The Hem of His Garment

As I arrived on Nepali soil, I was totally void of expectations. The only certainty I had was that I was uncertain. Uncertain of what would happen, uncertain of what this land would offer me, uncertain of the way it would all come about. All I knew was that God had asked me to come and I had said Yes. I knew my Yes was powerful but I had no idea what it would entail. It has entailed me confronting every fear I had and choosing to trust in the midst of uncertain circumstances and unexpected situations. Now as I’m living out that Yes on a day to day basis, obedience has never embraced sacrifice at this level. What propels me forward is knowing. Knowing that I am being refined by trials and testings; knowing that every obstacle has become an opportunity for upgrade; and knowing that Jesus is good no matter what the circumstance.

This past week we went on an outreach to a more remote part of Nepal called Chitwan. So many amazing stories and testimonies of God’s goodness and mercy were seen throughout the peaceful village we were so graciously welcomed into. After the sweatiest 6 hour long bus ride I’ve ever experienced, we made it through the many terrifying twists and turns on extremely high mountainous peaks. Upon arriving we were greeted and hugged by a beautiful 21 year old Christian Nepali girl who immediately found a soft spot in my heart with her generous hospitality and charming winks. She allowed us into her home with open arms and began working with her Hindu mother to quickly make us a traditional Nepali dish for dinner. After that we were shown where we would be staying for the next couple of nights , one of the most precious churches I’ve ever seen. To see the Holy Spirit moving so strongly upon people in such a remote village encouraged my heart to no end. As we worshiped with them in Nepali, the presence of God filled the room like a consuming fire, the atmosphere was saturated with desperation , hunger , and passion for Jesus. In this moment I couldn’t help but feel the desire of God’s heart to see every nation, tribe, and people group come to the knowledge of Jesus. It was so beautiful to see such pure, unadulterated worship, to the King of kings. What an honor it is to partner with God’s dreams , such an amazing privilege. As I was introduced to the pastors of the church, I learned that the wife had been fasting for 40 days and during the fast had many dreams and visions about going to a cancer hospital about an hour away to pray for the sick. So the next day we set off on our journey, in a very small hot crowded sweat box on wheels, called a Tempu. As we were praying for the sick and passing out food, we got to share the gospel to many people that had never heard of Jesus before, all of which were very eager and receptive to hear. It was all amazing experience and such a blessed time. But out of all the stories there was one in particular that really caught my attention.

We approached a Hindu man and his wife, who was lying in the bed beside him and asked politely if they would like us to pray. The husband readily agreed and began to tell us that his wife had swelling in her mouth and tongue (most likely a cancerous tumor) that prohibited her from being able to eat or speak so she was being fed through a feeding tube. We then explained to him that we would love to ask Jesus to heal her and send blessings to her. So we began to pray. As soon as we started praying, I felt the overwhelming love of God for this woman and felt the need to disreguard cultural sensitivity and grab hold of her hand. As I did this I felt the Holy Spirit move with compassion in me as she looked directly into my eyes. At that moment I realized the overwhelming need that’s in the world and my immense desire to see Jesus fix those problems. I know that He is more than willing and able. I know that He is the answer to all the hurt I see around me. And I know He can use me to help bring restoration to the world. So I press into that truth that the word of God proclaims into it becomes a reality in my life. The prayer ended and nothing changed that we could visibly notice, except the bright smile on the husbands face and the look of thankfulness in the wife’s eyes. So we walked away to the next bed and began praying for another girl who was suffering severely from demonic possession, who was now getting touched by the love of God. The atmosphere in the hospital room shifted and the woman who we had just prayed for noticed it. Her faith compelled her to grab our clothes and pull us back to her. Once we turned around she firmly grabbed our hands and placed them on her face where the swelling was. We started praying again and tears started filling her eyes, we prayed for what we thought was quite a while but apparently to her wasn’t enough, since every time we tried to move our hands she grabbed them again and put them on her face. Her faith was so astounding. She couldn’t even understand a word of what we were saying or praying but the Holy Spirit was ministering to her so strongly that she would not let go. Then all of a sudden she moved our hands to other parts of her face as if to say, “ok that part is healed, now fix this part.” After a while, she then put our hands down and gave us a thumbs up sign, announcing to us that things were feeling better. I couldn’t help but realize the similarities of this story and the story of the woman who touched Jesus’s robe.

“So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?’ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. “ –Mark 5:24-30,33,34

Faith moves the heart of God like nothing else can. This small example of faith that was displayed before me caused me to see that like nothing else ever has. I so yearn to move God’s heart like that. To really believe He is who He says He is; to believe for things not yet seen. As I finish up my last 6 days here in Nepal, I expect nothing less than to see more of God’s miraculous glory displayed in this nation then in again as we travel to Thailand. Please keep me and the team in your thoughts and prayers as we go, that God would be going before us and directing our every step. If you feel lead to donate or would like to be part of my email updates to hear more testimonies or prayer requests, email me at bwolfe824@gmail.com.

Blessings and love in Him, Brittany