What I’m about to tell you is mind-blowing. I can barely even believe that any of this is real. God has done miracles in the past few days – He has miraculously healed the pained and paralyzed, He has shown His face tangibly to a woman who prayed to Him, and has shown an entire Hindu community that He is the One true God in incredible ways. AH! HE IS LITERALLY INCREDIBLE!!!! Let me tell you the story!
Through our past few weeks in the Indian village we’re staying in, the Lord gave us really sweet friendships with a few little girls in our neighborhood. A few days ago my squadmate Hannah and I, who happen to be very close to the girls, ran into them on our way to breakfast, in a part of town we have never seen them. (First instance of God’s divine plan!). They invited us to come to their Hindu worship ceremony later that day. We initially said no, not sure of the message it would send if we attended. We said goodbye and went on our way – but the Lord immediately started changing our minds. He gave us a feeling that something really powerful could happen if we went.
So we prayed about it, and we felt the Lord was definitely calling us to go. And He was even calling other people on our squad, completely separately, to stay back from ministry and pray. In fact, our ministry ended up being cancelled, so nearly half the squad got to stay and pray as the two of us went to the ceremony. (Another instance of God’s divine plan!)
So we had about an hour of prayer and worship as we prepared to go to the ceremony. We prayed together that the Lord would do miraculous things, that He would arm us with the power and strength of His Holy Spirit, and that He would reveal Himself to these people. We also prayed that by some chance there would be someone there who spoke English, so we could actually communicate with them.
So, being armed with prayer and the presence of the Lord, Hannah and I set out to go. And as we were leaving, we ran into our host and her daughter, Abigail. She insisted on sending Abigail with us – perhaps to give us cultural insight. Little did we know, Abigal (who is only 12 years old) was equipped to translate both Hindi and English for us, which would allow us to fully communicate with the women we were destined to meet. (AGAIN, GOD’S DIVINE PLAN!)
We got to their living community, and the little girls ran up to greet us and hug us and kiss our cheeks. They brought us to their families, who we had not yet met, but who had apparently built relationships with past world racers. Within five minutes, before we had even initiated any spiritual conversation at all, the beautiful woman we were speaking to told us she loved hearing about Jesus. She said previous world racers used to preach, and she loved hearing about Him. She said she believed in Jesus, but couldn’t leave her Hindu faith. She asked us to come to her home and do a church service for her. We did nothing to initiate this – God was so clearly moving in her heart, and she had a desire to know Him for herself!
After this conversation, we were taken into one of their homes. As we sat down, Abigail had a beautiful idea: we should ask if there is anything they need prayer for. She asked and they eagerly nodded, telling us about their grandma who could not move her entire left side. They brought her into the room and asked us to pray for her. Her arm was bent at her side and she could barely shuffle her feet to walk. She sat down, and the Lord prompted me to ask her: “do you believe Jesus can heal you?”. To my joy, she nodded and said yes, with no hesitation. So we began to pray.
We prayed for her once, and when she opened her eyes, she took hold of her limp arm and raised it up. We could see the surprise in her and her daughter’s faces. They said – “better! Much better!” We were in awe – we looked at them and said “praise Jesus! Jesus Christ heals!” We knew the Lord could do more, so we asked if we could pray again. And then we prayed again. And again. After our third time praying, she lifted up her arm all the way above her head, and we all heard a loud pop in her shoulder. She got up, and THEN, she squatted both her legs all the way down, and stood up with no problem! She started to walk, taking huge steps with a stunned smile on her face. She told us that before, she could not lift her arm in the slightest. She couldn’t even move her leg – now she was squatting and walking and lifting her arm and wiggling her frozen fingers! She had been barely able to move for an entire year, and suddenly she was raising her hand and striding across the room. She and everyone else in the room was lifting their hands with us and saying “Jesus Jesus!”, over and over again. They put their hands to their faces in a position of prayer, and you could tell they were each genuinely praising the Lord. They knew that Jesus was the one who had just healed their beloved grandma, and they were praising His awesome power! They asked us to come back everyday and keep praying for her. We said yes, of course. Praise. The. LORD!!!
After this, the woman we had talked to initially led us into another home. We sat and spoke more with her about her faith. She said she believed in Jesus’s power – how could she not, she just saw it! We told her more about Him, and we emphasized to her that when you believe in Him, you cannot believe in other gods – He is the One and only. At first she was hesitant…but in a matter of minutes, the Lord had done such a work on her heart, that she was asking us if she could accept Him and get baptized! AND THAT’S NOT IT, not even CLOSE! She closed her eyes and prayed to accept Him, in her own language, and we prayed simultaneously with her. After about a minute of prayer, she looked up with tears in her eyes and a gentle, pure smile. She said: “I just saw the face of Jesus when I prayed to Him.” She started smiling and laughing uncontrollably as we all rejoiced with her – SHE JUST SAW HIS FACE!!!!! The Lord so clearly loved this woman, and was doing anything and everything to reveal Himself to her – WOW!
We spent the rest of the morning with their community, having fun with the girls as they got dressed for their ceremony. As they waited for it to begin, we asked if we could sing a worship song for them. They said yes, and we began singing the worship song that all of India seems to know: Bless The Lord. Even our beautiful young Hindu friends knew the lyrics and were singing along – how precious!
Before we left, we got to speak again with the woman who was healed. She was still in awe of what He had done for her – but she was hesitant to put aside her other gods and put all of her trust in Him alone. We understood, but we didn’t give up – we knew He was doing beautiful things not only in her body, but in her heart as well.
The next day we returned to pray for the woman who used to be paralyzed, upon their request. We prayed over her, and Jesus healed her even further – she was lifting her arm by her own strength, walking around, and shaking her fingers more than before. The whole community gathered, and many people came up excitedly asking for prayer. After seeing what Jesus had done for their grandmother, they believed they could have healing themselves!
We then prayed over a woman who had severe back pain. She could not twist her back or walk without it hurting, and she always had to slouch to relieve the pain. So we prayed for her. And when we finished, she opened her eyes and began to move. She twisted back and forth, stood up straight, and walked briskly across the space. She smiled and said “better, so much better! No pain! Jesus, Jesus!” She put her hands to her face in thankfulness to God. WOW!
She was so joyful and amazed. This opened up the door to a beautiful conversation about Jesus – His power and truth. She then shared her story with us, vulnerably telling us about the hardships of her life. We sat for a long while and listened, getting to know her. She then asked us to pray for God to help her. We got to encourage her, emphasizing that when you trust in Him and Him alone, He promises to give you all that you need, because He is a God who listens, cares, and moves on our behalf.
After this, we went to visit the house of our friend who had received Christ the day before. She told us that anytime she had tried to pray to other gods since she believed in Jesus, she could only see Jesus’ face! THE LORD WAS FIGHTING FOR THIS WOMAN, WOW! In the presence of her whole family, she started saying “Jesus is the best!!!” She pointed to us with a big smile on her face and said “I want to just get up and leave tomorrow with these girls and follow Jesus!” She told us to come on Sunday and preach to them in her home. WOW! We stayed and got to know her family, and many of them asked us to pray for them and visit them in their homes too. We eventually had to go, but we promised to be back.
By the third day we visited, people were basically flocking to receive prayer from Jesus Christ. On this day, the Lord brought increased healing to both of the women who had already asked for prayer, and He healed 3 more people – from chronic foot pain, back pain, and hip pain. One man who was there said “you know, every time I pray to Jesus, he hears and helps me. These other gods don’t – they just give me more trouble.” The Lord was just doing remarkable things in these people! On the first day, they could see His power, but were not ready to trust in Him as their one and only God. But by the third day, they were all saying “He is the one true God, Jesus, we are going to pray to Him!” They said they were even praying to Him on their own! So seeing their faith, we asked if they knew the story of Jesus. They said no, they had never heard it. We then got to tell them the full story of Jesus, and for the first time ever, they heard the good news of Jesus Christ in its entirety! And having seen His power with their own eyes, they could not help but believe. When we finished, our friend said “we understand. Thank you so much for telling us – we will never forget.” AHHH!!! They asked us to come to their homes and preach and to pray over them, because they know the God of Jesus will bless their lives.
So AMAZING! God is so so powerful! He wants His people to know Him, and He will do anything to show His love for them – heal the sick, show His face, and change hearts!!! And He has made it so clear that this is only the beginning of what He’s doing in this community. We have continued to visit, and He has done even more miracles than just these. Praise the Lord!
