It all started with a teammate getting sick and a 2:00am wake up call. Andrea, my roommate for the month and I went off to the bathroom to pray for our friend and continued to pray all night until we finally heard him stop getting up. When we wake up in the morning and he seems to be feeling a little bit better, but as the day progresses, he decides it’s best to go to the hospital. On our way his pain increases and all we can do is pray. Needia our contacts wife is with us and she speaks English somewhat but does not know medical terms and is not fluent, she was an amazing help though, thank you Lord. So Nathan and I are on our way to the hospital and the pain begins to get worse and worse.
I’m not going to get into details, but I will tell you the way the Lord provided for us during our time there. First, I was able to speak Spanish for about five minutes to translate for Nathan but after that and tons of prayer, I knew we needed someone besides Needia and I, we just could not get the message to the doctors about his specific needs. Then Needia went to call her husband and she comes back with a doctor from the states and his translator (for real) and they helped translate allergies, pain and all his needs. Praise GOD!
We spent the day there; I was rebuked several times by the guards, nurses and doctors because they would not let me stay with him in his room, or stand outside, or go through certain doors, or sit certain places. As you can see, everything I did was wrong but it turned out well! On our way home our prayers continued as the nausea (likely due to the INCREDIBLY BUMBPY roads) started again and the pain began to return.
The power of prayer is beyond my level of understanding, the power of asking the Lord for things and seeing them handed to you is crazy. I know we do not always see how our prayers are answered, but the Lord is always listening to us. We pray for healing and maybe it does not happen right away, as believers we get encouragement by having strong faith that the Lord truly works everything for our betterment and fulfillment in Him.
I remember last year, I got really sick the night before I was suppose to present this trip to my church. It was so terrible I had to go to the emergency room. I called my mom and dad to take me there and they stayed with me. They were still getting used to the idea of me leaving for 11 months and so was I… I began to fear what would happen if I got this sick on the race. I would not have my parents, friends or other family members to help me. I feared of being alone, sick and unloved by those around me.
Of course that did not happen in my many moments of sickness, in fact I felt cared for in those times, loved and surrounded with prayer, just like home. But it pains me to think of how one little thing happening in my life led to so much fear and anxiety. As a believer I should have had the faith to know, no matter what happened out here, I was safe because HELLO God is with me. I have amazing teammates, family and friends out here too.
I was listening to a sermon on the Song of Solomon and something that really stuck out to me is the beloved’s fear of leaving the shade of the fruit tree, full of the Lord’s sweet love and following Him to the mountaintops. In the sermon, Mike Bickle stated how it’s safer on the mountain than under the tree, and safer walking on the water than staying in the boat. That in no way implies that we are invisible to pain and suffering as Christians-but we are surrounded with peace, love and comfort in those times.
Psalm 103:1-3: Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
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