(This is the continued story from Door to Door – The Beginning.)
As we walked over to the two Nicaraguan men, you could see that the older man was visibly upset. At this point, I was still unsure if the man that our new friend was speaking with was sober or an emotional drunk…until I got a closer look.
I saw a huge tumor-like bulge coming out of this man’s neck. His voice was faint and frail. He barely could move his shoulder and winced at the pain from attempting to move his shoulder. Then he unfolded a piece of cloth that was wrapped around his wrist, exposing a severely broken bone. This man was literally broken – physically and spiritually. I’ve have never seen so much pain and suffering in one human being in my life.
Our new friend explained (through a Spanish/English book and gestures) that this man had tried to end his own life by hanging himself but obviously God had spared his life. He wanted us to follow him to his house, so we set out not sure of what to expect. When we arrived to his house, I was surprised to find that he lived in a nicer looking area of the neighborhood. Soon several half dressed children met us at the door with curiosity.
The oldest little girl spoke in English to tell us that she just stayed at this house but wasn’t a part of the family. Surprised to hear English, I questioned her and like most locals who only speak a little English she became shy and refused to speak any more English.
The man brought in a woman and the smallest baby I’ve seen. The woman instantly handed me the baby (side note: I’m not a baby person so this made me very nervous.) This little baby was so frail and weak. I’m assuming by the size of the baby that it was a new born, like a few days old. But in reality I really think the baby may have been older.
Then the man brought in his son. The first thing I noticed about his son was a metal necklace that the man wore around his neck; it was way too tight! Frighteningly, too tight! Then he spoke. It wasn’t a necklace, the man had a hole in his neck and this cheap little piece of metal on a string was covering the hole.
All this family wanted from us was prayer but surprisingly only for the son’s wife: not for any of the broken bones or bulging tumor-looking things or the hole in the son’s neck or the undersized baby or the half naked children filling the room or any of the other devastations in their lives, not for food or money, just prayer for the wife. With all the other problems this family was experiencing, the main thing they were concerned about was the son’s wife, everything else to them had seemed to have worked out.
As we started to pray, the older man fell on his knees holding up the Bible and the Holy Spirit fell on that house that afternoon. Tears started flowing. The old man began to sob then our new Nicaraguan friend started to cry out and then I started to cry. I have never experienced such a devastated situation with such broken people nor have I ever been in a place where it was only God who could communicate the real hearts of his people.
God hadn’t forgotten this family. Although from the looks of things, this family had been forgotten by several people including neighbors, extended family and friends. He loved this family enough to allow this man to live for a reason. He has allowed the son to continue to live and breathe and even talk through a piece of metal and a string and some how this tiny baby has been able to survive.
