When God Meets Sickness
When I think about God I can’t help but realize how little we really know or understand about Him. What I do know though is this; He is so marvelous!
I asked the old man if he was ready to be saved
I want to share a story with you. It is a story of a miracle that took place while I was in Kenya on a mission trip in 2012. While there, we were asked if we would go to a local hospital to pray for the people there. We thought that would be wonderful. When we arrived the next day, we found three separate buildings holding around fifty patients. It was interesting as the grounds were guarded with a fence around the perimeter. We were escorted in and drove up the hill to the parking lot which sat right in the middle of all three buildings.
Apparently, the hospital administrator was suspicious of us, so we were delayed before we could begin praying for the patients. It would be about a half hour later before we were given a green light. We walked into the first room and I noticed there were three beds, all with men in each. The bed closest to the door had a very old man laying on it. He looked very frail, sick and ready to die. His son was standing next to his father watching and waiting for his father to pass away. His son seemed to be around twenty five years old. One of the pastors with us is a seer and he watched the spirit of death standing behind the old man. He wasn’t saved and was going to have a rude awakening if we didn’t lead him to accept Jesus as his savior.
I asked my interpreter for permission to speak to his father. The son readily agreed to my request. I didn’t see the Light of Christ in the father nor his son when I looked at them. So I asked the interpreter to ask the father if he was ready to be saved. The translation didn’t take long and I could see hope rise up in the old man. He tilted his head upward to look at me with great anticipation. I said, “Have him repeat after me. Tell him Jesus loves him and is ready to forgive his sin” That was translated and then I said, “Have him ask Jesus to forgive him of his sin throughout his life. Have him speak it out of his mouth.” The translator repeated my instruction and the man spoke to the Lord. I could see that he was repentant.;
He confessed that he was a sinner and asked Jesus to forgive him. I said, “Have the man open the doors over his heart and hold them open” I showed him what that would look like by taking both my hands and opening the imaginary doors over my chest. The man did the same thing; it was so tender. “Tell him that Jesus has been waiting his whole life for him to open those doors. It’s time to let Him in.” The father asked Jesus to come in and take His rightful place in him.
The son began to smile at realizing his father was being saved and watched as his countenance changed right in front of him. Just like that, his father was saved. I saw the Light of Christ drop into him. What an amazing gift to lead people into salvation. Even more, to know this man instantly had his name written in the Book of Life in Heaven, what a privilege. I asked the son if he was ready to be saved as well and he immediately nodded and said yes. I had him walk through the same steps as his father just had. The son was saved that day as well.
My team of pastors walked through every room in the hospital leading one person at a time to Jesus, laying hands on them to be healed. Every single patient we touched was healed instantly. More than that, every person we spoke to gave their life to Jesus. Even the nurses. What was more astounding was Jesus was with us as we walked to each room. The seers I was with saw Him touch each person over our arms as we prayed. Goodness…
As our team headed towards the last wing of the third building, we found most of the rooms were empty. We were almost at the end of the hall when we passed the last door on the right side. I glanced in and only saw a room full of empty beds. We figured the room wasn’t being used at the time so we turned and headed back down the aisle. But something caught my eye. I thought I saw a person way in the back. I turned and looked again and sure enough, there was a young boy sitting on the side of a bed looking out the window on the far wall. He didn’t even know we were there. I piped up and said, “Hey guys! There is a child in the room.”
We all headed in and walked up to his bed. His back was still to us, so we walked around the front of his bed. What we found was heart-breaking. This boy was at the end of his life with AIDS. He had oozing sores all over his body. Sitting there in clean pajama’s, he looked as if life held nothing for him now. One of my pastors wives sat down next to him and put her arm around his waste and pulled him close. He laid his head on her chest and just looked at us. Needless to say, she was in tears for this child. It doesn’t seem fair for a child to lose their life because of the sin of their parents.
I stood in front of the child and began to pray for him. I bound up the AIDS and all the other sickness in him and commanded it to leave. I sliced and diced into the spiritual realm and within him in prayer. All the while, he just sat there facing death. Little did he know, death had left the room. We didn’t catch it either. We stayed a short time longer and left. He left all of us mourning our sin.
The next day
One of the pastors we were staying with got a phone call from the administrator of child services for the hospital. He asked our host if he would come to his office the following day to talk with him. So, early the next morning, our host left his home and began to travel by foot to the hospital which was about twenty miles away. We waited expectantly all day and even into the night for him to come home. It was after eleven thirty that night when he walked in. He sat down and took a breath and was served dinner. Then he began to tell us what had happened in town. “I was at the administrators office today. The man asked me if we were involved with praying for the little boy who was dying of AIDS. I told him we were. He said, “I don’t know what is going on, but the boy is looking like he is healed. The lesions and wounds are all but completely gone. His skin is clear. We don’t see any signs of AIDS in him at all” We all cheered and rejoiced in what God had done for us. He had answered our prayer.
I want to share the end of the story with you. About a month later, I was back home in America and I received a phone call from an orphanage in Kenya. The person who runs it asked if I had been in her country recently and I told her we had. She asked me if I had prayed for a boy with AIDS in a hospital and I confirmed to her we had. “Pastor Jeff, I want you to know that I have him in my orphanage and he is doing great. He has been with us for a few years after his parents died. I took him to the hospital when he got sick. Jeff, he is outside riding a bike even now” I asked her if she would put him on the phone so I could pray with him and she went and got him. A couple of minutes later, I heard him talking with her as they entered her room. All of the sudden I heard a “Hello!” in his Kenyan accent. I was in tears rejoicing. Prayer went up for almost ten minutes as I pleaded with God for his life. I thanked God and Jesus and Holy Spirit for what they did when we were there. I asked God to bless the boy with a great future.
Over the last year I have seen photos of him growing up and doing great. Now, there are many who would doubt this story. Honestly, I could care a less. I only care about what God thinks. He is an amazing Creator who rules over everything going on around us. All we have to do is believe.
I have written out this testimony so the reader will grow in faith with God. He is Mighty and Glorious. And He loves you. You and I are not lacking in anything with God. He will deliver the goods if we just believe for them.
God has called us His children. What child wouldn’t grow up and have authority to speak for his family? That is who we are. I truly hope this story changes how you pray with people in the future. Do it filled with faith that God will perform.
As I write this out, this boy is now eleven years old. If the Spirit reminds you of this story, will you please lift up a blessing and prayer for him? He can use it. Life in Kenya is tough.
Maybe you are reading this and have never opened up your heart to Jesus. Please! Do it now. Ask Him in. He will make your life so that it is filled with His Joy.
I hope you have a blessed life as you bless others.
Pastor Jeff Mauer
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