The Dead Raised...

This is a testimony from an old YWAM friend, Lubens. Because my computer is in the process of being rebuilt, I can't scan in a picture of him. Do you ywam-blogger-friends remember him?

I'm going to set the stage before using his words....

Lubens, a Native Haitian, was leading a SST (Season of Service and Training...a ywam summer "camp"geared towards middle- and high-schoolers) to Jacmel, Haiti. The first morning they were in Jacmel, a man came to Lubens asking him for help.

The man was a witch doctor.

His wife was extremely sick, having been cursed by another witch doctor. This man had done everything he could...seen all sorts of doctors, spent all of his money. But nothing worked. Feeling great shame that he could not heal his own wife, he left his town to move to the town of Jacmel.

And now, he was asking Lubens to drive him to the hospital. But Lubens felt the Lord tell him "No." Not understanding, Lubens could only obey. An hour later, the man came back. "My wife is worse. You are the only people in the village with a vehicle, can you please help me?" Lubens desperately wanted to help the man, but the Lord, again, said a resounding "NO."

In Luben's words (via a newsletter):

Later that morning, the students were scheduled to go into the neighborhoods to pray and give out Bibles. One particular group of students entered a house where they found a woman who they thought was "merely sleeping." She looked very sick so they began to pray for her healing so that she would be able to know God.

Never noticing that she wasn't breathing.

As they prayed, she opened her eyes and the students began to share with her the love God has for her. And she chose, in that moment, to receive God has her Savior. While they were talking and praying for her, her husband had returned home and stood behind the door just watching...

The students left and returned to share with us what they thought had happened: That they had prayed for a sick woman and God healed her. They proceeded to explain that they had invited the couple to the church service that evening.

That night the husband came, wanting to share with the students what had really happened. ...and I (Lubens) was amazed to see that it was the same man that asked me for a ride that morning!! The ride that the Lord had clearly said for me not to give. The man began to share:

"When I saw the three of you teenagers praying for people across the street from my house, I didn't realize that you could do something like 'this'. When you reached my house, I called to tell you not to enter. But I guess you didn't hear me.

When you entered, there was a forth person who followed behind you. He was very tall and had wings. And light just flowed all over him. I couldn't get my mind straight and for a moment thought that he was one of the spirits that I used to worship. But then I just knew that there was something different about him.

As you were praying, he stood watching. And when one of you asked God to give my wife another chance, he looked at me. Then walking to my wife lying on the bed, he touched her and she opened her eyes.

When I saw that , I wasn't sure if I was happy or scared. I just feel dumb with shock as I watched you talk and pray with her. I just couldn't believe that she was alive again."

All of us listening were shocked ourselves, as we had thought she was only sick. And here he was saying that she had died HOURS before the students had come to his house. In fact, he had been out looking for people to help carry her to the morgue.

One of the students (a 15 year old) summed it up when he said "If I had had any idea that she was dead, I never would have entered the house. But God used us anyway!!"

Lubens goes on to say:
Many times it hurts when we need to turn someone away because God said to do so. But what we need to know is that our little wisdom is not the same as our Father's. He has the big picture. And it is only He who sees all things and knows best how to order our steps. Jesus knew that by doing God's will it would be the best for everyone.

In John 11:4 when Jesus heard about Lazarus's illness, his response was: "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory, that God's Son may be glorified through it."

Lazarus died and four days later, Jesus raised him from the dead. Verse 40 caught my attention when Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

The degree that we believe God is the degree we will see His glory through our lives."

.......

The story goes on. But I just wanted to share that part because it impacted me greatly. You read stories like this in the Bible, but rarely get to hear them from a friend. And the fact that God used these young people...teens were just wanting to pray that someone receive an understanding of the love of God...blesses my heart to no end.

Lord, may we all have that innocent trust in You to show your love in dark places. We don't need to always understand the details...we just need to embrace the fact that You love. And you've called us to, simply, share that love.

...even to the witch doctors.