absolutely AMAZED at how good our heavenly father is. He is SO good to us. One of our leaders spoke up and explained that the Lord put it on her heart to wash Ruth’s feet and fill the room with worship and joy! I felt it on my heart that the Lord wanted me to be the person that washed Ruth’s feet. We scooted her to the edge of her bed and I began to wash her feet. During this time, everybody surrounded her bed and filled the room with the joy of the Lord. The holy spirit was so evident.
We sand songs such as:
Holy spirit you are welcome here
come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
your Glory God is what our hearts long for
to be overwhelmed by your presence Lord
and
peace, bring it all to peace
the storms surrounding me
Let it break at your name
Jesus, Jesus you make the darkness tremble
Jesus, Jesus you silence fear
Jesus, Jesus you make the darkness tremble
Jesus, Jesus
I’m sitting there washing Ruth’s feet, praying over her, listening to these songs and she was looking down with the biggest smile her face. It was absolutely beautiful. I loved that these were the two songs that were chosen to sing because it reminded me of Ruth. She is constantly welcoming the Holy Spirit to do whatever he wants to do in her life to advance the Kingdom of God. She knew that there would be a good chance that she would enter the gates of heaven and leave the people she deeply loves, yet she still remained faithful. I loved that we sang the words of death trembling because thats what it does in the presence of the Lord. Satan has no choice but to leave because our God is so much greater and satan has no place in the presence of the Lord. He has no power over Ruth’s body or her faith, because she has the power of the Lord and his name is above every other name. His power reigns over everything in our lives. Praise the Lord!
Ruth has taught me so many things because of her faith and Joy. I’ve learned that we simply have to choose to believe that the Lord is good despite our circumstances or feelings. The Lord wants to use us to be his testimony and to bring his kingdom here on earth. What a privilege it is that he invites us every single day to be apart of what he is doing. He is a God that can do all things that look impossible to humans. He is the God of the supernatural and he is God over all. I’ve learned to be bold in serving whether that be laying hands on the sick, speaking life over the people that are hurting, praying over people, and so many other things. The Lord is working in incredible ways and he’s inviting us to partner with him in that. What a GIFT!
Ruth reminds me every single time that I see her that we can choose joy every single day despite our feelings or circumstances. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is joy is not the same as being happy. Being happy is an emotion, but the awesome thing is is that Joy can be experienced even when we feel like we’re in the deepest darkest valleys of life.
Man, I’m SO very thankful for Ruth. She is such a light and I’m so encouraged by her. These first (almost 3) months on the race have been harder than I could’ve ever imagined. God is growing me in so many ways, and that doesn’t always feel good. I’m thankful that he is making me more into the woman I already am in his eyes. He’s breaking parts of me down and rebuilding me so that I can be remade and serve him better than before. It’s uncomfortable at points, it hurts, it’s emotional, and it’s not fun. BUT I’m already a different person than when I left home. I’ve grown in intimacy with the Lord, I’ve learned to rely on him and him only, I’m continuing to learn every single day of his endless love for me, and I could go on and on. Ruth has taught me to choose joy, to be thankful for the difficult times, and to rejoice in suffering, because the Lord is using every single bit of it to bring glory to his name. I’m blessed to be apart of it.
So how can you be a part of what the Lord is doing here? Please pray!!
Pray for Ruth, her family, and their testimony through all of this.
Pray for our students and their families.
Pray for our last 2 1/2 weeks of ministry in Guatemala and that the Lord would use us in big ways.
Also, I still have $1,520 left to raise by January in order to stay on the field. If you feel led to donate, I would be so thankful! Also, all donations are tax deductible.
I’m so thankful for all of the texts and emails of encouragement I get throughout the week. The Lord has blessed me with the best community in Amarillo who has supported me so much. Thank you SO much!
All my love, Bethany!
