The month of December is undoubtedly my favorite month of the year. It's winter time, it's my birthday and more importantly it's Jesus birthday. Being born this month means you get those “combo” gifts, the “oh well this is for your birthday and Christmas” kinda gift. Anyone born in December knows what I am talking about. It is a time when my whole family is together, which has become increasingly difficult as we have all gotten older. So this is great, it is my favorite time of the year and oh wait, I am in Kampot, Cambodia. I am in 85 degree weather with equal humidity. I sweat if I think to hard. It does not feel like it is Christmas time.
This year however, I got the best Birthday/Christmas combo I have ever received. Rewind 3 weeks.
The first week I was here my team and I got the privilege of making home visits throughout the village we live in here. On one particular morning, we walked through the flooded rice fields, and under the countless coconut filled palm trees to a little home off the beaten path. A woman named Ann lives there. She is a sweet beautiful woman in her 70's with quite the story to tell. At one point she had 9 children, 8 of which were killed in the Khmer Rouge genocide. My heart broke for this woman.
Ann has had health struggles for the majority of her life. The day we went to see her, she could not walk, she could not eat solid food, she had headaches, eye and ear problems, and she had a catheter. I knew God had brought us there for a reason. I sat next to her and she grabbed and held onto my hand the whole time we were there. We laid our hands on her and prayed for healing and restoration in her body. She didn't immediately get up and start dancing around or anything but she had a light in her eyes that was not there before. She cried when we left and I knew that the Holy Spirit had touched her.
We came back 2 more times in the days following the first visit, and prayed for her each time. We then had a period of 3 days where we did not have a chance to make a visit. The day after my birthday, we went back and to our surprise she was moving around and smiling and very talkative. She was like a different person. She was eating food again, she no longer suffered from headaches, and she could stand and walk short distances. She no longer needed a catheter either! She knew that the Lord had healed her and given her strength. She had prayed on her own after we left and had asked the Lord to be present in her life. She said that she would tell people what God did in her life when they came around and saw her. This is a pretty big deal in a community where the majority of the people are buddhist.
So for my birthday my teammates had a bonfire, s'mores, and country music surprise for me, and then I got to see what Holy Spirit had been doing in Ann’s life the next day. I never thought that I would see something like this happen. God has been proving to me on a pretty regular basis that he is here and is working in our lives now more than ever. God gives the best gifts ever, period.
