A man. So in love, he didn’t care what had to happen for his wife to be healed. Religion norms, possible persecution, nothing would stop him from wanting the very best for his bride. After witch doctors and hospital left them hopeless they went to the only place left, church. Jesus healed her and now their whole family believes in the Lord. Did I mention he would only call his wife, “His bride”? Honestly the cutest couple in the village.
A witchdoctor. A man who was used to healing others didn’t know where to turn when his health started deteriorating. The Lord wanted his son back though, so he sent the man’s son-in-law to win his soul to the Lord. He’s a man with such kind eyes and gentle spirit now. God wooed his heart and now, his entire family believes.
A nine year old boy who couldn’t walk. He was so depressed, he hadn’t eaten in days. His mom brought him to church and asked us to pray. The mom said, “pray for his spirit.” So we started praying. Our prayers changed from “God heal his heart” to “God heal his legs.” We prayed with faith and with the authority God gave us. After praying we saw the Lord take this little boys heart and lift his spirit. And then the love of a Father, who didn’t want his child to suffer anymore let that little boy walk. We watched him take his first steps to his mom. And let me tell you what.. not a dry eye in the room.
Eight days. It only took eight days for the Lord to totally change me, to break my heart and to change my heart. He broke my heart for this community, for these people. I’ve never felt so broken in my life. I sat at the feet of that paralyzed nine year old and asked the Lord to give me just a taste of what that little boy was feeling. My legs started going numb and the spirit of depression came on strong. At one point we all switched positions and I had to move. I had to drag my legs because they were so numb. I sat in the back, tears pouring down my face for this boy. It didn’t stop there though. Every step of the way, every house visit, every person we saw on the streets, the Lord let me feel what they felt. I’ve never prayed so hard and felt so much for people I’ve never met.
I fell in love too. I feel in love with my heavenly father and being in that village gave me such a beautiful picture of how our heavenly father feels for everyone in that village, for christians and non-christians, and for me. I feel so in love with Him, that I fell in love with who He made me. I gained so much confidence in the authority that God has given me. We didn’t just say, “God if it be Your will, heal this boy.” We said, “God we know you want this child to walk and to suffer no more, so we’re going to claim this child as yours, and thank you for healing Him.” The authority we have in Christ and the power we have through the Holy Spirit isn’t talked about in churches. We’re afraid to pray and not get what we want. It’s time to let go of this fear. It’s time to grow in confidence. And sometimes we prayed and people weren’t healed, and that’s okay too. It’s time to trust and be so confident in Christ that the unknown doesn’t scare you. We can’t be afraid of the outcome or what people will think of us.
I’ve spent most of my life caring about what other people think WAY too much. We all do. It’s part of life. But at the end of these 8 days, I hadn’t showered at all, my hair was SO greasy, I smelled disgusting, I had worn the same thing for 8 days and I didn’t care. We sang at the top of our lungs to throwback songs (let’s all remember I can’t sing..) and I didn’t care. Confidence in God is confidence in yourself and that’s such a beautiful thing. God wrecked my world in the village and it started out hard, He was shaping me and that’s painful. He was peeling back the dirty and dead layers so that all that was left was new and beautiful. That’s painful and hard, but so rewarding.
The village changed me, and it only took eight days.
Let the Lord change you, grow in confidence and pray with authority. We could change a lot of lives if we started asking for the hard things, the big things.
