Some days when we go into the village, I get this overwhelming amount of emotions. On July 19th when we went to a village, we were driving for over an hour and I was just getting more and more upset as we went. I was feeling pains in my hands, my body was getting hotter and hotter even though there was a breeze flowing in the Tuk Tuks and it was one of the cooler days. I was feeling so sick, so burdened, exhausted and filled with sorrow. I just shook it off as we went and told myself to die to self and to focus on the needs of the people in the village, to love on them. When we reached the village I was hurting so bad that it felt like I was cramping up, I had to curl up into a ball and sit down that it was so excruciating. I kept telling myself over and over, “Die to self, they see Jesus, forget myself, don’t hide Jesus, let Him shine.”
After we led worship, acted out Jesus sleeping on the boat, and preached, we started to pray for the villagers. The ladies all prayed for the females and the men prayed for the children and the men of the village. One of the first ladies we prayed for brought forth a child that had a swollen neck. I am not exactly sure what was wrong with the child, but he kept crying and crying out in pain. It was very emotional for me during this time; I just started to let the tears flow down my cheeks as we all cried out for healing for the child. We prayed again and again, pleading with God to take away the pain in this child. The mother left after a while to take her child home. As she walked away, more tears came. I was still feeling the sorrow and the pain. However, our work in the village was not done. There was still a whole group of people that wanted prayer.
The first lady that came up to me wanted prayer because she lost her son ten years ago. All the thoughts that went through my head within the first few moments of processing that request were, “Sorrow! That answers the question of why I feel so burdened! How do I even begin to start praying for this? I have not lost a son, where do I begin?” I immediately cast out those thoughts and began to pray for her sorrow to be replaced with Joy.
While we were at the church, we began to teach the believers that they are empowered with the Holy Spirit. It is not that we are Americans that causes God to heal and answer prayers. We are no different than them. We all have the power of God living in us. We were teaching them that they are all empowered and that they can pray for healing for one another.
When we left that village, my sorrow was replaced with joy. I wanted to hold onto that village, each one of them one by one but also as a whole. I left filled with so much love and encouragement from that spark of hope that each one of them held on to. God, You are so good and loving. It was so wonderful experiencing a little peek of how You wrap us up in Your embracing love.
