Numbers 13: 18 “See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” So here we are in Szekesvehevar Hungary checking out the land. Is it good or bad? Well it turns out that God provided in ways that can only truly be experience by personal encounters of having been there, but I will do my best to share with you what I experienced just a couple nights ago. We attended a local church in the community via invitation. I met with the pastor before service started to discuss our involvement tonight. He wanted us to give some information about who we are…where were from…what were doing..etc. So we agreed and then there was an opportunity to share our personal testimonies about what God has done in our lives personally. This was a great time to have a personal conversation with God and ask..ok, now that you’ve brought me to this town that I can barely pronounce properly, what did you have in mind to share? It turns out He already placed the right people in the congregation to receive the words of our personal encounters with Christ and his loving grace. So we shared our testimonies and many people were moved to know Him more.
In case you didn’t know, hungary is a place that struggles with a spirit of depression and frustration. Sound familiar..? Seemingly an internal struggle with shedding the identity of it’s past and mixed governmental agendas have left the people a bit disjointed about many things, including who they are and where they belong. At the end of an amazing spirit-filled service God led us to pray for the congregation and the pastor asked if we could come up front and pray for anyone who needed prayer. So 7 of us went to the front of the church and joined Christ for what was about to happen. Hearts were healed, love was felt, tears were shed and the kingdom was present in the heart of people who knew rejection, disappointment and criticism personally. Oh how the spirit of joy filled the sanctuary. Praise for what came next is more than in order.
My personal testimony was not shared that night, but I was impressed to ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit to come and make the depth of God’s love for these people felt. About 30 people came to the front seeking prayer from the Americans. The first of which was an middle aged gentleman – late 60’s early 70’s. He hobbled to the front of the sanctuary on his cane for pray and stood proudly waiting to receive his blessing. As if He already knew what was coming. I had no idea – personally. But I knew that if I just showed up God would provide. So I began to pray and instantly felt a tug in my heart to ask for forgiveness for this man and beg for the love of our creator to fill him in a way that opened his heart to feel again and believe that his life mattered and a healed heart is at hand. I prayed and prayed and prayed and then tears began to fall. As I wiped my face I could feel him clutching his body. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I prayed knowing something was happening. After prayer I hugged him tight and whispered God loves you so much. His tears began to flow and his chest caved in as his body curled and let out sobs in another language. We both cried out loud, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. My Magyar (Hungarian Language) is a little rusty, but I knew God understood. So as I ended the prayer I looked at him and he wiped my face and kissed my cheek in thanks. He motioned his right hand towards me which held the bread from communion we had just received prior to prayer. We both broke bread and ate it. I wasn’t sure exactly what was different, but something was different about his demeanor. I stood there and thought I should go and pray for someone else, so I did. I walked away and began to lay hands on others. Fully missing the blessing that God had just provided. After praying for another 5 or so people, I was tapped on the shoulder by our interpreter and he looked at me and was talking but all I could hear was the joyous laughter of the older man (who was using the cane while praying) standing to his left. It turns out the older man had some lower leg injury that caused him to limp in pain therefore requiring the use of a cane to minimize pain and make him mobile again. I’m not sure how long he struggled with the pain, but it was evident that the pain was not a concern anymore. He was laughing out loud and stomping his feet. I think he got the point cause I just stared at him thinking ” what’s he doing?” Not realizing that while I was praying for God to show this man love and heal his heart…God would heal his physical body. I collapsed into the arms of my interpreter and just cried ..”thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus..” I had no idea what was going on…but I knew something was happening and as the man began to tell his story ..the joy of the Lord that I hadn’t seen in him earlier, was clearly present now. God chose to show his love for this man through a physical healing which allowed him to stomp on his foot and walk, run and jump around (all of which he did) and praise the name of our Heavenly Father. He was so excited he couldn’t stop talking about it. I guess I would be the same way had God just chosen to miraculously heal me from an crippling injury and reveal his love in my heart in way that contagiously redefined not only how I saw my self, but the world around me. What a miracle..! I just remember looking at him and thinking..God is soooooooo gooooooood! All I did was be obedient and approach the man for prayer and God healed in ways that I hadn’t even prayed for. I’m so glad He is in control and not me.
