During the September medical trip, I had a moment when God was my only source of communication with a woman in need. Brayan, my interpreter, had stepped away to help someone else when a woman came in for glasses. I knew enough Spanish to carry on light conversation and explain what I was doing as I tested eyes. Anything beyond the basic answers though, and I was generally lost. This woman had sadness in her eyes as she sat in the chair to be tested. I asked her how she was and immediately became overwhelmed with her response.
Spanish is spoken pretty fast, but I have never heard anyone speak as fast as this woman. She started rattling off everything that was wrong with her and everything that had happened in her life from birth up to the present….and she didn’t take a breath! I kept eye contact and a concerning smile on my face as I nodded and struggled to catch a word here and there, enough to understand parts of her story. The parts I got were that she had seizures frequently, death in her family, body aches and ‘brain pain’ (headache). She showed me scars on her head from some of her seizures and I held her crippled hands as she explained her arthritis pain.
Finally, as the woman told me about her struggle with depression, I felt helpless to console her with any words she could understand. I simply said I wanted to pray for her. The other ladies and I held her as we cried out to God on her behalf. I knew that even if I didn’t understand all of her words, God knew exactly the source of her pain and He heard the pleading of her heart. As we finished praying, she hugged us with tears in her eyes and said ‘Gracias’ and ‘Gloria a Dios’. I don’t know what this woman will face in her future, but I’m certain that she felt the hand of God that day…I know I did.
That is just one story of many, where we saw and felt God’s presence take control, when we were helpless in our own abilities. God does some amazing things in the lives of people around us everyday, whether at home, in Honduras or another country. We just have to open our eyes and see who He is bringing in our path and let Him communicate for us, when we have no idea what to say. Isn’t God Awesome?!!
