patience pic

This is the outreach team I was with!

Kelsey walked down the street, saying,
“We have an appointment today! We have to be at this lady’s home at 10 am.”

We walked up the stairs and knocked on Rosa’s* door.
“Hola! Vengan aqui. Gracias por venir.”
(Hello! Come in. Thanks for coming.)

After her screen she proceeded to tell us, with a beaming countenance, of how God worked in her life and the life of her son. Not long ago her son had a serious gunshot wound which landed him in the hospital. Her son’s condition caused considerable anxiety for her and caused her not to be able to sleep well for many months. She is a woman of much faith and she prayed very fervently for her son. She eventually came to the US and when she did, the way her son looked was devastating. He was on multiple IVs and a ventilator and was knocked out in bed. He had lost a lot of weight and was steadily declining. The doctors said he would never walk or talk again. As soon as she could, Rosa came to the hospital and prayed for her son, saying “I speak life over your eyes, I speak life over your mouth, etc.” continuing to speak life in the name of Jesus over his entire body.

There came a point when the physical state of her son declined so far that the doctors decided that the next best thing to do was to make a hole through his neck into his trachea to give him the amount of oxygen he needed (called a tracheostomy). For this to occur, the doctor needed Rosa’s approval. On the way to the hospital, Rosa stopped to get gas and during that time, her son coughed into the ventilator, which is a sign of strength in the lungs. Because of that delay, her son did not have a tracheostomy put in and is now walking and breathing without supplemental oxygen.

There was another occasion where her son had large masses of blood coming out with his urine. Rosa prayed about this too. When a screen was done to figure out what was wrong, they found nothing and the problem ceased to exist.

The son she spoke of was in the house when we were there, he was friendly, but eyed us from a distance. His only obvious lingering issue was a slight unsteady gait. He has come such a long way from where he was!

Rosa told us as she wrapped up her story, “Do not tell yourself you have big problems. Tell your problems you have a big God.” She was so right.

By the end of her testimony we were all floored. The things she spoke about are not normal medical occurrences and her faith in God was inspiring. As could be imagined, she was animated and radiant throughout the story. We prayed with her in Spanish at the end before we left. It is so good for us as Christian health care students to hear stories of God’s hand in health crises. It inspires up to look up and to God’s goodness. We can use our knowledge and skills to help people, but ultimately God is the Giver of health and gives as He chooses—we are merely instruments of His grace. That is humbling.

*Name changed to protect identity

-Patience Normoyle
SMI 2018