So about a week ago, Cathy, Sarah and I were sitting in our room reflecting and laughing about the different things that have happened over the trip. We’ve been on this crazy adventure for six months, and there are hundreds of stories to reflect on. As we were talking and laughing, we came across a great revelation….
We were talking about the bus ride from hell … only that it was definitely not cold!! We spent about 24 hours bouncing up and down on a dirt road covered in rocks and pot holes. It was a cramped bus with over 50 people. The seats allowed no room for stretching out or leaning back. And as the sun went down it got colder and colder… I sat with my whole left side touching ice! We are inside the bus, there’s not supposed to be ice inside! It was definitely not a relaxing trip across China!
Anyways. Sarah and I were sitting next to each other on this crazy trip and across from us was Juan, a Porto Rican pastor who was there to see what God was doing in China. As the sun began to set and we climbed higher and higher up the mountain Juan didn’t look so good… we thought he was getting a little car sick…. But then Juan stopped responding to us… so we did what any good missionaries would do, we started praying, trying to wake him back up and even started singing worship songs in Spanish. Juan slowly came back to us and we realized he was suffering from altitude sickness and there was nothing we could do, the only way to cure it is to get down off the mountain. So as the long night continued, Sarah and I continued to pray and worship, Sarah even rubbed his feet trying to keep the circulation going. There were several times when Juan would go un-conscious and we would ‘bring him back’ by praying and worshiping.
Once we got to our next location Juan was doing better after warming up in a hot shower. He decided that the best option would be for him to get down from such a high altitude (about 14,000ft). We met up with him later after we were done in doing ministry in China… he told us that when he was in the bus he actually felt his spirit leave and his heart stop 3 times!
He had died 3 times!! The only thing that kept him from going to the ‘pearly white gates’ was our singing worship songs. He was thanking us for keeping him alive, because at the time he was crying out for God to come and take him away, even for the rapture to come so that he didn’t have to be in so much pain.
At the time and even looking back on that night we never really saw it as a miracle. We just looked at it as if we were doing what we were supposed to do…. When someone is sick you pray for them. When you don’t know what else to do, just pray, praise and worship God.
Funny to think that for the last four months people have been asking us ‘have you seen any miracles?’ and we’ve been saying, ‘no, not yet, maybe when we get to Africa.’
Hello….. we’ve seen the dead raised back to life three times!!!!!
So yes, we are a little slow. But know that we see it, we want to
praise God and thank Him once again for saving Juan (3times), and for answering our prayers. God is so faithful and wonderful to us.
Yes signs, wonders, miracles, and healings are for today…. We’ve seen them (even if it does take us 4 months to recognize it).
