The Power of Prayer

Sanibonani! It's Ashley again ;)

What a fast week! How did we get to Friday? Today was the last day of clinic. When we arrived this morning at 7:30 a.m., we already had a full "waiting area." In total, we saw more than 200 patients today and more than 800 over the course of the week. It's been an amazing experience that words just can not seem to express.

I was really inspired today by a woman who had actually come yesterday and we had to turn away because we were over capacity for our time slot. We prayed for her and encouraged her to return today. She was the first patient at my station this morning. Yesterday, she "camped out" at the clinic to determine whether we'd be fair to turn everyone after her away as well, which we did, with prayer. (The government here has corrupted the healthcare system so that people can buy favor and get special treatment. We do not want to be known for that, so we had to stop seeing patients early afternoon the past couple days to treat everyone that we could in the time that we're alloted in the church that we're using.)

I was encouraged to see her sit down this morning. She began by telling me that though she still wanted to be treated for a couple things, she had slept the entire night before. This was the first time she had slept an entire night since her husband died more than two years ago. She usually wakes up in night sweats. She said that is was our praying for her that allowed her to sleep, and because of that, she believed in all we had to offer. In addition to treating her physical ailments, my attending and I counseled her about Jesus and were able to pray with her in the name of Jesus Christ, not in the name of her ancestors as many South Africans pray to both Jesus and their ancestors. We assured her that Jesus could handle it all on His own and did not need any help.

What a blessing that she saw that we were fair and was able to experience the power of prayer even though we were not able to see her yesterday. God has an amazing plan and way of working things out in His timing.

After leaving clinic today, we had a surprise "feast" at the same huge area of land where some of the team hunted. The owner's five year old son shot and killed a pig for our entire team that was graciously prepared for us. Pastor Darryl's family even joined us for dinner, and we were able to enjoy each other's company as a team and reflect on the week. I wish pictures were enough to even begin to describe the beauty and majesty of God's creation there.

We just returned back to Prayer Mountain and have a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call to catch our bus for Krueger National Park. I apologize for not uploading a picture and pray that you'll give me grace tonight for a quick post. I pray that it made some since as sleep deprivation is kicking in ;)

Until tomorrow...