Stories From the Field

Derek Province recently shared this testimony with me…

Deep within the confines of rural Zimbabwe, lives the Vadoma Tribe.  They are also known as the Ostrich People of Zimbabwe, because roughly 1 in 4 persons are affected by ectrodactyly, a rare genetic disorder that causes deformities in the feet and hands, causing their toes to look like ostrich feet.

We planned to minister to this tribe for about a week, but because of the remoteness of the tribe and trouble with the police in the area, we were only able to minister to them for about 4 hours over a two-day period.  Many people were afraid of us, even running away when they saw us! The group I led only made it to three different houses to minister.  A couple of times, we were even rejected.  The people made it clear that they weren’t interested to hear anything about Jesus.  Once we spent an hour ministering, but only one out of the 8 people responded to the message at all.  But let me tell you, in spite of all this, God definitely put the time we had with them to good use.

There is one house in particular where I was blown away by God’s power and love.  We visited an old man, his old wife and a little 12-year old girl.  This man was the only man I saw affected by ectrodactyly.  Two people on my team shared about Jesus and what He meant to them.  How can someone accept Jesus as their Savior when they don’t even know Who He is?  I continued to share more with them and gave them the opportunity to turn to Jesus.  When I explained that it costs nothing to accept Jesus as one’s Savior, the man’s face lit up!  Few things in Africa are free!  He looked over at his wife and they both wanted more of this newfound truth I shared with them.  Both of them accepted Jesus, along with the little girl!

Since they were elderly, they also had some health problems.  The man had trouble hearing.  We had an amazing lady pastor with us acting as a translator.  While we shared, she had to yell at him in order for him to hear our message.  I told the man “The same God who sent us from America to share His love with you today, the same Jesus whom you just accepted as Lord and Savior, wants to heal you today as well.” I asked if my team and I could pray for him and he agreed.  After we prayed for him I asked if he felt any different, but he said that nothing had really changed.  The pastor still had to yell for him to hear.  I felt so strongly in my spirit that God was going to heal this man today, that he would be able to hear well again.  I shared this with the man and told him that his faith in God would bring his healing, not the white people praying for him.  “This same Jesus that you jus accepted as Lord over your life is going to heal you.  When we pray for you this time, I want you to ask Jesus for your healing”.  He agreed and we prayed again.  Not long and he started to pray himself, asking Jesus to heal him.  Thirty seconds later I didn’t hear him pray anymore.  I opened my eyes and looked at him.  Two tears rolled down his cheeks and his whole body was trembling.  I took my hand off him and my own eyes started to water.  The team finished their prayer and we all took a step back from him.  I asked him if he could hear any better now.  The pastor translated in a normal voice and he responded with a big smile on his face, “I am healed!”  He was still shaking.

During our ministry time, a drunken man walked up, and seeing what had happened, he wanted prayer as well.  I asked the man who just got healed to share what just happened to him with this man, while we prayed for his wife.  With a smile, he did!

His wife sat on a grass mat, her back too painful to stand up.  We sat down next to her.  I saw a piece of grass tied around her neck and questioned her about it (many times beads, grass and other ‘jewelry’ are witchdoctor “medicine”).  She told us that someone recommended that this will help her with her neck pain.  I boldly told her that she would no longer have a need for it.  “Today Jesus will take your pains away.”  She gladly took it off her neck and hurled it away as far as she could.  We prayed for her, but once again, it seemed that nothing happened.  We encouraged her to also ask Jesus for her own healing…and it happened!  She was able to stand up without difficulty and all her pain was gone!

Back to the drunk man, before I even spoke to the man, we prayed for sobriety.  The man became clear-minded, no longer slurring his words and we were able to talk to him!  We told him about Jesus and what He had just done for his friends.  This man also accepted Jesus.  He initially stopped because he wanted prayer for his back and so we prayed for this too.  He was healed!  The pastor assured me that she would follow up on these people, encouraging them to grow in their knowledge and relationship with Christ. 

This experience showed me once again how God will send us out “in the middle of no-where” for just a couple of His lost children.  This is the God that I serve!

How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.  (Heb 2:3-4)