Monica. Shortly after we arrived in Ocean View, we met a woman named Auntie Angie who runs a feeding center. Auntie Angie is a feisty woman who is full to overflowing with love for the people of her community. Twice a week, we join with her and 4 other ladies to help feed children, youth, adults, and elderly people. I have come to love these precious women and do Bible Studies with them on Wednesday mornings. I have also fallen completely in love with the kids who come each time. There are a few who have stolen my heart and get extra squeezes and kisses with their bowls of food. Each day, Auntie Angie asks if anyone needs prayer or ‘counseling’. We have already seen several people saved this way in our short time here. One women who came forward for prayer is named Monica. She came to the feeding center carrying the marks of desperation and hopelessness. As soon as I saw her, the Lord told me that her baby was sick. When she came forward for prayer, she said that she wanted to accept Jesus into her life. I talked with her for a while and we prayed together. I also asked if I could pray for her baby when she confirmed that he was sick. After we talked for a little while longer, I got her some food and she headed out. When I saw her two days later at the feeding center, she was FULL of joy. Her baby was perfectly healthy and she brought her daughter and nephew to receive prayer as well. PRAISE JESUS!!
William. One evening, one of my teammates and I were walking home for dinner. As we were walking down the street, we saw a man laying on the side of the road. There were a few people around him, yelling at him and laughing. We crossed the street, and as I squatted down beside him, I could see his eyes were rolled back in his head and he was having a seizure. The people around him were pouring water on his head and face to try to wake him up. I was completely overcome with love for this man. I laid my hands on him and began to pray. I found out he had a heart condition and took his medication with alcohol, which caused him to have a seizure. As I prayed for the effects of the alcohol to be cancelled, I watched as he became more and more alert and sober. I helped him to sit up, and as his eyes fixed on me I heard the Lord saying how much He loved this man, and how He had not forgotten him. I asked the man his name (William) and shared with him what the Lord was saying. My teammate began to pray that William would lean on the Lord. At that moment, he began to lean on me and I heard the Lord say ‘All he sees is Me’. After a few minutes, William pointed to his right leg that was bent the wrong way and shaking. I felt his leg and found that his bone was dislocated at his knee. I laid my hand on his leg and prayed once again. As I helped him up, I prayed one more time. I looked into Williams eyes, held his hands, and told him once again how much God loves him and how he is not forgotten. William began to walk away, slowly at first. But, as I turned around, William was walking away, sober, without assistance, and his leg that was bent and dislocated a few moments before was perfectly normal. Only Jesus can do that! That day, William encountered the radical love of God, and it picked him up off the ground, brought him out of a seizure, and healed his body.
Bernice. Another woman I met at the feeding center is Bernice. I was helping to hand out bowls of food and Auntie Angie grabbed me to talk with Bernice. She had come forward because she felt in her heart that she needed Jesus in her life. When I asked her what she knew about Jesus, she said she was saved when she was younger but she fell away after she got married and had children. Her husband had just left her with several children and she wanted to give her life to Jesus. I started talking with her about how Jesus told us that He would never leave us or forsake us. And, His name is Faithful and True. As we prayed together, I felt the sweet presence of Jesus come into that little back make-shift kitchen. I sat next to Bernice, with my arms around her shoulders, and I watched as tears began to roll down her face and burdens lift from her heart. After several minutes, she said she had gone to church, and prayed, but never felt peace like she did in that moment. She kept putting her hand on her heart, with tears streaming down her down her cheeks saying ‘Jesus. Jesus is here. And I have peace’. I am in awe of the one who is Faithful, who never leaves us, and comes every time we ask Him to. He is the only One who can bring real peace. The only One who can change hearts and lives.
