Gracie is a lady who has started a ministry with her husband Lee rescuing young women who have been raped or apart of domestic violence with a result of being pregnant. She and her husband own a house and their family consists of 3 boys the age of 3 (Moises, Alejandro, Diego), 2 girls around the age of 1 (Kathryn, Genesis), 2 young girls with cerebral palsy (Ivannia, Erica), and a little boy named Christopher who is 2 years old. Two of the young moms live with them Milagro (17) and Michelle (15). They all live together. They are family. It is a beautiful thing to see. These kids were the miracle that came out of a negative thing and Gracie and Lee with the strength of God have taken them in to show what true love is and that someone cares for them. They are not forgotten. God has not forgotten them. And they have all been given hope. I don’t look at the kids and the moms with the eyes looking at their past. I look at them with eyes of hope and joy of where they are now.
Papi Lee is an incredible man. He has taken on the role of a spiritual father to everyone who walks through the gate of his house. He knows everyone by name, even all 20 of us who just got there this week. He knows us all by name because the heavenly father knows us all by name. He wants to represent a positive father figure to the kids because most of them have been miss treated by their own earthly fathers. Some of the young moms have been raped by their fathers or grandfathers. But the heavenly father loves them unconditionally without a doubt and gives them hope.
We have been used to help the nannies take care and play with children during the day. I have helped feed the girls with cerebral palsy and did some physical therapy with them. Moises has been adopted legally by Gracie and Lee. He was born with a tumor weighing 18 lbs. No one wanted him, and he was left to die. Gracie took him in and brought him to the hospital to have the tumor removed. He went into surgery, and came out 18 lbs lighter. This was 2 years ago, and now Moises is a happy and healthy 3 year old! God is so good!
We have been doing construction in the back of the house building a cement block wall inclosing their yard. In 3 days we finished one side of the fence. In 2 days we are near the end of finishing the second wall. And next week we will finish the second wall and work on the third. It has been hard work and I have blisters on my hands to prove it, but I have enjoyed every moment of it, especially when Gracie comes to the backyard and sees the work we are doing, because she lights up! It’s so rewarding! I was also able to cut down a few trees with an axe! It was so fun!
Another part of this ministry is going into villages with Milagro and one of Gracie’s interns Carson. We are going into villages interviewing families looking for pregnant women, families with kids under the age of 2, and kids with disabilities. I went into the village of Talbon with my team and the presence of the Lord was ever so present. We went to a house of a girl who is 17 who was 43 weeks pregnant and 23 days past her due date. She was in labor for 2 days before we arrived, and by the time we got there all of her family was worried something was wrong with the baby because the baby was not moving. We walked into the room where this young girl, Kathryn, was laying on a bed. A few of us laid hands on her belly and I prayed for life for her and her baby. I used the authority God has given me and declared life. I didn’t ask, I declared life in Jesus’ name. I repeated the name of Jesus over and over because there is power in the name of Jesus. I felt the authority and tears came to my eyes and the word life continued to pop into my head. I prayed God would overwhelm her with his love, and to take away any doubt, worry, or shame she was feeling and to fill her with love, peace, and joy. Carson called Gracie and Gracie arranged for a taxi to pick up Kathryn and take her to the doctor. We stayed in the village but got a report that the doctor did an ultrasound and the baby was alive and healthy, but that she needed to have a c-section that day. Praise the Lord for life! Praise the Lord we were there in that moment! If we had not been there on that particular day Kathryn and the baby may have died. God gave me the word life and that is exactly what he gave and has given to all of us….LIFE!
The next house we went to was of a women who lived with her 3 children and mother. The mother had vision problems and had just lost her own mother 3 days prior to our arrival. She was very sad, and mourning the loss of her mom and complaining of pain in her head and not being able to see well. We laid hands on her and prayed comfort. I prayed the Lord would heal her eyes using the tears that were streaming out of her eyes. We told her she was loved by God and that nothing could take that away. Another lady walked into the house and wanted prayer because she was having pain in her throat, heart, and back. Sarah, Kristen, and Christina prayed for her while the rest of us were praying for the other lady. Sarah, Kristen, and Christina laid hands on her and prayed for healing in Jesus’ name. After they were done praying the lady motioned that her throat and heart didn’t have pain and said how happy she was. She hugged and kissed all of us! A MIRACLE!!!
The next day we got a report back from another group that visited this home and the mother with vision problems was able to see better! Praise the Lord!
When my team and I were done in the village and walking to catch the bus I noticed Christina was walking behind the group. I asked her if she was ok and she said her back was hurting. She said she had deep back pain and felt as though her nerve was being pinched. I said we for sure had to pray for that, but to wait until we made it to the bus. I stopped myself and thought why do we have to wait? I can pray over her in this moment as we are walking in the middle of a dirt road to the bus. I walked alongside her and placed my hand on the spot on her back that was causing her pain. I prayed the Lord would heal her because he loves his children and does not like to see them in pain. I prayed for a wave of healing to come over Christina and that she would be able to dance and sing with Jesus without pain. After I was done praying I asked Christina how she felt and her exact words were, “I’m about to be freaked out if I can’t find the pain.” And guess what….she could not find the pain! God used me to heal Christina! GOD USED ME! I was starting to have doubt that God could heal and that God could use me to heal. He proved me wrong and provided many miracles of healing and life in just one day! Wow! I serve an all-powerful God! I am still blown away that this all happened, but it has opened up my eyes more to what God can do. Don’t put God in a box. He is so much bigger than that! He literally can do ANYTHING!
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Follow Gracie Murphree on Facebook and look up her ministry “Heart of Christ”.
This is Milagros (16) and her daughter Genesis on the left and on the right are Michelle (14) and her daughter Kathryn.
Me with Genesis and Christopher
