God has been working here in Puebla as of late! There has been some shaking up going on-- some may find it uncomfortable, but they are all blessings sent by God. It seems like every Saturday for the past few weeks, Pastor will get a call or feel the need to go to so-and-so's house... And lo and behold the world is seemingly crashing down on them...
This past Saturday there was another "tragedy". The husband of a sister in our church suffered from a severe stroke that should have done a lot more damage than he realized. We received an email (Imagine that! We were equally shocked as well :))....) from this man's daughter-in-law asking for Pastor to come pray for Ricardo, her father-in-law. Now, this lady that emailed asking for prayer is a backslider that quit coming to church about a year ago. Isn't it amazing that backsliders know where to come when things go wrong?? They haven't forgotten the power of God!
We went over to their house on Monday to pray for Ricardo.
Pastor, Ricardo, and one of his daughters.
My heart broke when we walked in to see him sitting there, slumped over, the right side of his body paralyzed. He could barely talk, and when he did it sounded like gibberish. This man, and his whole family, have a history with the church here in Puebla. He has come with his wife a few times, doesn't have the Holy Ghost, and since we've been here he hasn't shown any hunger. The whole family has been in and out of the church for the past few years.
As soon as we got there we started praying for Ricardo. And my goodness did we have a prayer meeting! The Holy Ghost fell and there were people speaking in tongues that we didn't even know had the Holy Ghost! :)) One man, (also a backslider and a son of Ricardo), was on his knees speaking in tongues, crying and pounding on the ground. There was no shame, no holding back in that little house, and not a dry eye in there-- the whole family was so desperate for God. It was an amazing thing to see.
Ricardo's son-in-law and son.
This powerful prayer meeting ended up lasting for more than an hour. When we left the house we calculated that we had been there for about and hour and forty minutes. For about 20 of that we visited and talked... After years of these people avoiding church, God brought it right to their house.
We did not get to see the miracle of this man getting up and walking, but God did touch his eye- His whole right side was not working including his right eye. When we came in he could barely open it. By the time we left he was able to open it all the way.
It may not have turned out how we wanted it to, but God knows what He is doing! This family got he renewing that they needed, and they are more motivated than ever to come back to God!
I believe that we are going to see Ricardo healed completely, but it is just a matter of time. In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing this sweet family come back to God!
Keep Ricardo and his family in your prayers!
Sidenote:
At one point I had to take out my phone to document this prayer time, because it was so awesome!... I got more pictures of others praying and speaking in tongues-- there were about 10 people in the one little room. But just yesterday I found out that some members of this family are a bit tech savvy (hence the email LOL) and have "read our blog for ages", Lord help us! Hahahaa...
Last night I found myself going back into the deepest depths of our blog, looking at our past posts through the eyes of our saints... Sometimes there are pictures posted that are less than flattering, but we post them because they are so moving and show the heart of the people...
But alas and alack :)) We are going to have to be much, much more careful with what pictures we put up from here on out... :(
Afterwards as we were visiting with the family I looked out the door...
And I found this little cutie!
I was sure she would run off when I got close but she actually was very curious about the camera!
...and she quickly stole the show! :))
In almost every picture I took of her she has her tongue stuck out! So funny.
Where's Waldo?
^^I want this cat... She has a certain flair and sense of humor to her :)) ...and I don't even like cats!^^
Thank you Jesus for your blessings!
God, in His mercy, is using this stroke to bring Ricardo and his family back to Him.
Pray with us for the healing of Ricardo and the salvation of him and his family! I can't wait to see them in church this Sunday!
*Nicole*
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