Faith and Healing
It is really hard to believe how fast time went here in Africa, as we wrap up month 2 and prepare to leave for India. Although this month was a difficult one for me, I am certain that I learned much here that I will carry with me throughout the rest of this journey. Despite uncomfortable and draining days, Jesus was present on this mountain and we were able to experience many beautiful moments.
One of my favorite moments happened last Thursday when I was working at the clinic in the compound with my squad mate Julie. Julie is the one nurse we have on the squad and I have been able to assist her in the clinic some this month. We were sitting waiting in the room for patients to arrive, watching the dirt roads below us to see if anyone was journeying up the mountain. Patients who come to the clinic have to walk about 45 minutes up the mountain or try to hitch-hike on the back of a truck heading to the top. A man about 60 years old with a cane walked into our clinic and started talking quickly in a Swazi tongue and pointing to his side and back. A translator arrived to help us understand this man and see if we had anything in this little clinic to help him. He said for about a year he had horrible pain in his side and had trouble urinating for quite sometime. He said the pain shot down his legs and made his entire side go numb at times. As the man answered the questions that Julie was asking, I prayed with an eager longing for God to heal this man who although I didn’t know, I loved. Julie did all that she could with the given information and lack of any significant medical equipment and we asked if we could lay hands on the man and pray for him. He agreed and we began to pray. We prayed in English and the translator was silent. Streams of tears fell from this mans face onto his lap. When our words stopped, this man spoke in his native tongue the words “I know that I am healed by God today.” He left the clinic and traveled back down the mountain.
We might never know if this man was healed completely of his sickness or pain, but his certainty that God could heal him left a mark on my heart. So many times in my life, I do not believe that God has really done a work until I can see it clearly with my eyes. God is teaching me this month to have big faith, the kind of faith you read about in the Bible or in books written of missionaries and evangelists. I desperately desire to have the kind of faith that can claim without a shadow of a doubt that I have been healed by Christ. Healed of my sinful heart, shame and embarrassment from my past, and deceptive ideas about who I am as a person. I am praying that God gives me the kind of faith this year that allows me to boldly claim the promise of healing and restoration that God gives, just as the man on the mountain did.
Abby- who found bottomless coffee in the airport YAY
