A month ago, we were serving in an underserved, remote village of Guinea, Africa. It was a place where people were unreached with the gospel, and they needed medical care.
But I want to tell you about the visit of one specific man.
He came on the first day of our medical outreach. He came to see the doctor and get some medicine very much needed medicine. The interesting thing is that just that morning, I had shared with my partner that I was going to need a translator to help me learn more about my patients’ conditions and symptoms. We had already had several translators with us, but we were short one person.
That’s where this very special guy comes in; he just happened to speak both the local language and English.
So I had a short little interview with him, and I asked him if he could stay and he could help me. Essentially, I said, “You’re hired!” Much to our delight, this man stayed and volunteered his time for all four days that we were serving. We served in different area, so he had to travel quite a distance to come.
Let me tell you, this man was exceptional! Even when we weren’t seeing the patients, he was helping me in the pharmacy area by filling up little bottles with Tylenol and labeling them. From the minute he showed up, until way after we’re getting ready to leave, this guy was by my side.
So can you imagine? I was thinking about this recently as I pulled up to the doctor for a routine visit (don’t worry, I’m not sick!). Can you imagine if you were just going for a doctor’s visit, and you got recruited? Yes. And you weren’t being told about being paid anything because we’re all volunteers. And this guy decided to stay with us. It was wonderful!
Now he was a Muslim. He didn’t know about Jesus Christ but he was very committed to our cause. He was also a delightful person to serve with; we had so many laughs together. I also had several opportunities thatto tell him about Jesus Christ due to things that he witnessed in our free clinics. One example was when he witnessed me praying for women that were unable to get pregnant. The reason that experience was so meaning fun to him is because pregnancy is very important in his culture. Many men have multiple wives, which often sets up in a situation to feel inadequate if a woman is unable to get pregnant.
One other example was this beautiful 35-year-old woman who came to see me. She sat down next to me, and her family told me that she could not hear. I felt so sad for her. Can you imagine? Because hearing is such an important part of our life, right? We have to hear to have communication with people today.
So I put my hands over the ears of this woman on both sides, and I prayed for her. And she received her hearing back while my translator was watching. It was so incredible and wonderful! She just started praising God, she was high fiving me – I didn’t even know that they high fived and Africa!
And so this man who showed up for an ordinary doctor’s visit, thought he was going home immediately after his appointment, stayed with me the entire week. He got to see the power of God in action. Eventually, if somebody showed up, and they had a need that he felt needed prayer, like another woman who wasn’t able to get pregnant, he’d say, “Hey, aren’t you gonna pray for that woman?”
And I did. So it was a blessing.
I continue to pray for this man. It was wonderful to serve with him.
He’s like us. He has some relationship issues. He’s the same age as I am. But unfortunately, his wife left him because he was very poor. So I’m praying for him that God’s going to bring another wife that God’s going to bring private financial provision to him. Most important that He’s going to bring salvation to this man.
Would you join me in praying for this wonderful man? I can’t tell you his name, and I can’t show you his picture. But if you would pray for this man that served alongside of me in Guinea, that would be appreciated.
He’s got a New Testament Bible in his local language, so pray that he will daily pick up that Bible and God will reveal Himself to this man.
Want to know how you can get involved in upcoming medical trips and watch God’s work in action? Check out our volunteer page for all the details!
