During one of our final days in Haiti, we spent the morning in a local village. We had visited this village a few different times throughout the month, and I thought our time there would be just like all the others: planting trees, delivering goats, sharing the Gospel, and playing with children.
As the bus parked, our instruction was, “Go where the Lord leads you.” We were given very little structure for the day, so we started our walk with a prayer in hopes we were given a vision of which to cling. I have to admit that I am much better at doing what I am told and completing a task than listening for the Lord’s direction. God knew it, and He was ready for me to experience Him in a new way.
The first house we arrived at was full of children. I had a sense of relief, because that meant our job was to simply play and entertain! I could do that!
The parents were around the corner having a conversation and working in the yard, so my team and I played with the kids without concern over time. After probably 30 minutes, our translator, Higgens said, “you all know that you can share the Gospel, right?” Oh, how my heart sank! I was immediately convicted about our purpose in being there. With my tail between my legs, I began our routine questions getting to know the parents, and offered prayer for their concerns.
I didn’t feel like we let God into the conversation. I felt like a child who had just gotten in trouble. I wanted to leave, but I knew God had more that He wanted to do in this village. “Lord, lead us,” the prayers continued.
We walked up to another home, and this time I was determined to engage in meaningful conversation and share the Gospel. A family was sitting outside along the side of their home enjoying conversation and peeling some fruit for lunch.
We asked them a few questions to get the ball rolling, and we soon learned their grandmother was sick. We asked if we could pray for her, and the family pointed around the corner and said (more or less), “go ahead, she’s over there.” This wasn’t what I had in mind for our Gospel-sharing conversation with the whole family, but I did my best to be flexible.
We rounded the corner and stepped up on the porch—which consisted of 4 wooden sticks holding up a blue tarp—and there she was sitting on a towel with her legs stretched out and flies swarming around her. She looked like the epitome of what I imagine a leper looked like in Biblical times.
My heart broke. I could feel a spirit of loneliness as we entered her presence. I sat down next to her and the others followed in. We asked her name and about her illness. She said she had been sick for many years with a fever, headache, and stomach pains. We asked if we could pray for her, and without a word, she lifted her shirt to her collar bone and looked down. She had a red scarf tied around her body cinched above her bloated stomach.
**I guess this is also a good place for me to give you a little context: I have never prayed/petitioned the Lord with the expectancy of physical healing for an individual. This was new to me. I know God has the power to heal, but I never felt worthy to ask for such a thing! If I did, I never prayed the prayer with faith that it would happen. If God willed it, it would already be so; I don’t need to pray for it, right? Nope. He invites us into these moments as He works. I am His daughter, and I have His Holy Spirit inside of me! It is okay to walk with authority, because I am His co-heir in Christ. I need to simply ASK and let God work in that situation as He wills!**
My teammate and I laid our hands on her bare stomach and the others laid their hands on us. We all took turns praying healing over this woman and the Holy Spirit began to move. I felt as her stomach bubbled in turmoil, and during our prayer, it settled. We stayed in her presence singing hymns, and during our worship, I felt called to give her water from my water bottle. She was so physically thirsty! We all realized she was probably spiritually thirsty, as well, so we prayed for her as an individual (not limiting our prayers to her illness). After about 45 minutes of being there, we asked Higgens to see how she was feeling. The woman raised her arms and said, “I feel no pain!”
I wish I could easily express what was going through my head in that moment. I experienced a mixture of pure joy, disbelief, amazement, pride for my God, and relief. What did I just witness?
Without skipping a beat, we all rejoiced! I refilled my water bottle from someone else’s and left it with her on our way out. I pray whenever she see’s it, she doesn’t remember the days some Americans came to visit; I pray she knows wholeheartedly that Jesus healed her on that day, and that our Father loves her like no other!
God definitely was ready to use that day for me to experience Him in a way I never had before. Whether it was freedom from pain for a moment or for eternity, I will never know. What I do know is that prayer offered in the name of Jesus Christ heals.
