It’s a Miracle!!!

As many of you may already know, I was blessed to be able to serve in a rural island of Indonesia for 11 months from 2011-2012. I was teaching in a new school over there, but living on a base with many other Indonesians and a family of Australians. The main mission on the base was always medical – providing healthcare to people who are too poor to use the local hospital system. The people who lived on the base full time were a mixture of healthcare workers, orphans and various other families who were serving in healthcare or administration. There were also several people who had received healthcare from the organisation and had decided to stay on to serve God is this avenue.

This story starts from when I first arrived. I met this woman, Winda (who would become one of my best friends over there) and her quality of life was extremely poor due to the scarring effects of tuberculosis (TB). Winda was studying at the time she contracted TB and had put off seeing a doctor because she had no money, and didn’t want to miss out on any uni classes. She pushed through for almost 2 years before she was not able to do anything at all without extreme difficulty. I found out when she shared her testimony that she actually came so close to death that the death bells were ringing in her village and she heard people outside talking to each other, “Who is dead?”  “Winda is dead, poor thing.” She had asked God not to let her die, and she grew strong enough to live and get treatment at this clinic where I was. She received her dose of TB medicine and was clear of the disease, but the damage was already done. Her lungs were so scarred that she could only walk at the pace of a new toddler and even at that pace, a distance of 20m was difficult.

When I had been at the base for a month or so, I was able to hear about Winda and her illness (her English is great!) I felt very strongly in my heart to pray for her and felt God tell me that she was going to be healed. Now, I’d been waiting for such a moment for most of my Christian life – hearing testimonies about healings over many years, but not actually brave enough to step out in faith and believe for something so big. I asked Winda if I could pray for her and she was happy for that, so I prayed with everything I knew – commanding healing, rebuking the scarring, inviting the Holy Spirit… and, of course, using the name of Jesus as only I knew how at that stage. After I prayed, that was that, I did it, then we carried on the day. No obvious change. The next day – the same, and the next day too… I was so disappointed. I KNEW God spoke to me. It was so clear. He said she was going to be healed. I also knew that God is not the one holding back healing because Jesus paid for out healing on the cross. It’s already been released. So if that was the case, then it was up to us somehow. I just didn’t know then what I know now. I never got ‘down’ about it. But I did withdraw from praying for people. Well – in terms of radical healing anyway…

Seven or so months went by. Over these last few months I had started reading a few of Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton’s books and had been listening to their podcasts. At their church they have been witnessing amazing healings – frequently – over the past 30 years, and from listening to their stories and testimonies my faith had deepened. One book that really touched my heart was “The Essential Guide to Healing” by Randy Clarke and Bill Johnson. It outlined their basic methodology. Now don’t tune out here. It’s hard to put into only a few words. Of course there’s no ‘formula’ or magic phrase that will release healing, but this is a basic structure that will help you be sensitive to the whisper of the Holy Spirit in this situation. Basically it goes like this.

·      Ask the person what the issue is. Now don’t roll your eyes – this part is key. There can be a difference between an injury caused by an accident, a genetic illness, cancer, unhealthy living (diabetes, STDs), psychosomatic causes… It’s actually important to know so you know how to pray for these things.

·      Then listen to the Holy Spirit. What’s he telling you? What’s he showing you?

·      Pray like you are doing business on behalf of Jesus himself. Take authority.

·      Check what’s happening with the person. What’s God doing in their body/mind/Spirit?

·      If nothing seems to be happening – then listen and wait and pray and keep checking in with the person. (Obviously it's more detailed than this, but for time's sake I've kept it brief.)

Now – prior to this understanding, I only ever did steps 1 and 2… maybe. I usually had a bit of an idea about asking the person – otherwise you wouldn’t know what to pray for! Obviously I always prayed for them. But, to be honest with you, I barely ever checked with them afterwards because I was too scared that they would have to say they didn’t get healed, and everyone would lose faith and it would be my fault because my faith wasn’t high enough… And the cycle would continue. What I understand now is that there is ‘no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus’ (Rom 8:1) and that what I was doing wasn’t the problem – it was what I wasn’t doing that was blocking the healing.

With this new understanding of healing the sick, I finally got up the guts to ask Winda if I could pray with her again. I had been feeling to pray for her again many times over those months, but at that stage I couldn’t bare the possible disappointment again. One thing I learned under the Bethel Church pastors is that it’s not up to us to make excuses for the apparent lack of healing, but our job is to be obedient. Whatever happens after that is God’s business and all we have to do is stay open to his leading. So, Winda and I went into one of the smaller rooms and sat down. I felt the Holy Spirit ask me to ask her if she felt like God had given her this disease. She, like many others I met, was of the opinion that God gives and/or allows these afflictions to come on us to draw us closer to him. (Now I’m not discussing the human nature to draw closer to Him in affliction – I’m addressing the nature of God in terms of him giving or encouraging affliction.) One thing I have learned over the past few months is that we can’t give what we don’t have. God, too, can’t give what he doesn’t have. I shared this with Winda and I could see that she was struggling to accept this truth, because it was so different to what she’d been taught her whole life. She said that she didn’t understand why Jesus raised her from her deathbed if she was only going to live this half-life. There was no future for her of marrying; having children, even walking was a problem. She went on to say that she would ask God to make her well, but then she’d feel guilty for asking him, and for doubting that she would be healed in God’s time – when she had learned all she could from having this disease.

Immediately the Holy Spirit highlighted these issues with condemnation and gave me a word of knowledge into her affliction. I shared with her that if she believed that God still wanted her sick, then she would not fully let go of the illness – even when people are rebuking it out of her life. I said to her that I thought it was essential that she fully understand that God doesn’t want her sick – Jesus came to give her a FULL life. I could see that she was still struggling to accept this – like it was too good to be true, but at the same time realising how deceived she and many others had been. I suggested that she pray on her own and ask God what he was saying about all of this. She bowed her head and prayed. A few moments later she lifted her head, looked me in the eyes and said, “I don’t think God wants me sick anymore.” My heart rejoiced and I was so excited. I knew this was it. I asked her what she was feeling/sensing. She told me she was hot all over her upper back! I got even more excited! I burst out, “You’re getting healed! The Holy Spirit’s healing you! That’s what the hotness means! It’s happening!” I was the most excited I’d ever been. She started crying and I thought that even though she’s being healed, it’s still good to pray. So I prayed as I knew how – bringing Heaven to Earth, reaching up in to Heaven and grabbing a new pair of lungs (she needed new ones because her old ones were too scarred to work properly.) I thanked Jesus for what he did, and the Holy Spirit for what he was doing, and God for loving us and then checked with Winda again. She said she was all hot over her chest, and she saw a picture of a man putting new lungs into her chest. WOW!! I said, let’s praise God for your healing. She was still crying and I think I was a little too, and then I asked her if she wanted to do something she couldn’t do before. She said, “Let’s go for a walk!” So we walked! Not at toddler speed. Not a slow pace, but a regular Australian walking pace! (That will only mean something to people who have walked with Indonesians!) We walked all the way from her house, past the base house, down the driveway (which involved a downwards hill and up the other side too) where we turned the corner and were about to go down the hill again where we had to take a breather! All the way I was asking, “How you doing? Still breathing?” (To be honest I was half freaking out she was going to drop with all the excitement, but praise God she didn’t!) Every time I asked, she said she was breathing fine. The reason we had to stop, was not because of her lungs, but because her emaciated body had had no exercise for 3 years and her legs got tired. I felt prompted to pray for and strengthen her heart because it wouldn’t be used to all the activity it suddenly got! We walked back to the house (albeit a little slower due to leg exhaustion) where we spent a bit more time praising and thanking God.

When I left Indonesia at the end of June 2012, Winda was regularly, singing and playing guitar and ukulele, she had been teaching the girls some dances, able to leave the house and go on trips, started studying basic healthcare, helping out in the school and was still breathing with no troubles. Her body was still week, but in time she will grow stronger. Jesus came that she may have life and have it to the full. And he came that I may have life to the full – and I don’t want to miss out on anything due to fear of man, or fear of disappointment any more.