Day 6 - What we CAN give them is Jesus

Celsa was waiting outside of our clinic location well before we arrived around 8:30 a.m.
Paralyzed from the waist down, her husband had wheeled her to the clinic and waited patiently as numbers were called, one...12...15.
Just before noon, she was called to the top floor. She was carefully carried up the flight of stairs to the clinic and placed back in her wheelchair. She first saw Elena and Lea to check in and screened by Amber, Sherds and Shyne. Next, she was wheeled to Don, who did an assessment on her and found she had no feeling in her lower extremeties and couldn't move anything below her waist or have control of her bowels.
One year prior she slid down something and damaged the means of communication between her brain and her lower body. While she was treated for a urinary tract infection, only God would be able to restore her legs.
Not willing to accept defeat, Mary and pastors Ruben and Elmer and our multitasking volunteer Lemuel learned she was a believer and had visions of Jesus restoring her. They prayed...and they prayed...and they prayed. For more than one hour, they touched her body and prayed in earnest that God would intervene and heal her.

Many tears were shed. And then, with Mary telling her to make her brain move her feet, she wiggled her toes. It was a small amount at first, them more. They rejoiced and continued to pray over her and carefully brought her to her feet. She wasn't able to stand on her own, her legs were too weak and atrophied for that, however she did lock her knees.
The power of God and prayer is amazing and anyone that says miracles don't happen...come with us and see them for yourselves!
Today was an amazing day for each of us in different ways. Mary and her team have prayed with people and several have accepted Jesus. Others have recommitted their lives. With local pastors helping us, we are certain they will have followup spiritual care to go with their physical healing.

The community we served in was Magallanes, and it's people are especially proud of its history as the first island Magellan landed on in the Philippines and the site of the first Catholic mass in that country.
They too are fishermen and spend the early mornings fishing and the afternoons huddling under any shade they can find before going out for the evening catch.

The community also presented a large number of patients with serious ailments. Most were treatable, but some were not. One woman in her 80s had fluid building in her lungs. The only way to help would be to send her to the hospital to have it drained and have her tested for the cause. We offered to pay for the costs, however she refused because the pain had been so great the last time she had that procedure.
Another man, just 37 years old, has a brain tumor and debilitating seizures. He is low on seizure  medication, which we don't have.

We also saw a 6-year-old boy who has a heart valve that hasn't closed completely. Normally it is something that heals at birth or with medication, however at this point, he needs surgery to fix it. It isn't critical now, but could be later.

Please continue to pray for these patients and those we haven't seen. Please pray that we will be able to provide the care they need and that resources we may need to provide for ongoing care will be donated. Also pray for people who need to know who Jesus is and invite Him into a relationship with them. Ultimately, we can heal wounds, but God heals hearts.
Please continue to pray for our team as well. Each of us is riding a spiritual high, but it is exhausting and we feel it at the end of the day. Please pray for continued good weather. While my ankle feels fine, it is swollen and black and blue so prayers are always welcome for that to be healed with no prolonged problems.

Thank you so much for being part of our team on the other half of the world.
God bless,
Sheldon