Jesus, I need an extra amount of You today, I prayed as we entered our village that morning.
We were not with our typical translator and our team had split up between tasks for the morning, so I was feeling a little less motivated for the hours that lay ahead. We began up a path that we do not usually take with Shemane, our translator for the day. On the way, we stopped to say hello to the sweet child my teammate Anna had bonded with in previous visits. The little girl was playing in a yard with a large group of kids, so when we stopped to see the girl, we noticed an older woman sitting by a brick wall.
As we rounded the corner closer to her, we noticed why she was sitting there. With her was her solar panel, soaking up the sun to power her simple cell phone. She told us that she was charging her phone to call her daughter who lived in the city for work. Her daughter’s son, her 12 year old grandson, lives with her while his mom is away and had broken his leg the night before. We kept talking to her about her life, if she believed in Jesus, and where she went to church. I shared some of passages of scripture with her because she told us that her eyesight wasn’t good, so she hadn’t read the Bible in a long time. I read Psalm 24 and Matthew 11:25-30, and she loved both. She told us that it reminded her that God cares for her and is all powerful.
After a few more minutes, we stood encircling her, praying for her. As I was finishing my prayer, I looked up to lock eyes with this sweet woman. Her beautiful, dark eyes danced and she smiled as we both said, “amen,” in unison. When our eyes met, I saw a piece of her soul. I saw how tired she was but how she would do anything for her family. I saw her desire for peace and rest in something greater than this physical world.
She invited us into her round clay hut to pray for her grandson, so all four of us piled in the small doorway. It was dark but very warm because of the crackling, calm, smoldering fire that was contained and burning in the middle of the room. There was not
much else in the room apart from the single bed under the small, square window.
On the bed was the woman’s grandson, curled up with his hurt foot on top of a pile of blankets. As he lay there, golden beams of sunlight shone through the small window and landed across his face. It was a powerful image of Jesus shining a light on his beloved son in a dark place.
I could just feel it in my bones that something amazing was about to happen!
Anna and I began talking to the boy and he quickly gained interest and peeked out at us with bright, inquisitive eyes. We asked if he knew who Jesus is, and he said no, so I began telling him about God and Jesus. I told him that Jesus did some amazing miracles when He lived on Earth, the biggest one being dying for us and rising again all because He loves us! I told him that Jesus still lives in us even though we cannot see Him, and that life isn’t always great, but that Jesus loves and cares for us. Then, we asked if he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart and he said yes.
In full transparency, sometimes when others say yes so readily, I’m skeptical. But there was something so sure and confident in this sweet boy’s gaze as his eyes met mine. His whole demeanor had shifted since we had entered his home, and as I prayed, then Shemane translated, then the boy repeated what Shemane said, I felt the Holy Spirit fall and mingle among us.
After he accepted Jesus, he let us lay hands on his foot and pray for healing. I promise that I sensed a change in his foot’s condition as we held and rubbed it. He told us that it felt better and began moving it more than before without grimacing. He tried to stand on it and did so without buckling in pain, but said it was still slightly painful. So we prayed more! Before we began our praying, Shemane told us that the boy’s name, Litsepiso, means “promise” in English. That’s when I lost it.
I knelt by the bed, held that cute little foot, and let my tears fall as I begged God to heal my brother “Promise.”
Litsepiso told us that he felt much better and we told him to remember that Jesus is always with him. I told him that he can do all things through Jesus and quoted Philippians 4:13 to him. He smiled up at me as I said good-bye to him.
I’m pretty sure his grandmother’s endearing, soft face and his bright smile will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life.
Something just snapped in me that morning with Promise as I realized I have been discounting what I have living IN ME. I am walking in righteousness and the authority of the Holy Spirit of Jesus! He promised that I would do even greater things than He did.
Meeting a boy named Litsepiso reminded me that a litsepiso from God is one I can count on.
A litsepiso from Him cannot be broken.
