This blog is better late than never! This occurred about 4 weeks ago at the Heart of Christ ministry.
It was a Thursday night, which of course meant worship. This week the duty was dealt to our team. The typical worship service was of course brought up but our team sought something different. We had some great ideas at the moment and after prayer and further collaboration we finally knew what we were going to do.
The first part of the service we were going to paint our bodies. Not just anything however- we would paint lies on our bodies that we've believed were true in the past or even believed to be true now. For example, I wrote on my body the words ugly, fat, unworthy, not good enough, and impure. After we painted these words on our bodies, it was the task of our squad mates to approach us and wash these lies away while praying with each other. The second part of the service was to write a letter from God of encouragement and truth to someone. Our team would then pray over all the letters and give them out accordingly the following day. Almost everyone participated in the worship service at the designated time. Two of us, however, were absent from the activity that night.
About thirty minutes prior to the service started, our team was preparing by painting our bodies as an example of what this was going to look like. All seven of us were painted and then we walked downstairs to start preparing the water. All of a sudden I see a man from our squad running to get Gracie to my left. To my right I see a crowd forming around one of the cooks. I got a small glimpse of her body, then face. From what I could see, it looked like she was having a heart attack. She had sharp pain in her chest, which caused her to not see clearly. She was sweating profusely and began to throw up. Gracie ran from her house and began to evaluate. She was speaking faster in Spanish than most Hondurans I know. In what seemed like one second, we prayed over Rosie, Papi Lee put a mattress in the bed of the truck, Gracie pulled Darragh and I to come with her to the doctor, and we were out of the gate. I was still covered in paint from head to toe. The drive to the doctor felt like a lifetime. Rosie was on her back, between my legs, and I supported her head and shoulders with my body. Darragh was at her feet with a bucket in case she needed to vomit. Gracie and Karson were in the cabin of the truck. We kept asking Rosie where it hurt and if she was hot or cold. During this time, Darragh and I were quiet. As I held Rosie, I began to pray over her. Not only about what ails her currently, but her family, work, and any other stress that could have a factor in her sickness.
After an eternity, we arrived at the doctor. BANG BANG BANG Gracie knocked on the door. She saw the man and began to give him the low down. At this point we were slowly getting her out of the truck and walked inside to a bed that was shielded by Cinderella sheets. Then, the power went out. No light anywhere. The doctor scurried away. Gracie was standing, Karson and Darragh were sitting on the other bed, and I was sitting at the foot of Rosie's bed holding her feet. The doctor came back with a car battery. He used some wire to hook up a light so he could assess the situation. He took her blood pressure. He didn't say it at the time, but her blood pressure was WAY TO HIGH. If my memory serves me, it was close to 170 over 118. He took her blood and scurried out of the room to run some tests. Rosie?s pain level had dropped and she seemed coherent enough to speak full sentences. Gracie was talking to her and comforting her while I rubbed her feet. The verdict from the doctor was hypertension. Her blood pressure was TOO high. He said that it was urgent to see her doctor to get daily meds for this problem and she needed a healthy way to deal with the stress in her life.
We left the doctor and started back to Gracie?s. In the drive back, I was able to process what the Lord was showing me in this. First, He was showing me the purpose I have and the role I can play on this trip. Loving on Rosie was a blessing to me. Secondly, love can be unspoken. From me to Rosie and vice versa, the love we shared with one another was not spoken. The only thing I could verbally ask her was "Where is the pain?" and "Are you hot or cold?" However, the bond that we shared that evening was unimaginably strong. Rosie will forever be in my heart.
When saying goodbye, there were tears, words translated, and prayers all around. And my return to Gracie?s was even better. The mutual joy of us both was overwhelming and I truly loved being able to catch up with her about her kids and health. Rosie loves to play pranks, so that has been a blast this time around. Also, since Rosie is a cook she often times will save whatever is left over from dinner and let me have it if I'm still hungry. Rosie, a hardworking 39 year old woman with a heart on fire for Him. God's gift to me.
