This little guy captured my heart from the moment I saw him. His body was weak and feeble. His eyes showed how exhausted he was from battling this disease. Bone tuberculosis has crippled John Ry for nearly a year now. John Ry is 6 years old and behind his eyes, there is so much life waiting to be lived. Unfortunately, he is trapped in this body. It is almost as if it is a prison for him. He cannot walk, let alone run, and play with the other children his age. He cannot do things that all children should be able to do at his age. Instead, he is bound to his house, sitting around all day, just waiting…
He lives in a small, small house that his mother, aunt, and their families share. They do not have money for his medication because they can barely afford their own meals. Their needs are desperate. They are hurting people. Now, here’s the good news…
John Ry’s mother and his aunt are both Christ-followers. They have been praying for John Ry for so long and for a way for him to be healed. The first day that we met John Ry, Molly, Traci, and I were doing house visitations with Pastor Caballero. We were visiting the various members of his church in hopes of providing prayer or even just an encouraging word. So we came to this house. I took one look at John Ry and knew that we needed to pray for healing over this little boy. I remember Pastor Caballero telling me, “he is too young to die like this.” It pained my heart to even think of death for John Ry, but I knew that it could very well be a reality unless God moved. And we desperately wanted to see that happen.
So the three of us westerners together with the locals laid hands on John Ry and prayed for him. We trusted in the Lord for his healing power. We trusted that John Ry would not only be able to walk again, but that he would run the race with perseverance!
I want so badly to tell you that he did somersaults that day, but he didn’t. I want to tell you that he smiled and laughed at the disease that had crippled him as he bid farewell to it, but he didn’t. Instead, we did have him take a few steps.
I asked the Lord, “why? Why is this happening to John Ry? Why is it not the time right now for his healing?” I went home that night disappointed to be quite honest. The next day we returned to see that a medical clinic had been set up by ICM for Pastor Caballero’s church. John Ry had seen the doctor and received a prescription of 4 different medications. These medications over the course of 6 months, would in all likelihood make John Ry well. The problem: they could not afford it. So out of faith, Pastor Caballero approached me and humbly asked, “Is there any way that you have money to pay for this medicine? They have no money.” I glanced over at John Ry’s mother as she held another one of her children, she looked distressed and hopeless. It was at this time when I realized why the Lord did not heal John Ry the day before.
See, I believe that the Lord had something in this for me, John Ry, his family, and for those who were around. For me, the lesson was simple: Am I, a poor missionary, going to be stingy with what little money I “think” I have? Or am I going to allow God to use me for his glory? The answer was a no-brainer. Out of the humility that Pastor Caballero came to me, I knew that God wanted me to bless them. We left for the pharmacy immediately. We purchased the medicine without even taking time to evaluate how much it cost. And we headed back to the church.
Upon entering the church, Pastor Caballero approached John Ry’s mother with the news. This is the moment that words do not do justice in expressing. I wish I could paint you a picture of this moment. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so thick. The mother, broken and overwhelmed, began to weep alongside her sister who was also weeping. John Ry sat there, but behind those tired eyes I saw hope. Traci turned her head away in hopes of masking the coming tears. And me? After entering the church, John Ry’s mother approached me, her face covered in tears. She looked piercingly into my eyes as if she could see my heart and she embraced me, pressing her head as close to mine as possible. She simply whispered in a shaky voice, “salamat”.
Thank you. I recognized that it was not me that she was really thanking, but the fact that the Lord used me. She was thanking the Spirit of the Lord that moved through me. I held her for a moment, with my voice also shaky I replied “thank you. He is going to be a strong boy and God will take care of you.”
That moment will forever be frozen in my memory. Just as the Israelites made a pile of stones to remember what the Lord had done for them, I too will have a place of remembrance in my mind to recall how the Lord moved that day.
Please continue to pray for John Ry and his recovery. Read also Traci’s blog from her perspective. Pray for financial needs to be provided for these hurting families, there are so many. And praise God for victory over the darkness!
