2 Corinthians 5:13
If it seems crazy, then it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right mind, then it is for your benefit.
Ask if someone needs healing for themselves or a family member.
Me? Ask what? That Holy Spirit heartbeat beating faster through my chest. You know, the one where you feel really uncomfortable and are already trying to convince yourself that it’s not there. But it doesn’t go away, it only grows stronger.
Ask who needs healing for themselves or for their family.
I cave.
I whisper to the translator beside me that I think I’m supposed to ask if anyone in the crowd needs a healing prayer for themselves or their family. Without hesitation he translates my English into Amharic.
A girl from the crowd raises her hand and says she would like prayer but in private.
She leads us to her house near where we had just preached the Gospel. The house has dirt floors with a wooden frame covered in tarps. The house is divided in half by a shoulder height plastic tarp which she pulls aside so we can pass.
We sit in a circle on small stools as she tells us her story of growing up so poor her brother sent her to an orphanage even though her parents were still alive. She was Christian but the orphanage was Orthodox. The Orthodox church believes in God but that they are saved just by believing in God and worship the saints and the angels. There are also some that still practice witchcraft and most have never even read the Bible. She now lives with her brother in that house but was afraid to convert.
She said she wanted to accept Christ back into her life. So I had the privilege to pray with her to do that. We also got to connect her with a local church not far from her house.
Just as we were leaving her brother grabbed us and asked if we could pray for his friend that had a bad burn on his foot. We walk a few houses down where they are frying Samosas in a huge open skillet outside. We walk inside where his friend is sitting and see the 2nd degree burn covering half his foot. I asked if he was a Christian and if he believed Jesus could heal his foot. He said yes to both and so I prayed in faith healing over the wound. Though he felt no difference the translator said that since he believed in faith that it will be healed and since it was prayed for then it will happen.
We’ve been in Ethiopia for less than a week and through outreach evangelism we have brought over 10 people to Christ and have preached the Gospel to over hundreds. People are hungry for the word and gather in crowds around you up to 50 people. Yes we are still faced with persecution as there is a large Orthodox population but that is expected. We don’t argue back our belief but try to understand theirs and love them anyways. They might think we’re crazy, but that’s okay. Commentaries describe Paul’s “crazy” as zeal: a strong feeling of interest and enthusiasm that makes someone very eager or determined to do something. My zeal for the Gospel can’t be controlled nor how it is received by others. Only the Holy Spirit can convict in ways specific to each person. I am only blessed to be used and see it happen in front of me. So be crazy for God, expect big things from Him in your life. If we simply have the desire to bring God glory it doesn’t matter what others think of us.
