As we pulled into one of the villages this morning for our weekly Bible study, a woman was standing there with a teenager, who had a baby strapped to her back. We learned that this was a woman, her daughter, Mwaiwawo, and the baby was her grandson, Antony.
The woman smiled and pointing to her daughter asked, "Do you remember her?" I remembered the face, but I was having trouble making the connection. I answered, "No, please remind me." Then the girl said, "Do you remember the day you were called to come to my house to pray for me?" Suddenly, as I recalled the event, I was overjoyed to see her and reached out to hug her. Here is their story...
On that day, as I was teaching, a woman rushed into the room and asked me to come with her to pray for a girl because she was very ill and in danger of losing her baby. I stopped teaching to ask George to take the class. When he agreed, my interpreter and I jumped into the front of the 4x4 and the woman who came for me got into the back.
At that time, I had never driven a 4x4, never a vehicle this big, and never one with the shift on the left. It felt really huge. Initially, we lurched forward and stalled. On the second try, I found reverse then first, and all the rest made sense. We pulled onto the dirt road and began to progress with the woman in the back seat pointing the way. We went on for some time, down one bumpy trail after another, going further and further from anywhere I had ever been. Eventually, I knew we had to be in some distant village.
Eventually, we came to a deep eroded gulley with a couple of logs piled in the bottom. There I stopped to consider my options. I was sure the gulley would swallow my front tires, nevertheless, I asked my assistant to get out of the vehicle and go ahead of us to evaluate the situation. It did occur to me that she does not drive and might not be the best one to assess the risk.
She walked over to the ditch, looked down, then back at me and said, "It's good. You can do it." She got back in, and we all prayed for safety. Then, I backed up a little, applied the gas, then ka-bump, ka-bump, we landed safely on the other side. Thank you Jesus! After another quarter mile of no road, from the back seat the woman pointed to a little cluster of mud brick houses off to the left. We pulled in front of one and got out.
This young girl, maybe 14, the one who was standing before me today, was sitting on the porch, obviously in late term of her pregnancy, very ill, and agonizing in pain.We learned that when she started labor, she made her way to the clinic, which referred her to the city hospital. Although she was bleeding, she somehow made it to the hospital, where, the doctor examined her and told her and to go home. Because she was so young, her pelvis was small, so her birth canal was too restricted for a natural childbirth. In short, doctors had given up on her because they were not prepared to deal with her special needs. Nevertheless, they were hopeful, because although we had never met, her mother had heard testimonies of God's healing of many people in answer to prayer.
As we walked up on the porch, several neighbors gathered around to witness what would happen. I didn't know the spiritual condition of any of these people, but I was not willing to miss an opportunity to introduce them to Jesus. I asked the girl and her mother if they were believers and if they had put their trust in Jesus to save them. They told me they were not Christians, so I told them how they could have a personal relationship with Jesus. They both prayed with me, putting their trust in what Jesus has done for them.
Then, I asked permission to lay hands on the girl and pray for her. I laid my hands on her and prayed a simple prayer for a healthy, natural delivery of her baby and for the safety of this young girl. It was a simple prayer, but it was one that magnified Christ and His mighty resurrection power that saves and heals.
Again, I shared the love of Jesus with them and asked them to completely put their trust in Jesus. We greeted all those gathered around, said our goodbyes and made our way back to the village where we started.
Since then, I never saw the girl and her mother until today, over a year later. Today, the girl stood to testify that in answer to prayer, God healed her! She was able to deliver her baby naturally. She and her baby are doing fine! She said, "Now, I want to come to these classes to learn."
The resurrected Lord Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, the highest position of power and authority. He has been given a name above all names. All praise, honor, and glory belong to Him alone. Our God is mighty to save!
