“We’re here!”
I drew a deep breath and shook myself awake as we piled out of the van to head into another eye clinic on Saturday. This time we were two hours from home at a church in Pervomais’k, and the building was already flooding with patients as we arrived and set out the boxes of lenses. We were invited to the kitchen for coffee and cookies, but almost as soon as my coffee was poured, Bruce asked if we would come and play music for the people waiting. Robin and I ducked into a side room to practice a few songs, got interrupted halfway through and reminded ourselves that it wasn’t a performance anyway as we headed into the sanctuary. There were already about 40 to 50 patients gathered (a huge turnout compared to what the church had been expecting), which meant a several hour wait for many of them and an awesome opportunity for us to engage with Ukrainians who would normally never set foot in a church!
We played a few worship songs, singing out the lyrics of “Revelation Song” in English. As Robin’s voice rang out and I harmonized, the familiar thrill of worshiping my Jesus bubbled up inside of me and poured out through my lips and guitar strings. The words may not have been understood by anyone in the room but us, and yet God’s presence was unmistakable. Afterwards, Bruce introduced the four of us (Wes, Hugh, Robin, and I) and asked Hugh to share about where we have been and what we have seen so far on the Race.
Hugh’s words were simple but powerful, and he did not waste the opportunity to reach these people. As Bruce translated, he shared some of his own testimony and then told stories of healing that he has seen God do in the last few months. As he talked, I could feel the atmosphere in the room shifting, many people perking their ears to catch every word. Excitement rose in my own heart at what might happen next. I kept noticing one of the babushkas who had caught my eye earlier while we were worshipping. She was wearing a sparkly pink scarf on her head and her face glowed with joy, her head bobbing up and down enthusiastically at Hugh’s narrative. As soon as we left the stage, she made a beeline toward Hugh, speaking excitedly as Tim (Bruce’s son) translated.
We learned that she had blurry vision in her right eye that was likely due to cataracts, and Hugh asked her if she wanted us to pray for her to be healed. She was so eager and full of faith, as if she knew something that we didn’t. We placed our hands on her and prayed. I was awed by her belief – she was so certain that our prayers would be answered, and her joy was contagious! When we finished praying for her, other women crowded around to greet us, talk to us, and hug us.
The afternoon progressed and I grew exhausted as the hours passed and I struggled with my inability to communicate separate from Tim’s translation. The room was full of people in need of Jesus’ love and a healing touch, yet my strength was sapped and it was an effort just to keep interacting. As the day drew to a close, we snapped photos with several of thebabushkas as they pressed in to be near us and hug us. The woman we had prayed for was among them, and her joy once again caught me off guard as it overflowed onto everyone around her. Just having our arms around her made her giddy, and for a few minutes, I couldn’t stop laughing with her because it was so contagious that the joy was uncontrollable!
As we bounced around in the back of the van on the two hour ride home, I thought about Jesus’ ministry. It struck me how exhausting it must have been for Him to have the crowds pressing in around Him all day long, wanting healing and nearness and to hear His words. What we experienced that day was a little taste of what His life was like. While I am very conscious of my inadequacy and weakness, I am also hungry for more. I am hungry to have His power so fill my life and my team that people are drawn to us like a magnet everywhere we go, and His power is poured out on them in response. I am hungry to see people healed and touched by Jesus’ love through my words and my hands. I am hungry to see salvation come to the people of Ukraine who often live in poverty and the pervasive bondage of alcoholism. I am hungry to come to the place of confidence and boldness in speaking about Jesus without fear, in letting my voice be heard because I have stories and truth that He has given me to share.
I feel Jesus saying to me, “It is time!” He is speaking to me not just through my own time with Him and His Word, but through my teammates. I have been in the training grounds these last few months, learning to hear God’s voice for my team, pouring into them and growing in love and community with them. But there is more. It is time to step onto the playing field and let God’s Spirit move through me to reach the people of Ukraine who are living in darkness.
Greater things are yet to come!
Team Meizon (with an English teacher at a local grade school)
Sunday afternoon, Bruce told us the end of the story and it rocked my world. One of his friends who pastors the church in Pervomais’k had called him and told him about the service that morning. The woman we prayed for on Saturday had stood up in front of everyone, glowing and crying, to give her testimony. She said that during the night after we prayed for her, Jesus had healed her eyes! She testified before the entire congregation that her eyesight was completely clear. In fact, she told them that it was as good as when she was a little girl!
As I write this, I marvel at what God has done and am humbled by my own mustard seed of faith. Father, increase my faith! As I read back over the gospels and book of Acts, I am reminded of who my God is.
“A vast crowd brought to Him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and He healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 15:30-31 NLT)
What more does God have in store? Why do we put limits on Him and stuff Him into a box? It’s time we let Him out and let Him be powerful in our lives and through our lives! It is a choice to believe. It is a choice to ask. It is a choice to invite Him into each and every day of our lives and refuse to settle for the ordinary.
It is time to see the world through new eyes!
