Miracles are real. In this day and age, people laugh at the thought of anything that cannot be proved by the 5 senses. I am here to testify against that. Miracles are a reality, and if we just opened our eyes we would witness them every day.
The other day, my feet were especially dirty from walking in sandals throughout the dirt roads in the village. It had been a few days since I showered, and my feet needed to be cleansed. While my team was inside, I went out back to the quarters where laundry is hung, and food is cooked. Maria, the lovely women who cooks our food and cleans our clothes, greeted me with a cheery smile. She does not speak English, but that does not stop her from sharing her joyful spirit.
I asked her for water and a bucket, so I could wash my feet. Using gestures, we eventually got it figured out, and I had my bucket and water. Maria then understood what I was doing. She went inside and returned with a fresh bar of white soap, then gently handed it to me.
During the past few days, the water in the village had been shut off. The rainy season was ending, and water was not as readily available as it was weeks prior. When it rains, the water is on, the shower works, and the toilet flushes. When the water is off, we use water stored in 5 gallon jerry-cans filled with rain water.
Maria poured some water from a jerry-can into the bucket, and I took my sandals off. I dipped my feet in, and began to wash my feet. They were dirty, stained from leather on my sandals— caked with dirt and mud. I scrubbed my toes, and splashed water all over my feet and ankles. Maria watched and just smiled. I am sure she was used to seeing this, as everyone here wears sandals, and has dirty feet.
I finished cleaning my feet, then was convicted. I was reminded of how Christ washed the feet of his closest disciples. How he lowered himself to serve those he loved— even if it meant getting his hands dirty. I called to my team. We had the bucket, the soap, and the dirty feet. Why not wash each others feet?
The team came out, and began to take their shoes and socks off. Maria got another bucket of water from the store room.
We began to wash each others feet. Each person lowered their feet into the tub, and had their feet cleaned. The dirt and grime was washed away by hand, and the foot was left clean and smelling like new. It was humbling to serve and be served.
The pastor heard the commotion out back. He walked out and saw what was happening. He was amazed. He burst with excitement and glee. His face was lit up as he saw what we were doing.
“The Scriptures! The Scriptures! This is in the Scriptures! Amen, Hallelujah! Amen!”
He was overjoyed, and could not stop smiling with a smile that filled his whole face. He helped us get new water, and cleaned peoples feet as well.
We asked him to remove his shoes and let us clean his feet. He was waiting for us to ask, and happily removed his sandals. He sat down on the steps, and I washed his feet. He was ticklish, which was funny because he is such a big man, with a thundering voice.
While all this was going on, something amazing happened. Last year I would of said it was a coincidence, just dumb luck. But this has been a year of eye opening. Something amazing took place— something I’d call a miracle.
There is a pipe that sticks up out of the ground a few feet behind where the feet washing was going on. This pipe is filled with water to clean clothes, wash dishes, and other house hold chores. Lately, because the water was shut off, it was dry as a bone. We were using the rain water to fill up the bucket, and had used quite a bit of their store.
While we were washing each others feet, a noise filled the immediate area. Everyone heard it, and knew what it was. The pipe began to grumble and whistle as it does when it has been shut off for a while. We all looked at each other and could not believe it. After of few seconds of disbelief, the water erupted from the sleeping pipe onto the ground! We put cans and bucket under to collect the water. The water had turned back on!
It had been at least 3 days since it had rained, so it made no sense for the water to be on. We did not ask questions. We continued to wash feet with the fresh water from the holy pipe. We called all the pastor’s sons to come out. They laughed as we tickled the soles of their feet. Then we called over Maria and the other women who cook and clean in the house. At first, they did not feel comfortable being washed. They are always serving others, and people rarely ask them to be served. No one asks them to sit and rest. No one takes care of them like they take care of us. They eventually sat down, after we took their hands and lead them to the bucket.
It was humbling: to serve those who usually serve you. Just like Jesus did. The disciple should of washed His feet, at least that’s what earthly standards tell us. But he flipped it.
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set an example that you should do, as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” John 13
The master washed the feet of his servants. This is true service and humility. This is what we are called to. This is what we were made for.
We washed the whole household’s feet, then filled up every jerry-can in the house with water from the pipe. The pastor kept saying, “Its a miracle, a miracle! The Holy Spirit is moving here!” We all laughed and helped him fill up the cans.
Miracles are real, if we only recognize them. Earlier this year I read through the Chronicles of Narnia. I immersed myself in the fantasy and magic of the world Lewis created. I loved the talking animals, grand battles, and whimsy buried in each sentence. I found myself asking “Why can’t I live in a world like this? Why am I stuck on this boring earth, where nothing magical happens?”
What I soon realized was, that I do. I live in a world that has unseen powers. A world that is nothing but ordinary. There is another side of this world. A side that cannot be explained by the 5 senses. A side where miracles are real, and the things that cannot be explained are explained.
Then I read my Bible, and see stories of the dead coming alive, the blind receiving sight, and even talking animals. I see the same whimsy and amazement that I read in Narnia. How had I missed that?
My God is a God who invests His power in me. His Spirit, when I let it, finds its home in my heart, and uses me to accomplish incredible things for His Kingdom. He gives gifts of miracles, healings, and unearthly love. I saw this first hand while washing feet. The act of obedience to listen to the Spirit, led me to wash the feet of others. Once acted upon, miraculous things happened: the water turned on.
I love the fact that I serve a supernatural God. I follow a God who loves me enough to invest His own power in me.
May my eyes never be closed to this unseen world of whimsy, wonder, and miracles.
