Richard’s Blog >> 4/3/09
Richard’s Blog – April 3, 2009
Mission: Nicaragua
Another fulfilling day of ministry today! While our medical team headed out to start their next clinic, I headed to meet the mayor of Nicaragua. He surprised me with the news that he was making me an honorary citizen of Managua. (Now all I have to do is learn Spanish! I already know “un poquito”…a bit…and I’m learning more.) Then the mayor asked for my prayers, saying he knew the answers he needed could only come from God. I prayed and asked God to give the mayor wisdom to know what to do so he could run Managua with excellence. I invited him to come to tonight’s crusade too.
Then I met up with the doctors at the clinic in Nemagon…a “tent city” located in a park in the middle of Managua. It’s populated with people who had to leave their homes years ago due to a chemical spill. They live in makeshift tents made of garbage bags, cloth, wooden tent poles, wire, and string. Many of these people are elderly. Others are families struggling to survive. It breaks my heart to see that…but it gives me great joy to know we made a difference there.
Just like we saw at our other clinics, people lined up early to get help. Today, they just kept coming and coming and coming. The numbers are still coming in, but their early estimate is that they saw at least 450 people today. The doctors saw all kinds of problems…kidney infections, cancer, stress, depression, dizziness, hernias, coughs, stomach problems, acid reflux…The list went on and on. Many of these people were in dire need of encouragement as well as medical treatment, medicines, and food provided by Hunger Needs a Voice®. And as always, our team rose to the occasion. We treated the physical needs of people of Nemagon, then prayed the prayer of faith with them. And we saw plenty of salvations, rededications, and healing prayers. Glory to God! I love it!
And there were some immediate healings too. I spoke with one elderly lady suffering with stiff hands due to arthritis, and I prayed with her, then told her to try bending her fingers. She did – and boy, did her face light up when she realized the pain was gone. She was so excited she gave me a big hug. What joy!
And there was even more joy tonight…our first healing service in Managua’s Plaza de la Revolucion. The atmosphere was festive…and the plaza was packed with people. Jordan Adrian, and the singers led worship for me. Then I taught on the woman with the issue of blood, and gave them a bit of my testimony. I wanted them to know that God could heal them if they would simply believe and trust God. I also wanted them to realize that no matter what they were facing, a miracle from God always settles the issue.
The plaza was charged with expectation and faith that it was easy to pray for them! We had so many people come up to testify they were healed that we couldn’t talk to them all. But let me give you a picture of what we saw tonight…a woman unable to see well for 2 years could see clearly…several people healed of back pain and able to bend and walk freely…a little girl able to walk for the first time in her life…a man our doctors saw at the clinic received healing in his legs and no longer needed his crutches…a twisted foot straightened…two frozen shoulders healed…a deaf boy’s hearing returned…eyes healed…depression lifted…
But the best miracle of all is the miracle of salvation. When I asked who wanted to make Jesus their Lord and Savior, hands went up all over the crowd. They streamed to the platform…so many I lost count of them…there were hundreds! The local pastors who have been such a blessing to help with the crusade were there to get these new believers into a church where they can grow in God. I left there so pumped up tonight that I might have trouble sleeping. I can’t wait until tomorrow. It’s going to be great day, because God is a great God!
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