I’d love to share another testimony of how God moved while we were ministering in the local hospital in Granada, Nicaragua!
We would usually visit the hospital with a World Race team, a couple translators, and a couple staff members from the base we were working with. This particular day we only had one translator, and somehow I was the best Spanish-speaker of the Americans (which is not saying much)! So we split up, and my teammate Karoline and I went with one of the staff members, Alvaro. Alvaro spoke a little English and I spoke a little Spanish, so I knew we would figure it out. And I figured you don’t need to understand much to know how to pray for people!
The three of us went to a room where patients were waiting to be checked in. We walked up to a man whose skin had turned a deep yellow. His eyes were closed and sunken into his face. He looked like he was in a great deal of pain and he didn’t look like he had much longer to live. There wasn’t anyone standing around or waiting with him, he was alone. We asked him what his name was – for his privacy, let’s call him Manuel. We asked what his condition was and found out he had issues with his colon.
This is a very common issue in Nicaragua. It is a poorer country and so you’ll often see families eating the cheapest food you can buy. Unfortunately, the cheapest food and drinks are filled with sugar. Alvaro also believed it was a spiritual attack on their region because he had seen perfectly healthy people suddenly sent to the hospital for problems with their colon.
We found out that Manuel had family but they lived so far away they couldn’t visit, so he was all alone and wasn’t expecting any visitors. Alvaro asked him if he believed in God and if he knew who Jesus was. We shared the truth of who he is and who God is – that he is so loved by a perfect God who wants a relationship with him! At this point Alvaro and Manuel started talking more, but I was having a hard time understanding. Karoline and I didn’t know where the conversation was going, but patiently stood by and interceded while they talked. A couple minutes later, Alvaro asked if we would pray and so we grabbed Manuel’s hands and started praying.
We prayed that he would have an encounter with God, that he would be radically healed of any disease, that his colon would be restored to perfect health in Jesus’ name! We finished praying and I looked up to see Alvaro tearing up! He asked if I understood their conversation, and when I said no he told me that Manuel had just accepted Jesus for the first time!! Karoline and I were almost in tears as we celebrated him coming into relationship with our good, good God!
Karoline shared with Manuel that he was now part of the family of God! That he will never be alone because God is with him, and we are now his brothers and sisters in Christ! Manuel started tearing up and had the biggest smile on his face. He shared with us that he had never been to church before, had never known God, and as we prayed he felt the presence of God!!
That alone was reason enough to celebrate and rejoice in a good God who is pursuing His lost kids, even as they near death. But there’s more! A week later I ran into Alvaro and asked if he got to meet up with Manuel again. He said that he visited him and not only was he in great spirits, but he had been physically healed! Manuel was almost fully recovered and was leaving the hospital to go home! WHAT!
God, first, took ahold of Manuel’s heart and brought him into eternal life and relationship with Him! Then, He graciously chose to radically heal his physical body! In a situation that seemed hopeless, with death waiting at the door, God stepped in and brought His eternal hope and changed everything! Thanks God!
I am reminded of Romans 15:13 and pray that we would continue to be people that step into the hopeless places in people’s lives and hold fast to His hope and His love that never fails!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
