July 3, 2008

Blog – July 3, 2008

On July 14, 2005, God did a miraculous work in my life and healed me from multiple sclerosis. This is the story of that healing, which was written by my wife Teresa in an article submitted to Guideposts magazine.

Great! The airline had broken my wheelchair in transit and here I was in Honduras without a working wheelchair. What was I thinking coming on a weeklong mission trip to a place I knew would require me to go up and down stairs and perform a host of other activities?

Against all odds I had decided to come on this mission trip with VIMM (Volunteers in Medical Missions) to help in an orphanage. The other seven in the group going to the orphanage to serve included my eighteen year old daughter Danielle, a resource teacher at the school where I was administrator, and five high school students.

I had found myself in and out of a wheelchair the last several years since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For the last few months prior to the trip, I had been dependent on my wheelchair to get around. After being advised not to go because of my lack of my mobility I still believed God wanted me to go. The money for the trip to Honduras had mysteriously appeared just a few days after being invited to go by Joy, one of my high school students.

Once in Honduras the airline sent me to buy a new wheelchair. But what I didn't know was that less than a week later I would never need a wheelchair again. The week progressed well. Daily we painted the outside buildings and helped with the precious orphanage children in any way we could. On Thursday morning, the students in the team had gathered around me and prayed for God's healing in my life. Later that day, we were scheduled to go to a nearby mountain village to meet with a local pastor and hold a backyard Bible club with the village children. When we arrived I met Pastor Juan who told me through a translator, “God's going to do a miracle in your life today.” He went on to ask me if I believed in a God who does miracles. I reluctantly said yes even though I had been prayed for and anointed with oil many times over the past several years with no noticeable difference.

He prayed for me in Spanish and anointed me with oil. I felt no physical differences at the time but did have an anticipation of something to come. We said goodbye to Pastor Juan; the rest of the group was on its way down the mountain to see the village children. I decided I wasn't going to miss this opportunity. One of the students asked, “How are you going to be able to go with us?” I replied, “I don't know but I'm going.” I stood up and took a small step of faith and miraculously, I was able to get down and back up the mountain, although slowly.

Later that day after we had returned to the orphanage, we were playing with the children, as we did every night before supper. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was playing soccer with the kids when my daughter Danielle said, “Dad, you're running.” At that point, I realized the power of God's miraculous healing. By the next day, all my symptoms that I had related to multiple sclerosis had vanished; this included the restoration of vision in my left eye.

God had used the faith of a humble Honduran mountain pastor from an unknown village on a mission trip that seemed impossible for me to go on.

It has now been three years since God healed me, and I continue to praise Him every day and share the story of God's miraculous power whenever God gives me the opportunity!