Monday, July 22, 2013

God still heals!

One of my favorite verses of the New Testament is Acts 14:3: “So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” (ESV)

And of one of my favorite things in life is when God shows up in miraculous ways to confirm his word! While I could try to explain what happened, I'll let Brooke tell you! She is on an outreach team that spent their three month lecture phase in Kona, HI and spent about 4 weeks in DC with us and will soon be leaving for the Middle East.

"As our time in Washington DC comes to an end, I can’t help but to smile as I think about all that the Lord has done in this city as well as what He has done in my life. Ever since watching Darren Wilson’s “Finger of God” a few months ago, I’ve had an itch to see God show off before my own eyes. This brings me to my favorite moment out of the four weeks we have been here. Every night our team travels out to DuPont Circle, a popular hang out spot for both locals and tourists. To paint a picture for you, just imagine a park with a pretty fountain in the center surrounded by restaurants galore, embassies, shops, and lots of traffic. A large portion of the homeless community call this place their home. The first night our team decided to evangelize in groups of two. With that being said, Grant, his ukulele (aka companion for life), and myself were off. At this point I’m thinking to myself okay lets take a lap around the park and scope out our bait, but Grant just goes for it.

We walk up to a group of four homeless people hanging out on a bench and begin talking about life. Grant takes Mitch who is a universalist and I take Bree, Kevin, and Brett who gives me every reason not to believe in God. Bree has a past of rejection, abuse, and confusion so it was a challenge getting her to open up. Kevin deals with self worth, oppression, and fear that causes him to remain silent. Brett grew up with no stability, love, or acceptation. After nearly two hours of conversation, my hunger to see God move is out of control. It’s like waiting for your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant. All the sudden Brett moans and complains about the pain in his leg. My ears perk up and I realize my favorite meal at my favorite restaurant is about to be served. Brett can barely walk, even with his cane because he was hit by a car which caused a serious meniscus injury. I asked if I could pray over his leg and he said yes! After praying I asked him to stand up without his cane. His reaction is one I will remember for the rest of my life.

Standing in awe, his jaws hit the ground and he says, “There is no pain in my knee.” Still limping, I insist we keep praying that God will completely restore his entire leg back to its original design. Grant walks over and we both pray for full healing. Brett stands up once more and exclaims, “I feel like I have a new leg! Lets walk to California! What the....” Completely dumbfounded at what just happened, Brett tells us that he’s going to share with his mom (who is an atheist), this miracle of how God healed his leg! Bree insists that we pray for her dad who has cancer and Kevin was willing to receive prophetic words, affirmation and prayer too. The atmosphere shifted in that moment, a moment I will never forget. Time and time again I will hear various people from the homeless community speak about how Brett doesn’t walk with his cane anymore. They say he uses that cane as a testimony of how God healed his leg. And that my friends, is the beginning of an awakening in DuPont Circle."

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