Leprosy
Last night we went into the city, and Sergio took us down a back street. We were looking for a man who lost both of his legs to a land mine and had asked us for food for his family. Just walking down the street we drew quite a crowd. So Joseph decided to preach. I have never seen so many ill and disabled people. There were at least a dozen with missing limbs, lepers, blind, deaf…you name it and they were there.
As soon as Joseph began preaching, two men were thrown on the ground and began manifesting demons. Joseph asked the people there what was happening. he knew but wanted to see what they said. They told us this happened to them all the time, that it was Satan that did this to them. We began to pray for them and they were delivered immediately. I was holding the man’s hands that I was praying for, and he was looking into my eyes. I could literally see him getting free as I prayed. The rest of the night, he kept crying, holding onto my hand and kissing it. But he had a huge smile on his face and was so full of joy.
We spent hours praying for the sick. Sergio said they knew that Jesus heals, and they wanted to take advantage of Christians in their neighborhood who were willing to pray for them. They just kept bringing more and more people. There was one little man there that was completely deformed. But he didn’t want prayer, he wanted to tell me what was wrong with everyone there and make sure I prayed for them instead. Sergio was busy interpreting for Joseph. The man only spoke Portuguese and Makua. My Portuguese is limited, and my Makua almost nonexistent. But then a funny thing happened. All the sudden I could understand everything he was telling me. I knew exactly what he was saying, even though I usually struggle to understand Portuguese and he was rattling away nonstop. I think he was so desperate, God just translated for me out of mercy.
At one point I realized that I had been sitting in a pile of garbage for hours. I hadn’t even noticed, I was so busy praying for people. One of the ones that stayed with me the most was a man that had leprosy. His hands were so damaged, and I just held them for the longest time and cried. The little guy told me that this man had constant pain. I know that leprosy is easily treated today, and that the WHO supposedly has been working to eradicate it. But somehow, this man has fallen through the cracks, and the damage is already done. A few days ago, I met Blaise from Paris who is the founder and president of a medical NGO working all throughout Africa. He gave me contact info for all his bases in Africa, and told me to call any of them and they would arrange anything I needed. I want to find out more about what can be done for this man.
It was hard to stop, and when we finally did, all of the taxis had left for the night and we were beginning to worry. But while we were standing there, trying to figure out what to do, Sergio’s boss drove by and picked us up. Perfect timing.
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