Drug Bust in the DR

Hi, Project Leaders!

This morning the Field Support team met and spent time in prayer, lifting your requests, your victories, your struggles, your summers, your relationships, and your "real lives" to the Lord. We are so thankful for you and hope that you find encouragement in being remembered. If you have any specific prayer requests you'd love for us to pray for, please email Julie at [email protected], or comment directly on this blog.

It's time for another trip feature– DR! This one was written by Neil Bruinsma.

Drug Bust in the DR

At the center of AIM's mission trips is listening in prayer to God.  We actually take time and ask God to speak to us in a specific way about our time.  I led the team in this exercise one night and we paused in silence for about a 1 minute waiting for the Lord to speak to us.  As I went around the circle asking each team member to share, Lydia's vision stuck out to me.

She saw a bucket filled with different colored pills being poured through a sifter.  But there was only one pill that  made it all the way through.  This pill was then picked up by a doctor and carried away.

Immediately I felt like the Lord gave me the interpretation of the vision and I shared it with the team.  I felt that the different kinds of pills represented all the different ways we as people try to medicate ourselves through pain in life.  Whether it be material things, relationships, or even actual drugs.  I felt the doctor represented God and he picked up the only thing that he trusted to give as medication – Jesus.

This was all nice sounding but didn't really mean much…until the following morning.

I was walking around the community with Jeremy and our translator Hector inviting children to the Vacation Bible School we were putting on.  After some Holas and Como estas's we were invited into a house where we met Isidro.  He greeted us warmly and was obviously excited to have us as visitors.  He kept going off in Spanish like we were long lost friends.

I asked how old he was. He said 75.  I said he seemed to be pretty healthy for his age and had a lot of energy.  In return he started to talk about the chronic stomach pains he has add for several years.  Then he left the room.  He returned carrying a stuffed plastic shopping bag. I peered into it and noticed it contained many different bottles and boxes of medications. 

He said that he had tried all these different kinds of medication to relieve his pain but to no avail.  At that point I think at heard an audible bell dinging like I was on the Price is Right and had just won a kitchen set.

With enthusiasm I explained to him about Lydia's vision and how I felt it was meant for him.  An excited "si si" was his reply.  Hector, Jeremy and I laid hands on him and prayed for his healing.  He praised the Lord after we finished praying, saying:

Gracias Senor!  Gracias Senor! 

The next day I went back with Hector and Lydia to check on him.  He was excited to greet us and said he was feeling much better.  We prayed for him again.  The following day I found him on the street and ask how he was doing.  He said he was feeling even better from from the last day.  It was apparent to both of us that the Lord was healing him. 

It is times like these that make it all worth it.  I love seeing people realize that they can hear from the Lord and seeing God's word come to pass.