Mary is Indian woman, wife and mother. Her family lives on the rubber plantation where her husband works.
Mary has very weak knees, due to an unknown cause. As a young girl she had surgery to fix the problem, but it did not help her much. Her condition has caused her calf muscles to remain under developed. Her feet turn inward, and walking is excruciatingly painful for her. Above her knees, her body is overweight, due to lack of mobility, which only adds to the pressure put on her knees.
We met Mary during house visitations with our Pastor Yesu. She welcomed us into her home.
Here’s what happened:
After some small talk we prayed for her pain to be relieved. Kaitlyn told the story of the woman who had a blood flow for 12 years, but was healed through her faith in just touching Jesus’s garment. Mary had called the whole family in to hear the testimonies. Kaitlyn also briefly shared about how the Lord answered her own parents prayers and healed her of Glaucoma as a baby. After Kaitlyn finished talking, Maria just out and asked us to tell her more about Jesus!
Say What? Talk about open door!
I had sensed, in my spirit, that She, and her husband, were open to hearing the gospel and close to believing.
I shared a bit of my own testimony and through it explained the gospel of Jesus Christ; the amazing love of God, freedom from sin, acceptance and perfection in Jesus, the hope of a future in heaven, and the promise of a new, perfect, body free of pain and suffering.
Maria and her family listened intently. They said they would think on it and consider believing in Jesus.
The Holy Spirit was not yet done leading us. I knew this was a case where God wanted to heal to show his love. I explained to Maria that we were going to pray again that God would take away her pain so that she would know that Jesus loves her and that she MUST trust in him as her savior. I told her that God wanted to use her, and her family, to spread the gospel throughout their community. She would have a testimony of God’s healing hand to prove that there is only one God who has power. (The community is Hindu and accepts and believes in all Gods.)
We got down on our knees and boldly asked God to take away her pain for HIS glory. I took her hands and said “In the name of Jesus stand up and walk free of pain”.
Mary slowly stood up out of her chair and the look on her face was one of utter surprise.
She began to walk around, testing her legs. She sat down and stood back up. And she smiled and giggled.
There was NO MORE PAIN!
Talk about exciting!!!
We yelped and clapped and gave glory to Jesus, thanking Him for healing her.
We prayed over her a few more times that the pain would stay away and that she would share her testimony.
Mary gave glory to God and said “I now trust in Jesus!!!!!!”
I think I gave Maria the first bear hug of her life 🙂 haha, she was a bit stiff, but I couldn’t contain my joy!!!
She thanked us and we told her not to thank us, but to thank Jesus!
God sure does comes through when there’s a reason to!
PLEASE continue to pray for Maria and her family. They cannot read, there are no other Christians in their community of over 300, and they have been so confused by Hindu beliefs, all their life, that giving up their other gods is something they said they still need to think about doing.
We did a follow up visit. Sadly I was unable to join the house visit team because my role was to play soccer with the kids that evening. When Kaitlyn and Ricks showed up at Mary’s door she was just coming home from a walk! A WALK! The pain was still gone! Mary shared that she had been having dreams of Jesus asking her “will you give up your other gods for me?”
God is drawing Mary and her family. Pray that they do not harden their hearts to His love. There are many superstitions and lies that are spread in their community. One such superstition is the belief that the rice Pastor Yesu hands out every month has the power to brain wash the people into believing in Jesus!
Mary showed the girls the room where she keeps all the rice, untouched. Its crazy! The devil is such a liar!
