While walking through a village in Zambia, Alicia Wrigley of 2015 N Squad met a man who was dead for three hours and came back to life. His story left her speechless, but what happened next she’ll never forget.
Right after we arrived in Zambia, my team learned a children’s song, “There is No One Like Jesus,” and for the next month, we traveled to different villages and sang with children.
The lyrics proclaim that there is no one like our God have stayed with me, and I found myself thinking about them.
Especially after meeting Ronny.
On our first day of door-to-door evangelism, we passed a house where a man sat alone outside.
He introduced himself as Ronny and told us he was in his sixties. He walked with a stick because a stroke had left him unable to move his left arm and hand, but he radiated a remarkable joy. His eyes, however, seemed to be shadowed with pain, both physical and emotional.
With a bright smile, he began to tell us his story.
Thirteen years ago, Ronny was in a terrible accident at work in which his leg was deeply cut. He was profusely bleeding and lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he found himself in the care of a witch doctor and told his wife to either take him to a real doctor or accept that he was going to die. She rushed him to a doctor, but Ronny’s injuries were so life-threatening that they required immediate surgery; there wasn’t time for him to be put to sleep or numbed in anyway.
Completely awake, Ronny was strapped down and underwent surgery.
During the operation, his heart stopped. The doctors did everything they could, but they couldn’t get his heart beating again. Ronny was declared dead.
But three hours later, Ronny miraculously woke up. And he rose from the dead with a story.
During those three hours when his heart stopped, Ronny saw something he couldn’t fully explain. He saw a pit of fire, and then he saw himself in the most beautiful place he had ever seen – a place full of trees. While he stood there gazing at the beauty, someone told him that his foundation was not ready, and he needed to go back.
I believe Ronny saw a glimpse of heaven, and God told him to go back to do God’s work so that he would have a place prepared for him.
Ronny eventually healed and returned to work. But a few years later, he had a stroke, leaving him walking with a cane, unable to use his left arm.
Emotionally and relationally, Ronny struggled. His brothers didn’t want anything to do with him, and he felt abandoned by his family. I could see that he struggled with unforgiveness.
My heart broke when this man whom God had literally raised back to life, told us he doesn’t understand God’s purpose for him. We tried to encourage him to tell his story, telling him that it is so powerful and could be used to encourage so many people.
Our words shocked Ronny because he believed he didn’t have anything to offer. He saw himself as hopeless and useless, and the unforgiveness in his heart had grown to where it overwhelmed him.
We urged him to forgive.
We prayed for Ronny, not only for physical healing, but for the healing of his heart. We asked for the ability to forgive. And as we prayed, our host held Ronny’s left hand – the hand he couldn’t move.
It was that very hand Ronny used to grip her hand in return as we prayed.
When we finished praying, he had tears in his eyes, saying, “I feel something going through my left arm. I can feel strength in it, something I haven’t felt since my stroke.”
There was Ronny, a man who had a great life, a great job, but then was injured. He was a man who had died and been raised to life again, a man who suffered from a stroke but lived, a man who had been hurt by his family. As a result, he was burdened with unforgiveness and couldn’t move his left arm or hand.
But after the prayer, he was a man who began to move the fingers in his left hand. The strength that had once died, suddenly returned.
I’d like to think that as he stretched his hand for the first time in a year, the same thing was happening in his heart, and he was reaching toward forgiveness with his family as well.
It was so obvious to me that he was absolutely and completely loved by Jesus.
We visited Ronny a total of three times. The second time, Ronny was happy to show us the strength that was still in his left hand. He could still move his fingers.
And on our third visit, Ronny walked out to greet us without his cane for the first time since his stroke.
Often times, we forget the power of Jesus.
Miracles do not happen every time we ask for them. But, every once in awhile, we see a glimpse of the power of Jesus Christ.
I think it’s safe to say I will always remember Ronny. I’ll always remember his smile, and the moment when strength returned to his hand. Most of all, I’ll remember his story and how his life testifies to the truth of the children’s song my team performed all over Zambia:
There is no one like Jesus.
What about Ronny’s story connects with you? Does unforgiveness get in the way of possible healing in your life? How have you seen the healing power of God in your life?
Do you feel called to tell the broken and the hurting of this world about the power of love of Jesus Christ? Is God calling you to go on the World Race in 2016? Click HERE to find out how you can go in January!
