Missionary Support Raising Training: Stories to Inspire - Healing

(Coach Curt shares some real memories from his life, and his favorite sermon illustrations. He hopes you are more than entertained, but inspired and built up in your faith as you pursue your support raising.)

We got a call late one night. Chad, the 16 year old grandson of one of our faithful single adult leaders, was in the hospital. He had suffered a brain aneurysm at home alone. Fortunately he was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time and she knew something was wrong. Many people arrived at the hospital quickly, including my wife and I. Being a pastor I found the parents and they were being briefed by the surgeon as they were looking at cat-scan results. About 1/3 of the brain was just a huge ball of blood. When the mom became a bit emotional, I was shocked as the doctor turned and said to her: “Just settle down, I had a son die also.”

Hundreds of people were praying by this time and a strong boldness from the Lord begin to lead my thoughts and actions.

As they brought Chad out of the room on the way to surgery, I stopped the doctors and nurses and said a quick prayer of faith. As the doctor, myself, and the parents were walking towards surgery, the doctor got my attention and said to me so the parents wouldn’t hear: “Pastor, you need to prepare them. He will not be coming out of surgery alive.”

In taking the parents aside, I shared with the parents that the Lord Jesus told me that they would be communicating with Chad before the end of the day. Prayer continued.

Early in the morning the doctor came to talk to the three of us. I could tell he was upset, but didn’t know why. He said matter of factly that surprisingly Chad had survived surgery. He said that if Chad EVER woke up from surgery, he wouldn’t be anything but a “vegetable.”

We continued to prayer. I went home to get some sleep. We got encouraging reports through the day, and when I got to the hospital the next evening, Chad’s parents told me they had just seen Chad. His eyes were open. He had so many tubes coming out of him he couldn’t even try to talk, but they could communicate with him as he squeezed their hands.

It was so good to see his eyes open when I walked into the ICU room. A few days later I had a chance to talk to Chad and he related to me some of his memories. Chad didn’t know me before the episode. Our church had thousands of people, and I was called in because of his grandmother. When I walked into the room for the first time a couple of weeks later, his eyes got very bright, and he looked at me and said, “You are the one!” He went on to explain his memory of that first night after surgery. He said a man, me, had walked into ICU and standing right next to me was Jesus! Chad wanted to know if I knew Jesus was right next to me. I was shocked by what he said, and simply said no. I had not sensed or seen anything.

When I assured him that I believed him, he continued to tell me another story. During the surgery he said that he could see the whole thing. He, Jesus, and Father God (yes, the three of them) were above watching the surgery. Here is the part that may offend you, but know this young man was sincere and grateful - He said Jesus even told a couple of jokes during the surgery.

Chad quickly recovered to about 80% of his mental capacity. Physically he has all of his abilities. It was truly a major miracle. Chad’s grandmother was an incredible woman of faith and got literally hundreds of people praying right away. I was just privileged to be running “point” on this battle.

This story may challenge your theology or your faith level. The Bible of course is always our foundation. Nothing I experienced during this event contradicted scriptures truths. I don’t know why Chad was 100% healed. I don’t know why Chad was spared when others aren’t, even though I do believe it is not arbitrary. In Chad’s case I am led to believe the massive amount of immediate prayer was a factor.

Insight to apply to your Missionary support raising training and activities:

One possible application to raising support:

Missionary Stories