Miracles and Wonders

Today’s readings (Acts 5:12-16 and John 20: 19-31) were encouraging words to confidently apply and live the gospel of Jesus with greater trust to step out of the boat and onto the water.

The sunset over La Colonia

Last week ,”Holy Week" was an amazing time to witness God’s love, mercy and healing. The week started with the Lord encouraging us to journey deeper with a local man (Ivan) and his family by asking them to join us in door to door evangelization in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town, La Colonia. The simple invitation was life altering as it led to two miraculous encounters and snowballed to create more laborers for God’s great harvest.

Walking to La Colonia to invite people to pray

The last door we knocked on Sunday night was the first miraculous encounter with Christ resulting in the spiritual and partial physical healing of a man with severe Parkinson’s disease. We initially knocked and the door was unanswered. Ivan whistled through the screen door and we were then greeted by an elderly woman. We invited the family to a worship gathering the following night and asked if we could pray for them before departing. The family asked that we pray for their declining health. The woman had pain and scoliosis; the man (G.) had Parkinson’s disease, struggled to walk and was unable to speak. We prayed for the couple asking that the Lord would fill their hearts with HIS peace and love, and to encourage them with hope. We asked that any spirits of despair or other spirits not of Jesus Christ be driven away from them and they be filled with the Holy Spirit. After praying, I felt compelled to give the man a miraculous medal that was in my pocket. We gave them hugs and shared with them how much the Lord loved them. We could clearly see the Lord had touched their hearts and given them hope with HIS peace and HIS love. The man, looking at the medal, spoke asking what the medal was. He asked his wife if they had any string; he looked very happy and immediately took off walking to another room looking for a string to create a necklace with the medal. His wife was in tears and clearly amazed; she said he had not spoken nor walked like he just had in years. The next night they gathered with us for praise and worship and the following night for Mass. This Mass was the first time this man ever witnessed the holy Mass in his life. After the mass, the couple asked if the priest could marry them on the spot. While the priest was unable to marry them on the spot, they are eager to become catechized. Praise you, Jesus! 

G. (pictured with Ivan) getting water from an agave cactus to share with us

After this powerful encounter, Ivan asked if we could pray with a lady in town, D., that he said was on her death bed. I agreed only to find out the sick woman was a witch doctor. That night our families prayed for her salvation. The next day we gathered several men together to pray. There are several witch doctors here and they have put a lot of fear in local people to the extent that a few faith-filled men opted not to go pray for this woman and those who did go pray for her were quiet on the ride over to her house. It felt like we were going into battle. We prayed for the Lord’s strength and intervention, then Ivan, Lincoln, two other men and I went into the woman's house. Our plan was to offer her prayer and ask that she would rebuke all evil accepting the love and salvation Jesus Christ offered. We were nervous entering her house but strengthened and armored with the love of Christ as we approached her. The grace of God had already touched this woman when we arrived. One of the men asked her if we could pray with her and she agreed; she had decided that morning to meet with a priest to receive the sacraments of healing and reconciliation. She was sitting in a chair hunched over. I knelt down beside her and put my hand on her shoulder. She took my hand and put it to her face. We began praying intensely. Her head was unstable with her eyes rolling back in her head and she appeared to be breathing laboriously. She requested her oxygen and then as we continued praying she tried to stand up. We moved her oxygen to where she was able to stand up with it. Her family and the entire group became very emotional; every person in the room felt the immense power of God knowing that something very special and very powerful had taken place. She sat back down and we continued to pray. When we finished, we told her how much Jesus loved her and it was obvious she was feeling His love. Another family member asked if we could also pray over her. When we finished, the sick woman, D., thanked us for coming and asked that we come again. We were told by her family that she was off of oxygen and went to Mass the following weekend, Easter Sunday. We visited her again this past week and while she was using oxygen, her health appears much improved, and more importantly the love of Christ remains in her. Wow, God is great!

I was reminded by these encounters of 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26; we are all one body in Christ and each member is so important and necessary for the work of Jesus to be completed. Neither of these encounters would have taken place without the original invitation that the Holy Spirit prompted with Ivan and his family. The Lord gently encourages each of us with promptings to journey closer to HIM to live more fully in HIS will. I eagerly share this post to glorify God and to encourage us all to be more aware of His subtle promptings.

Thank you for your prayers and your support.

With much love - in HIM, with HIM, and through HIM,

jmn