SHE PICKED UP HER MAT AND WALKED

Monday morning my two room-mates and I got up not expecting much of the day. We were tiered and ready for our day off. Our team leaders sent us out to "do as Jesus did". So what did we decided to do? Feed 5,000. We were debating whether we should get 5 chapatti or 7. When we got to the chapatti stand there were only 5 left. We were excited because Jesus only had 5 loaves of bread available to him, so it was perfect! We decided to go to the hospital to hand out the chapatti outside where people were waiting. We prayed over the chapatti (yes folks, we stood on the side of the road, put our hands on chapatti and prayed that Jesus would multiply it to feed all of the people).

After giving away about 20 pieces, talking to people, and praying with people we had nothing much to do, but we still had a lot of chapatti left. We asked each other "where should we go next?" and no sooner did a group of women call us over. We went to see what they wanted and that is where we met Josephine. She was lying on a mat in obvious pain. We asked what is wrong with her and a man told us she had just given birth, was anemic, and had great pressure in her head. We asked if we could pray for her and she agreed. We all lay hands on her and prayed. Now if you know me, you know that I expect big things from God, and I should. I have a God that is powerful and more importantly has a powerful love for his children. So when we finished praying we started asking each other what we could do to help her. We gave her our water, some crackers, and the leftover chapatti (yes- there was lots leftover. Next time you'll think twice before you laugh at 3 white girls putting their hands on food and expecting it to multiply). We removed ourselves from the woman's mat to give her some space (people had crowded around when they saw us on our knees).

The 3 of us are discussing what we need to do next and that is when we met John Winter. John Winter came up to us and said "can I help you? I work at the hospital". We told him the situation and he said he would see what he could do. He talked to the woman and he told us he was going to get some medicine and see if he could get her back in the hospital (she was just in the hospital because she had given birth at home, but the placenta was still in her body. After they had removed it they sent her back home). As John Winter was going to the hospital to check things out we went and sat with her and her baby. The man had told us that the baby was a boy and without a name. The 3 of us immediately lit up and started praying about a name. We all knew it had to mean warrior, but we had no idea what name meant that. I quickly called my mom (at 4 am her time) and asked her to look it up. She was more than happy to help. She sent us a list of names and the woman chose the name Harbin, meaning glorious warrior. (Later we found out that the man was wrong- the baby is a girl, but thankfully Harbin can work either way!).

John Winter came back and told us the hospital would allow her to come back. She, however, did not want to go back. She said she could get no food there and just wanted to go home. We asked John Winter what would be best and he said she really needed to go to the hospital. So we asked her if it would be ok if we took her there, gave her all of our food, and came back tomorrow to give her a ride home. She agreed. We were a bit nervous about getting her there, this was a woman who couldn't get up to feed herself, let alone walk all the way across the street. We decided that we are going to have faith that God heard our prayers and that she can get up. What happens next?! (spoiler alert- this is the best part!) SHE PICKS UP HER MAT AND WALKS. Yep, I said it. She picked up the mat she was on and walked to the hospital.
We got her into her bed and hooked up to an IV. We told her we would be back the next day. As we were leaving we thanked John Winter for all of his help! He told us that it was the season of Lent and he was supposed to be helping people. We asked if we would see him tomorrow and he said no, that he worked the night shift. Wait, what?! He wasn't even supposed to be at the hospital at that time, he was just there volunteering at the clinic across the street.

It's amazing how far a little faith can go. We had faith that God would multiply our 5 pieces of chapatti, and God said "Hey girls- not only am I going to do that, but I am going to rise a woman from her mat". Just goes to show, God shouldn't be put in a box. He is WAY more creative than we are, he is capable of WAY more than we can even imagine! He may not do things the way we expect, but he does do things!
Praying for you all back home! I pray that God shows you a glimpse of his power as he did for Sarah, Aly, and I this week! We love you all!
<3Darby