Last week our team discussed our thoughts and feelings about Mozambique and the ministry we do here. We realized that this month is unlike the first three. There is no defined mission or goal this month other than to bless the people of this community. We take it day by day here, sometimes hour by hour. In an effort to make an impact here in Beira we tried to identify what this place really needs. We quickly realized that all we can do is pray. Not the cheap “hurry up and finish so I can go” prayers, but heal the sick, raise the dead kind of prayers.
A few days before Christmas, some of my teammates and I were headed into town to run a few errands. To get there we had to ride in chapas (pronounced shapas). Chapas are beat up vans that seat 15-18 people, but if you’re really lucky they’ll cram 25 or so. Everything was hectic and crowded before Christmas, so we had to fight our way onto the chapa.
Once I got to a seat near the back of the chapa, I realized all my teammates had found seats up front. Awesome. As Mozambicans piled in, a man with a bloody bandaged hand sat next to/on me. I looked a little closer and realized he must have run a saw over his had. His fingers and fingernails we mangled and he was missing part of his middle finger. I felt bad for him, but there was nothing I could do. Then the thought occurred to me- what if I prayed for his hand to be miraculously healed? After a few moments back and forth in my mind, I asked the man was happened. He said, “Accident at work”. He caught his hand in a machine. Then I said in my broken Spanish/Portuguese, “Quiero orar para ti” which means I want to pray for you. He said yes. As I laid my hand on him, I began to pray aloud in English. I thanked God for being so good to us. I acknowledged that He could heal any hand and regenerate any finger if it were His will. I prayed that the man would come to know Jesus on a personal level and that this miracle would radically change his life. Amen. He nodded in agreement and thanked me.
I had been so wrapped up in the prayer that I didn’t realize the twenty people including my teammates staring at us. Some older women in the front were laughing and pointing at me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t do it for them. Me team winked in approval. My new friend got off and the next stop and waved to me as he walked away. New people were crowding me on the bench when an older woman tapped me and said, “pecho, orar”. I knew enough Spanish to know “chest, pray”. I was caught a little off guard, but sure, why not?
I laid my hands on her and began to pray for her. I prayed a similar prayer, asking God to heal her chest and make Himself known to her. Amen. She smiled and thanked me. I began to wonder if these people thought I was a witch doctor, so I made sure I said, “Gloria a Deus”. The woman got off at the next stop.
Two teenage sisters made there way back and sat one in front of me and one beside me. The girl in front of me turned around and pointed to the scars on her face and said, “cabasa, orar” meaning head, pray. Okay God, I see what you’re doing here. So I laid my hand on her facial scars and began to pray. When I finished, she thanked me and I smiled. Looking out the window, my mind raced with what was going on. A few moments later we pulled up to our stop and the girl in front of me turned in excitement and said something to her sister in Portuguese. The sister beside me said, “My sister says all the pain in her head is gone. Thank you!” I said, “in el nome de Jesus Cristo”.
As we exited the chapa and the sisters walked away, I stood there and wondered if she were sure. Was her pain really gone or was she lying? Why would she lie? She didn’t know me or have any reason to interact with me before she heard me praying.
We walked towards the store and I felt the Holy Spirit saying why is your response, “Are you sure?” when it should be, “Of course you are healed. I just prayed for a miracle!”
My teammates who had not seen the whole ride play out asked what had happened. My hesitation turned to joy as I told them the story and I said, “I think we just got a miracle.” We serve a big God who does big things. I want to pray big prayers with expectancy that the Lord will move. He can heal the sick, blind, lame and save the lost. We just need to find them and pray that God will move. That kind of faith is real. It’s big and bold. It’s the kind of faith that will move mountains. That’s why we smile now when we say, “Get to the chapas!” because people need healing.
