To all my prayer partners who support me in the work,
Thanks so much for everything you do and all your encouragement. Keep pressing on in the work; keep praying for me and I invite you as always to come serve with us to see these things with your own eyes and to hear these stories with your own ears.
Our next trip to Central America will be on December 3rd. Please pray that God goes before us and continues to opens incredible doors for ministry there.
In the places we visit, receiving quality medical care is either too expensive for people to afford, or it is simply unavailable. Many of us (myself included), groan when we have to visit the doctor, but imagine for just a moment that you are sick and didn’t know why. Your condition is getting worse and you have no hope of receiving any care – and how helpless you would feel. We do not know how blessed we are here in the States.
Seeing our blessings and the suffering of others should motivate us to go meet that need, especially knowing the Lord’s words: “I was sick, and you visited Me” (Matt 25:36b), and by God’s grace, we are doing that very thing.
Yet it is not enough to meet people in their physical needs, because humanity has a far deeper sickness – one of the heart (Jer. 17:9). Here in the States, we have access to nearly every luxury, but we are not happy, nor are we satisfied. Our heart is sick beyond cure and we all have a deep-seated need for a relationship with God – a relationship we cannot have because we love the darkness of sin rather than the holiness of God.
Enter Jesus – the great physician. He not only healed people’s physical brokenness, but he also died on the cross, rescuing us from sin and death, and providing us with a way to live forever. A doctor may be able to heal for a short time and extend life, but only Jesus can give us eternal life. (Do you believe this?)
Since we do believe this, we go in the steps of our Lord, healing the sick in His Name and preaching the good news of life in Christ.
Africa – January 2019
Back in January, we brought a medical team to Africa, seeing hundreds of patients in several villages throughout the area where we serve. The crowd would arrive, and we would begin with a worship service, preaching the gospel, fielding questions from the curious, and praying over the village.
Then we set up the medical clinic, setting up a table where patients would get their vitals taken, wait for the doctor in the “waiting room” (sometimes under a tree), receive medical care and medicine, and visit what we dubbed as “the prayer chair” – where people could come and ask for prayer.
Of course, the prayer chair is voluntary, but I didn’t notice a single person avoid it. In fact, excited villagers made it a point to guide anyone who seemed unaware over to the chair.
In one village, we didn’t have enough people to translate for both the prayer chair and the clinic. Then a girl from the city who just so happened to be visiting the village volunteered to help us translate. When we were done praying for everyone, she took her seat in the chair, expectantly, “Ok, my turn; I need some prayer.”
We were overwhelmed by the response: even in the village where the villagers have rejected the truth and made it difficult for believers to come to church, the chief and his brother came to us both for medical care and prayer. Oh how powerful it is to love your enemies and to do good to them, and the example our Lord set for us in this when He died for His enemies (that’s us).
A note on the prosperity gospel
Another woman asked the same thing. What would you tell them?
We were stunned, but quickly responded – the gift of God is free. God doesn’t require us to give what we do not have, and when Jesus came for us, He bought us with His precious blood and we freely receive His gift.
So what happens if you don’t have enough money? You come anyway. It’s not about the money – it never was. God desires us to give out of joy, not obligation. Should we give? Absolutely. How could we not give back out of gratitude for what He has done for us. But if we cannot, there is no reason a person should feel any less welcome.
Whenever I am asked about a church, I always advise people to flee any pastor who says that the gift of God can be bought with “seed money” or that you can buy His blessing. It’s a gift (Romans 6:23b), and any pastor who has freely received this gift should freely give it (Matthew 10:8).
As for those who asked the questions, they were overjoyed when they heard that they could freely attend church and freely enjoy the blessings of God, because although Jesus Christ was rich, He became poor for our sakes.
Guatemala and Honduras – July 2019
I had been hoping to get a medical trip together for some time now, and a friend of mine told me that there were some people who might be willing to put together a medical mission for this summer.
With a brand new church plant in Guatemala starting, I knew this would be a great opportunity to minister to the community there.
God opened every door and the team formed in a few short weeks; it’s good to know that He is still creating things out of nothing. Even in El Salvador the few days before we left, God opened the doors for 5 more Salvadorians to join us for the work.
We arrived in Guatemala without incident and put the team up in hammocks around the family garden. It was incredible to be there, because we hadn’t even thought we could find accommodations so quickly for the team, and also because the sisters who live there hadn’t been on speaking terms before Jesus saved them both a few months prior.
There was an excitement in the air that night as we ate together with “glad and sincere hearts”. The next day, we came expecting a clinic that ended at lunch, then quickly realized that our local leaders hadn’t communicated an ending time. How often does the plan change?
We settled in for an amazing nine hours of seeing patients, praying for people, giving medicine, and sharing the gospel with those who wanted to talk. All the while, God renewed our strength to continue the work. All told we saw about 180 patients, which for a one-day clinic is a LOT of patients.
People kept coming throughout the day, and our waiting room seemed filled with an endless stream of people. Some had walked miles to come, and it was touching to see the compassionate care our doctors gave to them, and how the team from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States came together to care for the community (John 17:20-21).
One patient hadn’t been able to eat for 24 days; he came looking pale and frail. Our doctor gravely said, “Unless something changes, he’s not long for this world.” He gave him a pill for his pain and told him to come back later on for further care.
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| Rugged Honduran countryside |
Amazed, the doctor said, “I didn’t give you a pill for that… just to take an edge off the pain. God healed you.”
The man left, glorifying God for his healing, and even as some of our team members talked to the man, God moved in the hearts of two team members to go speak his son. Even though he’d grown up in a Christian home, he had no hope for eternity, so our Honduran brother shared the gospel with him, and he made a profession of faith.
On the same day God spared the man and His son. That’s good news indeed, and this young man wasn’t the only one. Several made confessions of faith during conversations as our doctors worked to show the physical compassion of Christ.
Early on there was a concern that we wouldn’t be able to do enough to help, but since we left, people in the community have been telling our leaders how wonderful the clinic was. God is good.
We repeated the same thing in Honduras, and God miraculously healed seven people throughout the course of the trip. I’ve never experienced anything like that. I know Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), but I’d just never seen Him move like that.
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| Praying over believers about to get baptized |
But the medicine or the healings won’t have the greatest effect, and they don’t fill our greatest need. All of us will one day die, no matter how good our health, and all of us will stand before the judgment seat and give an account.
Our greatest need isn’t health – it’s the gospel. The truth that we can have peace with God through Jesus Christ. The truth that even though we are all great sinners, He set us free from our bondage to sin and the wrath of God freely by giving His life on the cross.
To love people is a great thing, but there is no greater love than the One who laid down His life for His friends, and He fills our greatest need with Himself.
So I ask you dear reader, do you know Him?
Grace and peace to all in Christ,
- Paul, the least of His servants
Photo credits Mateo Cepeda. Thanks for all the hard work, brother!
