Experiencing Acts 4:30 in the desert of Piura, Peru
In June 2019, I flew to Peru to join a medical team in Piura, a city located in the northwestern desert. This team was comprised of some of the thousands of missionary volunteers that participated in Un Solo Peru, a massive evangelistic and humanitarian outreach involving over 10,000 international and indigenous volunteers. My primary objective was to propose to my girlfriend Allison, one of two leaders for the medical prayer team in Piura (she said yes! - I won't focus on that wonderful story in this post). I participated as a member of her prayer team. We both came with prayerful anticipation for the Lord to heal the sick.
However, what happened that week I could have never anticipated or imagined.
Collaborating with the Peruvian military forces, we set up a triage and medical clinic in an open, dusty field within the city limits of Piura. We established make-shift waiting areas, operating rooms, and a pharmacy. Our medical team filled an entire army bus, which transported us daily from a tourist hotel nearby. We rose early in the morning to allow time for morning devotion and breakfast, and we arrived at the medical site before 8:00am to pray as a team and get the medical camp ready. Much preparation was needed. As a clinic, we could only serve 250-400 patients a day, but there were thousands of people waiting in line to receive a ticket to enter the waiting area. Because many people came from the slums, the desperation of the crowd, magnified by being turned away from treatment, sometimes turned violent. The Peruvian military forces enforced order, when needed. It was a hectic operation, but entirely effective and very beneficial in bringing relief.
Our prayer team was an assembly of around 30 people from three churches from Washington, Texas and Florida. Every morning, we separated into groups of 2-4 people and walked among the crowds as they waited for tickets and/or treatment. Each team also had the support of a student translator from a local university. The desperation to receive medical attention was very great, and many seemed to be without hope. We all approached each individual with love and compassion in their distress.
We proclaimed the love of Jesus and a simple Gospel, and then we asked if we could pray for healing. At first, some were skeptical. However, once the Lord started healing in power, crowds gathered around us!
We prayed for headaches to go, in the name of Jesus. They went away; no pain!
We prayed for neck, back, leg, and chest pain to go in Jesus' name. And the pain left!
We prayed for legs to lengthen/come into alignment in Jesus' name. And 30 legs grew!
We prayed for eyes and eyesight. And we saw eyesight improved and restored!
I had NEVER seen the Lord do something like this before, at this scale or magnitude. Hundreds of miracles like these and more happened each day. Yet, we saw even more miraculous healings than these.
An example: Allison and a few others prayed for a man with Parkinson's disease. He fell over after prayer and lay unconscious. Then after about a minute, this elderly man jumped up and stood to his feet, asking, "Amen! Donde Estas? (Where am I?)" He walked out of the medical tent totally healed of Parkinson's disease!!
We saw over 1,000 documented healing miracles over 5 days of ministry!! Every day, we prayed from morning to night, with only a small 30 minute lunch break, in the heat of the equatorial, summer sun. The task to pray for healing required much of us, and the Holy Spirit poured himself out in great measure through us.
OK, I have to admit. Seeing the Lord miraculously heal is really cool! Most of the translators thought the same. Many were not even believers in Jesus before the prayer outreach, but received Christ because all they had seen and heard afterwards. One late evening after a long day of ministry, we invited a sweet translator from the medical tents to join us in praying for healing. She was used to translating for the doctors, not the prayer team. She was in for a surprise, to say the least. Soon, she was in total shock, because knee pain left a woman after prayer. Then, the next woman's leg grew into alignment. The translator was completely shocked and said, "I have seen many miracles today..." She could not finish her sentence.
Another translator, Lorena (picture right), was hungry to learn about the things of God. She became a dear friend to me and Allison and our team over the week of ministry. In fact, she became our most trusted translator. On the second day of ministry, Lorena joined our team to translate. After my team and I prayed a few times for the sick, Lorena was very surprised and said, "Wow! God is really healing people today." When we approached the next person who wanted prayer, I asked Lorena to pray for them. She was taken aback and said, "What! Me? Really??" I replied, "It is not by me or anyone else, but the power and grace of God to heal. If you believe in Jesus, you can do this too!" She started to pray; people started to be miraculously healed. Before long, Lorena forgot about us and went off praying for everybody by herself!!
Healings were not the only miracles we saw. The Lord ordered our steps to meet Jose, a refugee that had just arrived from Venezuela. He was broke, hungry, and in total desperation; alone and hopeless. I greeted him as he came into the medical camp. I immediately received words of knowledge over him, and I began to declare them over Jose. He broke down in tears. Later, a Spanish-speaking nurse led him to Christ! Further, a Peruvian pastor agreed to take care of Jose and help him get on his feet in Peru. Praise God! Jose will be a mighty man of faith.
As I reflect on the goodness of God, my heart melts within me. I remember the names of those we prayed for. Jose. Maria. Berta. Lucel. Julio. Jorje. Rosa. Domingo. And hundreds more. All hungry for a touch of God. Desperate for healing and for relief. And the Lord stretched out his hand and to heal them! He is SO FULL OF LOVE. He loves us all, and will absolutely display His majesty through His love. If we would be bold and faithful servants, He will indeed stretch out His hand to heal. Hallelujah. Praise God!
DO YOU KNOW JESUS?
Whether you get excited about praying for healing, or are skeptical of the Lord moving like this in our day and age, I hope my story from Peru can encourage you. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit so we can do "even greater things than these." Do you believe in God's love for all peoples of the world? Do you believe that He has the power to heal, and that he wants YOU to step out in faith and do greater works than these? Be encouraged friends!
" Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."
John 14:12-14
And most importantly: if you don't Jesus or have a relationship with Him - please know that He wants to know you this very day; and as He has loved the world, so He also absolutely loves you. Turn back from running from God. Your heavenly Father wants to save you from the darkness in your life and give you hope, healing, and relief. As Jesus said to us all, "Seek [me], and you will find [me]." Amen! Be blessed everyone.
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