As I wasn’t expecting to really ‘get going’ until tomorrow, Sunday, though it’s actually 1am Sunday as I’m typing, tonight (Saturday) was a really lovely unexpected start to seeing what God is going to do this trip…
A lady in Benny & Paty’s church, Francis (Francisca), had been suffering with severe sciatica since March, and, as with that intensely painful condition, there’s not a lot that can be done about it except manage it, and physio. Francis, and her Christian-in-waiting husband, Enrique, have two extremely lively sons. but somehow Francis had managed the pain – until Thursday, when she bent over in the shower to pick something up, and couldn’t move. Anyone who has had – or got – sciatica, will know the excruciating pain of it, the trapped nerve(s) causing terrible pain in the back and legs, and the feeling that your thigh has been constantly hit with a thick plank of wood, that awful dull ache.
She and Enrique have just moved, too, to a new apartment, 2 weeks ago, so I guess that exacerbated the pain anyway. Fortunately, she was out of the shower(!!!) when we went to their home to pray for her – we being Benny, Paty, and the two pastors, Daniel & Paty, whom I mentioned yesterday. They’re becoming really great friends.
Well, God healed Francis’ back in moments: she had been in terrible pain when we arrived, it showed in her face, too, and walking was traumatic. And there it was – gone, apart from a small area in the small of her back, which went pretty fast, too, and then later, the enemy clearly wanted to discourage her, and she had some pain in her rear end… you’ll be glad to know I didn’t lay hands on the bit, but prayed…. and that went, too…. and then we got inundated with food – delightful tacos from (apparently) a very famous tacqueria here in Mexico, and some of the hottest salsa it’s been my privilege to consume! Doubtless Benny will post the photo on my wall of me with yet more food…
And so, a busy, busy day tomorrow: expectation was and is already high, and tonight just added a bit more to that….
AND…. some lovely news from Benny & Paty, too: Paty’s pregnant again, totally unplanned and unexpected, and today they discovered it’s a girl, and Paty’s 4 months pregnant, and the new baby will be Paula Natalia, to be the youngest of Ceci, and Pablo… so, two with my (Spanish!!) name… what an honour…. Paty & Benny were wondring why, for the last few weeks, she’d lacked energy, slept a lot more, and felt unwell in the mornings… pregnancy was the last thing on their minds! Congratulations, my dear, dear friends!!
Hoping that Benny & Daniel Otriz will come to Cali with me in October/November… 🙂
