As we walked through the waiting room, I could feel my chest tighten. Then we turned the corner, and my eyes met a room full of beds occupied by the sick. This was very new territory for me, but an hour before we had been informed of our task, and so I asked the Lord for strength and direction in the midst of the unknown chaos.
The church my team worked with last month in El Salvador went every Friday night to a hospital in the city. It is an amazing outreach that they have done for many months, and I was excited to be a part of it but a little apprehensive as well. Nonetheless, I was happy to be given another opportunity to practice my Spanish and help this church in their ministry in any way possible.
As soon as we entered, I felt the weight of sadness that so many were experiencing in that place. A team member and I took a deep breath, said a little prayer asking for the Spirit to lead, and approached our first person. I grasped for words and strained to put some phrases together, praying in my mind all the while that I can still communicate comfort through my second language.
It was moving as we shifted from person to person in that place. Prayer after prayer, even if I was often using the same phrases, God heard every one, and I took confidence and hope in that.
Then, the church brought in coffee and cookies. Without even thinking, it immediately reminded me of one of the stories of Jesus.
“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.’ And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!'” (Mark 2:1-12)
I know that praying for these people would have been good in and of itself. The Lord certainly calls us to bear one another’s burdens and to comfort those as God comforts us. Prayer is powerful, I know that the Lord hears every one, and it changes my heart. But I love that this church goes a step further every Friday night to reach that physical aspect of each person, too. Each individual’s eyes would light up and a smile would spread across their face, even for a second, when they encounter the warmth (physical and spiritual) of a cup of coffee and cookie offered by a stranger. There’s just something about directly meeting a person where they are in the midst of deep emotions like grief. We are so directly called to that- feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick.
So when I think about this story in Mark, I think about just how much Jesus cares about healing every part of a person. From the spiritual to the physical to the emotional to the mental, Jesus wants to make every single part of us whole, every part of us new in Him. Jesus did not only tell this man, “your sins are forgiven,” but He also gave themas the ability to walk again! What a beautiful deliverance from every hindrance crippling his life.
I was able to do this visit to the hospital for three weeks with Iglesia Cristiana Timoteo, and every week brought new blessings. I pray that God would continue to let me witness holistic healing in people around me, and I also pray that God would do that same healing in me. I’m so grateful for the impartial and personal Savior that we serve. He knows your needs, and you can ask Him for healing, too.
