Luckily, God put the young 26 year old man (Rigoberto) on Allan’s heart. The family told us they didn’t know what was wrong with Rigoberto, but he had been in and out of the hospital and had been suffering for the better part of 15 days. Thursday, Rigoberto was on Allan’s mind a lot. Friday, Allan, Christy and Cassie went back to Rigoberto’s house to pray for him again but they were told he was in the hospital. Ok now we’re finally at Saturday, and I was sitting in my room and heard a knock on my door. Allan said Rigoberto’s sister was waiting outside for us to come pray for him. So, Cassie, Allan and I walk down the dusty dirt road to Rigoberto’s house to find him sitting outside in a rocking chair. We didn’t know his condition or what the doctors had told him in the hospital, but we knelt down and began to pray for healing. After about 15 minutes, Rigoberto wanted to go back inside. We helped him in across the dirt floors and into his bed. After about an hour of praying we looked at each other not knowing what to do and prayed that God would tell us. We looked up and his mom, who doesn’t understand any english, told us to keep praying. OK that was easy enough, God.Thanks. For four hours we were on our knees praying at his bedside. Rigoberto was gasping for air, his back hurt, his arms and legs were in pain, his head. He couldn’t get in a comfortable position, he was on his side, on his back, in a chair, he was hot, he got cold…things were getting worse and we knew it. We kept praying for healing. And then… he stopped breathing. About ten family members and friends were in the house and we heard the cries and screams. A few of the women fell to the floor. Allan, Cassie and I stood there in paralyzing fear. It seemed like time was standing still. I have never been so scared in my life. Should we run and comfort the people crying? Help the women off the floor? The three of us looked at each other with fear and uncertainty. I think only a few seconds went by before we bent down and laid our hands on Rigoberto’s lifeless body. Then, a feeling of peace overwhelmed me. I prayed prayers I’ve never prayed. Big and powerful prayers that I never thought I would pray. I’m not sure if it’s possible to pray “harder” than other times, but if it is, then I did. We went from praying for healing to praying that Rigoberto would get up and walk. Not just for him to start breathing and his heart to start beating, but that he would get up and walk because our God is that big. The three of us prayed there together with complete faith that it was possible for God to raise this man if it was His will. We prayed over Rigoberto’s dead body for over an hour. I felt his leg getting cold under my hands. The family began to dress him in nice clothes to prepare for the viewing (funerals happen within 24 hours of a death), but we continued to pray. I’m sure the family thought we were crazy. At one point Allan stoop up over Rigoberto and told him to “get up and walk, in the name of Jesus” in Spanish. The three of us finally went outside to regroup and we told the family we would be back in 30 minutes. Our first thought process was to bring more people. Get an army into this house with more prayer. Rosa was definitely on our minds to come back with us. A few years ago she told her daughter to speak after being pronounced dead for four hours. Considering her daughter is very alive and was at church dancing the other night, we felt Rosa was the woman to accompany us. We got back to Rigoberto’s house with the rest of our team, Rosa, Maria and Diego. They may have thought we were crazy, too, but they sat right beside us in faith that God could raise this man. Once we got back, Rigoberto was already in a coffin in the living room and the viewing had begun. There were a ton of family members and neighbors gathered around drinking coffee and eating bread (a custom in Nicaragua when someone dies). It didn’t matter to us that there were so many people gathered to mourn this young mans death. The more, the merrier. We all knelt beside the coffin and continued to pray. I prayed that God’s will would be done. I still wanted to see Rigoberto get up and walked, and totally believed it could happen. I told God I was going to kneel beside that coffin until He called me away. And we did. We prayed for another hour or more and then it was time to stop. Rigoberto’s coffin was being lifted to go outside to be viewed and Maria helped us up off of the ground. It didn’t happen. Rigoberto did not get back up and walk. Dangit. I remember being scared at one point in the day when we were praying that if this man didn’t get healed or didn’t get up and walk, it would be a hit on my faith. After the whole day was said and done, my faith was somehow strengthened through this experience. I can’t put into words a good explanation why or how, but I don’t think I need to know. Faith is choosing to live like the Bible is true regardless of circumstances or emotions. It is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). I know the 8 hours we prayed that day and this blog seem crazy. Maybe they are; I feel a little crazy sometimes (ha).But I know I prayed those prayers in confidence and faith that day to give all of the glory to God. He knew that man wasn’t going to be healed or rise from the dead. But God puts us in situations or throws obstacles in our way to test our faith. I wrote in my journal when we got to Candelaria that I wanted God to do BIG things this month; that he would test my FAITH. Talk about answered prayers. I don’t know why Rigoberto’s house was one we visited out of the thousands of houses in Candelaria that Wednesday. I don’t know why he was on Allan’s heart after we met him. I don’t know why his family wanted us to pray over Rigoberto on Saturday. I don’t know if his family knew Rigoberto was dying or not. But, I do know God strategically placed us there. That Saturday was not a day of coincidence. It obviously wasn’t to heal the sick or raise the dead. But that’s ok. I am so excited to see what God has in store for the future. Dude, I saw a guy die before my very eyes. And told him to get up and walk. I can’t wait for the next 10 months walking by faith each day and bringing KINGDOM. This is a sweet life 🙂
(Side Note: I know this blog is long and doesn’t have any pictures…I hate reading blogs like this. But I think this will be worth your time. You will see I didn’t really have a good opportunity to get a snapshot)
Rewind three days back to Wednesday. My team and I were visiting different houses around the village with Rosa (the prayer warrior) praying over people that were sick or injured. We prayed over a lot of people that day from a broken wrist, to kidney failures, to respiratory problems. Looking back on it now, I wish that day had more of an impact on me but it honestly didn’t. It was just another day in Candelaria praying for healing.
