It was a little past 8:30 on a Wednesday night in Penang Malaysia. I had been walking the streets with a couple of my fellow World Racers and my new friend Yon. We were walking and praying that the Lord would lead us to the person or people He wanted us to minister to. That evening there just so happened to be larger amount of people out, due to the end of Rhamadan. The streets were full of lively music, smells of curry and spicy foods flooding in from every direction, and plenty of cheering celebrating the end of their fast. I continued to pray as we were walking, smiling and waving at all the people looking our way. We came across a gentleman sitting on the step by himself. We asked if he spoke English and turns out he spoke almost perfect English. My friends and I sat on the steps with him and started a conversation. He was interested in what we are doing in Malaysia. It was obvious to him that we were here for ministry purposes and the conversation quickly turned to a discussion of religions. Our friend Yon had studied many years about the differences in cultures and religions so she was able to bring a lot of insight to the discussion. It was very interesting to be a part of. The biggest problem he had with what we were saying was that he did not believe Jesus died and rose again. He did not believe in the healing touch that can come through the Holy Spirit. So we asked him, if he saw a miracle with his own two eyes, would he believe? He said, yes. Yon asked if he had any pain or sickness in his body that he needed healing for but he did not. Their conversation continued and he would give reasons why he did not share our beliefs. Yon shared her knowledge of the proven history of the events of Jesus’s life proved by people who claimed no religion.
All the while I am sitting there praying that the Lord brings someone that we can pray healing over and show this man the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I am turned towards their conversation still listening and silently praying when I hear a sound that draws my attention away. I am met with the familiar sound of a pair of crutches hitting the pavement. I looked behind me just in time to see a man on crutches turning the corner! I interrupt their conversation, stating there is a man that just walked by on crutches whom we could pray healing over. We asked if Naseer if he wanted to come witness what we hoped would be a miracle, he said yes, and we were off.
As we rush off to get closer to the man I am praying that the Holy Spirit can work through us and show His power through us as His vessels. We round the corner to look for the man on crutches when I see three different men with either crutches or canes. I do not know which one I saw because it was so brief but I felt compelled to cross the street and go talk to one of the men sitting at the bus stop. We approach the bus stop and there are quite a few people standing there waiting. I looked at the man furthest to the left and his knees were the size of softballs. Yon began to speak with him because he did not speak English. She asked about his condition and he explained that he had a metal plate in one knee and plastic in the other. He had to go the doctor every five years and have each of these plates replaced.Yon talked with him a bit and found out that he practiced Buddhism. She asked him what this pain level was at and he told us he was at a six. We asked him if he minded us praying for him. All the while Naseer is watching skeptically and people are seeming to gather around us quickly. Upon the approval for us to pray, my teammates, Kara, Tori, myself, and Yon all knelt down and laid hands on him. We began to pray out loud calling upon the Holy Spirit and asking for a healing if He wills for this man’s knees. After about seven minutes of prayer, mass gatherings of people, photos being taken of the white people crying out to God, and a whole slew of emotions, we ask him if it feels any better and he says, “yes!” He gets up and begins to walk and states that it is easier. He says the pain has moved from a six to a two!! Praise be to the Lord! Naseer begins to ask me why we are doing this and what we expect to get out of praying for this man. I explain to him that we are praying over people to show that we serve a living God who is still in the business of miracles and that we have no desire for anything in return. After all, it is not by us that this man received healing but by the Holy Spirit working through us.
After we were finished praying for our first friend, who was now all smiles, the gentleman on his left asked me how he could sign up for this. I told him he did not have to sign up and that we’d be happy to pray for him right then and there. We chatted with him for a little bit and found out that he too had knee issues and he was a practicing Hindu. His pain level was also at a six on a ten point scale. We laid hands on him and began to pray. He told us that he felt a large amount of heat on his knee as we were praying and seemed pleasantly surprised as he began to walk around on it without his cane! Praise be to God! Naseer again did not understand why we were doing this and how doctors make people pay for medicine and appointments but we were simply praying healing for free. This is because we serve the ultimate physician and He cares for all people despite what religion or beliefs they have. Naseer seemed genuinely touched by the entire experience and thanked us as he walked away.
I do not know what Naseer is doing today. I do however know that his heart posture changed significantly from the moment we began chatting with him on those steps to the moment he walked away from us at the bus stop. If I’m being completely honest I have always been a little weary when it comes to praying healing over people. I think it’s because I worry about if the healing will happen or not. I want so bad to show people the power of the mighty God that I serve but truth be told, He has nothing to prove. One of the biggest lessons the Lord taught me in Malaysia was to keep the faith even when I can’t see the results of it. Every prayer I prayed for people, every time I asked for the Holy Spirit to guide my steps on an ATL, or every time I asked for a word of prophecy and received nothing from Him, these were all tests of my faith. Even when we cannot see or do not receive what WE want from the Holy Spirit does not mean that He is not there or that He isn’t working. It just means that we need to remain faithful in our trust of His plans for our lives. Although, this night He made Himself very known through His faithful followers. If even only those three people we talked to that night have an encounter with the Holy Spirit because of this introduction, that’d be pretty incredible! One of my favorite parts of this story is that Malaysia is predominantly a Muslim nation but second to that is Hinduism, and third is Buddhism. That night, the Holy Spirit led us to all three.
