All of my life I have dealt with stomach pain. When I was little, I remember waking up in the middle of the night with horrible stomach pains. I would sit on my bed crying, doubled over in pain. There was never anything I could do to take away the pain. I remember my parents sitting on my bed trying to console me, but nothing took away the pain I felt.
In Malaysia, there was one Wednesday night service when I went to lay down in the back of the church because my stomach hurt too bad to sit through the service. One of the Indian women in the church approached me and asked if I was okay. After I explained my pain, she told me she had dealt with the same stomach pain all her life. She explained to me that when she did not eat meals at regular times, her stomach released acid that began to eat away at her stomach lining. So basically, I had lived with an extra acidic stomach that required me to eat meals on time and refrain from eating acidic foods.
Four days before Christmas in Cambodia, I had a horrible stomach ache right as I was trying to fall asleep. I tried every sleeping position to see if the pain would lessen, but it only increased. Appendicitis crossed my mind because of the intense pain level. Eventually, I prayed that God would put me to sleep quickly so I would not have to think about the pain.
The next evening as my team was debriefing the day, they asked how I was doing physically. I told them I had a stomach ache from eating dinner so late, and I told them about the pain from the night before. One of my team members looked at me and asked, “Have you ever had anyone pray for your stomach to be healed?” As I answered “no” to her question, I was shocked that I had never thought to ask for healing. Because I had always dealt with the pain, I just accepted that I would always have to live it.
I laid down on the bed, and my teammates gathered around me and laid hands on my stomach. They began praying intensely. After they prayed for awhile, my teammate Ashley asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1 to 10. My pain had started at an 8 and went down to a 5. My team kept praying, saying they wouldn’t be satisfied until it was at a zero. As the prayers continued, the pain level went down to a 3.
We decided to go to bed and see how my stomach was in the morning. The next day the pain level stayed at a 3. So my team prayed again that night.
Everyday, I continued to pray that my stomach would be fully healed. The pain was a lot less than before, but it was still there.
Four days after Christmas was when I finally believed in my heart that God could heal me and that He would heal me. After my squad worshipped together, four of my squad members and I stayed to pray. This was when I realized I had gone the entire day without stomach pain! With my squad members, I called out to God in gratefulness and awe!
I have been acid-free and pain-free for 10 days now! Praise the Lord for miracles!
Since my team has been in Kenya, we have been doing door to door evangelism. God has provided opportunities to share about the healing He has brought me, and my team had the opportunity to pray for healing for people in the hospital.
I am amazed at God’s heart – that He longs for healing in each person. I love watching God bring restoration to the world bit by bit. My heart yearns for the day when every knee will be bowed before Christ, when there will be no more pain, when everything and everyone will literally revolve around God!
