“…And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16:17-18
Thursday morning we sat with our team leader, Sarah, & she asked us our typical morning question, “What do you want today to look like?” We offered some of our usual words: loving, selfless, joyful, energetic. But amongst these, an unusual one was mentioned
healing.
Following our normal routine, we came before God in prayer, expectantly asking him to fill our day with the words we had mentioned. Despite our van breaking down, the team made it to Enaleni, our care point. We finished devotional. Then, we were informed that one of our makes (mah-gays), who had given birth just weeks prior, had passed out. There were no updates on her condition, but we knew that she lived in a rural area with no access to medical care. We decided to send out half of the team to bring her food & help however we could. The rest of the team stayed behind, dutifully attending to the children at the carepoint & interceding on our behalf.
The five of us set out on the long, hot walk. We were led by a local boy, & accompanied by both our translator Sdumo & Shepard Nonhlanhla. Upon arrival, we found that Make wasn’t present. She had recovered (praise God!), but had no way of letting us know. Instead of praying healing over her, we did whatever else we could. We prayed protection over the family & homestead, cleaned up the area, burned the trash, & made the arduous trek down to the river to dig up water (example pictured below).
As we were leaving, we asked how we could specifically help/pray for them. She told us that a household nearby had a child who was paralyzed from the neck down.
As the team walked up to the homestead, there was a singular child, around one year old, sitting outside the small concrete home. She was half naked, covered in dirt, & had dried snot covering her face & neck. As I went to pick her up I heard my heartbroken teammate turn to Sdumo with the question we were all wondering,
“Is she here alone?”
Translating her answer, Sdumo explained that about six children lived in the home alone, all under the age of 14. The mother had abandoned the family & the father was primarily absent—only occasionally showing up. I noticed the abundance of empty alcoholic beverages littered around the area, & wondered if it was more of a relief when he wasn’t there. This was a child-headed homestead. Tragically, a very common occurrence in Eswatini.
Make’s sister brought out the paralyzed little girl. I looked around at my teammates & saw their hearts were breaking as much as mine was. We did the most powerful thing we could for her, we prayed. Now, typically, rumble praying isn’t easy for me. It’s too many people speaking at the same time. I get distracted. I can’t think of anything to say. But this time was different. As I spoke, every word from my mouth flowed easily. The words held power. My thoughts were clear, undistracted. Never in my life have I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence so heavily. I locked eyes with my teammate, Lexie. She mouthed the words,
“She just squeezed my hand.”
To the whole group’s shock, we looked down & saw her kicking her legs & moving her arms. Joy abounded. We held & comforted her. We saw her smile, saw her move in ways she never had.
We alerted our ministry partner, Adventures in Missions Eswatini, of the household. The children’s acceptance into the program & sponsorship is in the making. They’ll be spiritually sheparded & led. My team will be bringing them food, water, hygiene items, & medical care for the rest of our time here.
James 2:15,16 asks the question, “If a brother, or sister is naked & destitute of daily food, & one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warm & filled,’ but do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” In other words, giving a spiritual blessing (such as sharing the gospel) without meeting an urgent physical need profits no one, especially the one receiving. Evangelism that ignores hollow-eyed hunger or other crying needs of the ones being evangelized is a physical contradiction to the spiritual message. Jesus exemplified this perfectly. He showed mercy for men’s souls by laboring for them, & preaching the gospel to them; & he showed mercy to their bodies in going about doing good, healing all manner of sickness & diseases among the people. We have the remarkable example of Christ’s ministry to men’s souls & bodies. He showed compassion by feeding both (Mark 6:34 ect.).
Please pray for the spiritual & physical needs of the children & my team. Pray for the sweet little girl! Pray that they will be accepted into the program & encouraged into faith!
It’s no coincidence that we prayed for healing that morning. God tells us to ask & it will be given (Luke 11:9). We set out to pray healing over Make, but God had greater plans in mind. Plans to give a family of 6 beloved children hope & a future. I don’t know exactly what God has in store for these children, but I know it’s great enough to see a miracle.
God has given us authority in his name. (John 14:12-14, Matthew 10:1, Luke 10:8-9, Mark 16:17-18).
