While in Haiti, one of the groups I had sent out to visit and pray for people came back to me and told me of a man who was crippled and in need of a wheelchair tire.  He was confined to sitting in a plastic chair that had been mounted onto an old wheelchair.  The wheelchair had one tire (which was flat) and the other tire was long worn out and just the metal rim was left.  The man, who was 56 years old, had not been out of the house and outside in the sunlight for a very long time.

     My group had been moved with compassion and had prayed and ministered to him and his family.  It was at the end of the week and the group was leaving soon.  They asked me to try and find a tire so he could at least go outside into the sunlight.  I told them I would.  A few days later my translator, driver, and I set out to try and find a tire.  He told me we should maybe try and find a new wheelchair.  I told him that was fine but I was concerned about what the price might would be.  I prayed and asked the Lord to give us a good wheelchair at a good price.  We rode down the street looking and all of a sudden we spotted one.  We pulled over and my translator got out and looked at the wheelchair.  He and my driver tested it out and negotiated.  They came back and said we could buy it for $25.00.  I said "Praise God, buy it!"  So we did.

     I remember the story in the Bible about the centurion and his servant.  It's found in Matthew 8:5-13.  The centurion's servant was very sick, being "paralyzed and dreadfully tormented."  Jesus told him He would come and heal him but the centurion told Him that "I am not worthy that You should come under my roof."  Then the centurion said something so profound that it amazed Jesus and caused Him to marvel.  These were the centurion's words:  "But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed."  Jesus later told him

 ".... And as you have believed, so let it be done for you." 

     We took the wheelchair to the man's home and met him and his family.  My heart broke as I looked at him.  His limbs were frail and he couldn't talk but only mumble.  I told him that we had brought him a new wheelchair so he could go outside for a change.  I then told him I wanted to pray for him.  He nodded that it was okay.  I asked him if he believed in Jesus as His Saviour and Lord.  He responded yes.  I asked him if he believed that Jesus would heal him.  He responded yes.  I then prayed over him and asked the Lord to bless him and heal him.  I then thanked the Lord for his healing.  I said "Amen" and looked the man in his eyes.  Then the Word of the Lord came to me.  I said to the man "When you get up and walk and no longer have need of this wheelchair, go and find somebody that does need it and give it to them."  He nodded yes and we blessed his family and left.

      I've been thinking about the whole scenario ever since it happened.  Has the man been healed yet?  Has he gotten up and walked?  Has he given the wheelchair to someone else who needs it?  I don't know those answers but I do know this:  Jesus instructed us to pray and believe and do not doubt.  He said if we did this we could have what we ask.  I began to realize that the results are in His Hands.  He told us to be willing and obedient, to pray and believe.  It's all about Him.  He is the Word.  We need to walk in Him and just speak the Word . . . .

     I had just boarded the plane at the Port-Au-Prince, Haiti airport.  As I went toward the back of the plane to use the bathroom, there were 2 stewardesses standing in the back at their stations.  All of a sudden we just struck up a conversation.  I told them why I had been in Haiti and the things I experienced.  We talked for a while about missions in Haiti, the Appalachian Mountains, as well as missions around the world.  I saw that one of them was especially interested and I knew God was in our conversation.  As I sat in my seat during my flight to Ft. Lauderdale, I thought about the things I had said as well as the things she had said and the gleam that I saw in her eyes.

    As we were landing, I felt strongly that I needed to tell her I would be praying for her.  I waited for everyone else to get off the plane, especially since I was in no hurry because I had a 6 hour layover.  When I turned around, there she was coming up the aisle toward me.  We walked off the plane together.  She told me she also had been thinking about our conversation during the flight.  She told me she felt that she wanted to do more for God besides just going to church.   I told her I believed God had something more for her and encouraged her to step out and go on a missions trip.  She said she was going to.  We hugged and parted.

     I received a text message from her after I arrived home.  She said she had checked out the AIM website and she wants to start in her own "adventures in missions" by going on a missions trip to the Appalachia next summer. 

     Now in my 27th year of ministry and missions, I am still amazed at how God orchestrates things.  He does intervene in the lives of His Children.  You may be reading this and thinking "I need to do something different.  I need to step out of my box and do something I've never done before."  All I can say is DO IT!  I double-dawg dare ya!!  Why wait?  There's no time like the present . . . .

     It hit me as I was landing in Port-Au-Prince.  It struck me as I got off the plane.  It amazed me as I looked into the eyes of the Haitians.   HOPE and JOY.  Sure blows me away.  Amid all the rubble and debris, Haiti is moving on.  Haiti is not looking down, but UP.  Haiti is going forward . . . . And we must also.  Just as these precious ones are getting on with it, all of us also need to get on with it, moving beyond whatever it may be that keeps us from moving on.  Paul said, "...forgetting those things that are BEHIND . . . ."  

     JESUS IS OUR HOPE.  HE IS OUR JOY!  Let's all get our "behinds" in the proper place and move on in hope and joy. 
     I'm here to love.  I'm here to serve.  I'm here for you, Lord.  I want more of you.  Guide me and use me as you will.  I'm here to learn . . . .