We’re halfway through a 4-day medical outreach here, and I want to share a bit of what’s been going on while it’s fresh on my mind.
Yesterday, we ended up sending our last three patients of the day on their way with no medications because we prayed for their healing in Jesus name and God touched them! Jordan, one of our GFMers, prayed for the first guy before he got back to the consultation area where I was translating. By the time this man came back to us, he described all the pain he had been suffering, especially in his shoulders, but then said it went away when Jordan prayed for him. He hadn’t been able to lift his elbow higher than his shoulder because of the pain, but now he was making full circles with his arm. We gave him a couple of exercises to do at home and sent him on his way.
When the next man came back for his consultation, we shared with him what had happened with the patient before him. We gave him two options: He could have a normal consultation, or we could pray first and ask God to heal him. He opted for prayer. We prayed for him and he walked out healed of a shoulder problem very similar to the guy before him.
Jordan and I looked at each other and said, “All right, who’s next!” We called back the last patient of the day. We gave him the same option, and he also asked for prayer. After we prayed for him, he said he still had a little pain but definitely felt better, and felt good enough that he was happy to go and didn’t want a consultation. Praise God!
We started today on the lookout for more opportunities to pray for people. Jordan and a couple of our GFM ladies spent most of the day in a corner praying for people, and God didn’t disappoint. I am wary of embellishment or exagerration, so I will very conservatively say that half a dozen or more people were healed today or experienced a noticeable decrease in their pain through prayer. (I once unintentionally gave some inaccurate details regarding a healing, and it came back to bite me later.) I was an eyewitness to what happened with four of these people today.
One cool experience for me was getting to pray for a neighbor of ours. He came in wanting a consultation with the eye doctor. I had to tell him that unfortunately they were not able to accept any more patients today, but I asked if he would like prayer. He said he would and described to me several physical ailments. I first prayed for his shoulder and back. After praying, he said all the pain was gone from both (and I asked several times if he was sure that all the pain was gone). Next, I prayed for his knee. He uses a cane and has a severe limp because of all the pain in his knee. After praying he said it still hurt a little, but felt a lot better. Someone said they saw him leaving the consultation carrying his cane, rather than using it. Finally, he asked me to pray for his eyes. I did, and when he opened them he said, “I can see clearly!” We handed him a book to read, and he read it with no trouble. I asked him if he could do that previously, and he said that he couldn’t–he always had to wear glasses. Once again, praise God!
I followed up with this neighbor on my way home this evening. His knee still hurts some, but feels a lot better than it has felt previously. He wants me to pray for it again tomorrow. He says his eyes are completely fine–he sees clearly. His shoulder doesn’t hurt at all, and he said his back started hurting just a little. (I don’t know what exactly is going on with the back, but I know that if I walked the way he normally does to compensate for his knee, my back would hurt, too.)
We give all the glory to God for what He is doing! We emphasized over and over to people today that Jesus Christ is the one who healed them. This led to a number of good conversations, and three people (I believe) professed faith in Jesus. We have their contact information so we can follow up on them.
One of the neatest things for me was witnessing what happened late this afternoon with a local gal who is a new believer that Liz and Tasha baptized several months ago. She was invited to come, and Jordan and the ladies tossed her right into the mix and had her start praying for people. She shared Christ with several people with no hesitation. I witnessed her laying hands on two different women and praying for healing and their pain completely disappeared. One lady said after this gal prayed for her that a bone in her hip that had been out went back in. Praise God for working not only through us, but more importantly through a new believer from our town! Imagine the possibilities!
These are just some of the really neat things that happened yesterday and today. Thanks so much to all of you who pray for God’s work down here. He is moving! Join us in rejoicing and praising Him for His goodness and in asking him to continue moving through the remaining two days of medical outreach. We’re excited to see what else He does!