On Wednesday of this week, my team and I began our daily house visits to the different families in Los Corrales.
We wandered down a path in the mountain village to the home of Maria Flavia, a woman we had met with a couple times previously.
Upon arriving, we greeted her daughters and asked to see Maria, who we knew was suffering from a throat infection. We had prayed over her before and wanted to check in with her.
Maria’s daughter-in-law led us to Maria’s bedroom, where she was curled up on the bed. As is customary for house visits, the family quickly brought in stools for us to sit on so we wouldn’t have to sit on the dirt floor.
Maria sat up and we spoke to her about how she was doing spiritually, physically, and emotionally, and she was clearly downtrodden and feeling heavy from her sickness. She had explained before how she’s a prayer warrior in her town and loves to pray for people at the village church. We encouraged her to pray for them from the comfort of her home, and told her how Satan is trying to weaken her spirit because he knows how incredibly the Lord works through her.
While we were talking to her, the song “Seasons” by Hillsong United came to mind, and I felt moved to share the words with her.
I’ll paste the lyrics below:
Like the frost on a rose
Winter comes for us all
Oh how nature acquaints us
With the nature of patience
Like a seed in the snow
I’ve been buried to grow
For Your promise is loyal
From seed to sequoia
I know
Though the winter is long even richer
The harvest it brings
Though my waiting prolongs even greater
Your promise for me like a seed
I believe that my season will come
Lord I think of Your love
Like the low winter sun
As I gaze I am blinded
In the light of Your brightness
Like a fire to the snow
I’m renewed in Your warmth
Melt the ice of this wild soul
Till the barren is beautiful
I can see the promise.
I can see the future
You’re the God of seasons
I’m just in the winter
If all I know of harvest
Is that it’s worth my patience
Then if You’re not done working
God I’m not done waiting
You can see my promise
Even in the winter
Cause You’re the God of greatness
Even in a manger
For all I know of seasons
Is that You take Your time
You could have saved us in a second
Instead You sent a child
And when I finally see my tree
Still I believe there’s a season to come
Like a seed You were sown
For the sake of us all
From Bethlehem’s soil
Grew Calvary’s sequoia
We listened to the song and I shared with her how even though she feels like she’s in a spiritually dark season, the Lord is still good and He is still working in her life. Sometimes it seems the Lord isn’t there and our suffering is too much to handle ourselves, but if we have patience in the waiting, the fruit from it is something beautiful.
Even though she can only see the seed, suffering, and waiting of the fruit right now, the Lord has a sequoia-sized victory in mind for her.
I also explained how the Father could have easily saved the world in a moment, but instead He chose to make the biggest sacrifice; sending His only son who was innocent to die on a cross for us. There had to be a lot of suffering and waiting in that, but the fruit from it saved our souls.
We prayed over Maria’s throat several times and declared a spirit of peace and joy over the house, the family, and her soul. We used our authority to send out any spirit of doubt and called the Holy Spirit to replace it with a spirit of rejoicing in the Lord’s constant goodness.
We spoke to her about life, her favorite Christmas traditions, where she wants to travel, and told her funny stories about our holiday traditions growing up. I let her daughters play with my camera and gave them a couple of my bracelets. A lot of house visit ministry is just hanging out with people who are lonely, letting them know someone cares about them, and showing them what the Church looks like in action. It’s a lot of loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Fundraising update
I am currently still not fully funded!! I still have about $3000 to raise, and if I don’t raise it in time I cannot stay on the mission field. Please please please send my blog link to people you know and consider donating even $5 to the donate link above. Every dollar counts!! Thank you so much, and prayers are appreciate as well! :))
All for the glory of God
-MG
