An update from India by Patrick Ryan
God continues to blow me away with His love and goodness! This is just one of the many ways He has been doing that.
We went to a coffee shop yesterday to get a good cup of coffee; I love chai tea, but sometimes you need to switch it up. The plan was to go there, get a coffee and some personal time with God, and maybe snag a board game off the wall and play Catan with a few friends. After 20 minutes of being in the cafe I soon realized God had other plans.
Two Indian men sat down in the seats next to us pretty quickly; the coffee shop was packed so they were the only two seats open. My two buddies and I are white, and with everyone else in the cafe being Indian we stick out like a sore thumb. The two men ask where we’re from and what we’re doing here. I proceed to tell them we are here to tell people about Jesus. I mentioned that we pray in Jesus name and He miraculously heals people to show them His love and that He is real. They can’t believe what we’re saying so they start asking all these questions (which is a normal response we get). One of the guys, Ravi, says he hurt his back from sports a long time ago. It only hurts after he plays squash and he says “but that’s because of sports so Jesus can’t heal that.” We told him God can do anything. Ravi also mentioned his mom and how she has chronic knee pain. They’ve taken her to medical doctors and Hindi “healers” but nothing has happened; she still had pain in her knees and a skin disease on her hand.
When I asked if we could pray for his mom Ravi said it’s not possible for her to be healed because she’s not physically with us. Eric, one of my buddies, proceeded to tell this man about Jesus and the centurion:
Matthew 8:5-13
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith…..” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
When Ravi heard this story of Jesus he lit up; he says “okay what do you need to do to pray; do we need to go somewhere?” We tell him we can pray right here and right now. I prayed for his mom and that God would supernaturally heal her in Jesus name. I also prayed for his lower back. Ravi was very happy to receive the prayer and told me he will message me when he sees his mom!
His friend jumps out of his chair asking for prayer. I asked what he needs prayer for and he says “I don’t have anything, I just feel like I need this. I guess peace and happiness.” Haha this guy was so captivated by Jesus. He was drawn to the love of God, because nothing compares to Jesus! We exchanged numbers and we will keep in touch. I’m hoping to meet with them again to share more about Jesus.
A few minutes after they left, my buddy Soloman says “hey Pat, that girl over there that just walked in has a neck brace on.” I turned and saw this girl who could barely move. She was stiff and having trouble sitting down at her table. I walked over to her, told her about Jesus, and asked her if she had slipped discs. She said she slipped two discs and was curious how I knew. I told her it was Jesus and that he wants to heal her. When I asked if I could pray for her she said yes, so I prayed for complete healing and new discs in Jesus name. When I asked her to move her neck around she could; this girl was totally shocked! She was stumbling over her words haha God healed her and she couldn’t fathom how it was possible! I told her Jesus loves her and went back to my table. When I looked over a few minutes later she was still moving her neck around in totally surprise.
My buddies and I were about to start playing Catan when this guy Andy walks over and says “hey man what did you just do to that lady?” I told him about prayer and how Jesus gave her two new discs. Andy proceeded to sit down to ask me a few questions, tell me about his chronic neck pain, and then poured his heart out to me, telling me all the trauma he’d been through in his life. We sat there for a few hours as Andy poured his heart out.
He kept saying “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.” I told Andy that God is a comforter and that it’s because God wants to be there to love and comfort him right now. He was so happy to finally be understood. I asked Andy if he struggled with anger and fear to which he said “yes it’s like I can’t even control it,” so I ask if I can pray for him and he says yes please!
I start to pray for Andy and instantly he feels God moving. Jesus completely healed his neck pain, and took away feelings of anger and fear. Andy says “wow I feel so light right now. I feel taller!” I then prayed that God would fill Andy with the Holy Spirit’s love and joy, and man did God answer that prayer! Andy starts laughing hysterically; he was in pure giggling joy for 20 minutes as he stood in the Father’s loving presence for the first time. He looks at me and says “I just keep hearing: `you’re free you’re free.’ I am free now!!” as he keeps laughing in the middle of the cafe.
Andy was touched by God and knew it was God. He asked me if I knew of a church in town. Praise God! I got Andy’s number and we’re going to meet up in a few days and go to church together.
It was a crazy day in this coffee shop. Please be praying for all those that God touched and healed yesterday. Be praying for the conversations this week and for God to continue to draw them near to Him. And be praying that these men see the truth of who God is!!
