Wednesday October 17, 2018.
I did not get out of bed until 7 a.m, which is a whole hour and a half later than normal. I felt kind of in a slump, since I took my Sabbath yesterday and slept. It was an overcast and rainy day. We had a rushed morning as my team only had about a half hour to do all the squad’s dishes, since it’s our chore for the week. We quickly prayed as a team on our bus ride to ministry. Upon our arrival, we spent about ten minutes attempting to get all the mud off of our shoes before entering the building(it was unsuccessful). We greeted the few children that were there, the Gogos(older women) and Sithulele(our shepherd). Sithulele gathered us together to pray, as he does every morning. He informed us that we would be visiting the same house my team visited yesterday, Gogo Maria’s. He suggested that we pray for Gogo Maria’s heart, since she had to rest yesterday because her heart literally couldn’t handle her happiness. Maria was SOO excited to see us all! She greeted each of us with a smile and a warm hug.
We sang a handful of songs for her. She just smiled and swayed to the music. We asked her if there was Scripture she wanted us to read and she requested the Ten Commandments to be read. I was thoroughly confused. After reading the Ten Commandments, I asked why she wanted to hear them. She kindly replied, “ My father gave me rules and I obeyed. I have rules from my Father that I must obey and I want to remember them so I can follow them.”
We asked what we can pray over her for. She informed us that her eyesight is very poor, but she didn’t ask us to pray over her eyes. Instead, she asked us to pray over her memory, that is also very poor. She wanted us to pray that she would have a good record of the Bible, so that she would know Scripture without needing to read it. She told us about a stroke that she had a couple years ago, which left the left side of her body in pain. The worst of the pain was in her knee, which was very visible in the way she hunched over and limped in her slow walk.
We asked if we could pray over her knee, eyes and if we could lay hands on her. She gave a resounding “YEBO!”. After our first prayer, Gogo Maria said she felt no difference. We asked if we could pray again. Liz then asked if she would try to stand up and walk. Gogo Maria was a little confused in translation, but when she finally understood she threw down her walking stick and stood up STRAIGHT. She walked across the room and stomped her left leg on the floor exalting, “there’s no pain, I have no pain!”. Gogo Maria danced and hopped across the room! My eyes began to water at the beauty and joy of God’s healing power. I have never been apart of such a clear, miraculous healing.
Gogo Maria praised the Lord the entire time we were at her home. Toward the end of our visit, she told us how she is only alive today because the Lord wants her alive. “He has kept me here” she pronounced. Gogo Maria is eighty years old, which is almost double the life expectancy in Swaziland. There is no doubt that the Lord has kept her alive and is continuing to sustain her health.
I am thankful that the Lord caused my team’s visit with Gogo Maria to be short yesterday, allowing me to see her again today and not miss out on His healing. My flesh needed a reminder of how MIGHTY my Lord is and He knew that.
Walking back to our carepoint, the Lord reminded me that He is MIGHTY in the small moments as well. My praise should not be different towards His works based on my fleshly perception of their weight.
UPDATE: We visited Gogo Maria again on the 23rd and she was so EXCITED!! When we asked how she’s been, she said, “Did you see the laundry outside? I did that! I did laundry and I cooked!”. She has been in no pain and has been able to do more activity than ever before possible because the Lord healed her! She is still dancing, walking upright and swiftly and praising God with her every breath!
