God Hasn’t Stopped Healing

This past month, some Christian leaders put on a conference in California to make the case that God no longer heals like he did in the Bible. At the same time, Maggie Dinsmore, a World Racer in India, saw God’s counterargument that he does too still heal. She saw Martha, a 90 year-old blind woman, healed. She saw Martha’s eyes, transformed from unseeing milky white eyes, to beautiful brown seeing eyes.

One imagines an interaction between the teachers at the conference and Martha that might sound like the exchange between the Pharisees and the blind man as recounted in John 9. Desperate to show that the healing he experienced is somehow bogus, the Pharisees interrogate the formerly blind man:

“Give glory to God by telling the truth.” 

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

Maggie shares the story here:

When we arrive in villages, we go from house-to-house worshiping. It feels like Christmas caroling. People come outside and we may tell them the gospel, or a testimony, or teach their kids action songs, but we always pray for whatever needs they have and bless them.

This night we went house-to-house throughout the entire village. We were invited into three houses. It was awesome because a lot of times singing is somewhat awkward, but that night as we worshiped, we could feel the Holy Spirit’s presence.

We came to one little shack/house, probably one of the poorest I’ve been to so far and saw an old lady crouched down on the floor. Howard and I went to pray for her. She had a veil over her head, was very malnourished, appeared frail, back hunched over, and had cloudy white eyes. Her name was Martha.

She looked kind of scary, like something out of a horror movie. When scooting toward us, she had her legs sort of far apart and scooted in a crouched position on the floor.

When we asked how we could pray for her, she began to weep as she shared her story, “My daughter died a year or so ago and left me with these small children. They have to work and can’t go to school because we are so poor.”

Our hearts broke as we listened to her.

We prayed for her. I held her while we both just wept.

After we’d finished praying, I asked, “Do you know Jesus?”

“Yes. I’m Catholic. But there is no way to make it to church.”

I prayed God would comfort her and let her feel His presence. That He would love on her right then and there. I prayed that He would provide for
them in an awesome way where the kids could go to school and be fed. I prayed for this beautiful lady’s eyes, since she was blind, that she would get new eyes!

I was crying so hard, I had snot all over the place. Then I hugged her and walked away, overwhelmed.

Drew called me back and said, “I think she is reaching out for you.” I went back and hugged her again and prayed again. I told her, “We will not forget you. We are going to continue to pray for you! Jesus loves you!”

As we were walking to the next house, I almost felt done. I prayed, “God, I’m so overwhelmed I’m not sure how you can use me the rest of the night.” I told myself to get it together.

We left that day somewhat drained, but still filled with the hope of what God is doing here and what He is going to do this month.

Martha, an old woman who had lost her daughter, who was blind, crouched over, and crying in desperation, STOLE MY HEART! When I was holding her and we were both weeping, I felt like my heart was ripping out of my chest. I didn’t want to leave her. I wanted to continue to just hold her all night and let her know that she is loved and let her know that she is seen. God loves her and He sees her! We were filled with a supernatural love and continued to pray and think about her even after we left.

Drew and I told the pastor at the end of the night that we wanted to come back and give her family food.

Two days after that night, we bought her family some bananas and apples and went to the village.

She wasn’t in her one-room shack. We checked around and saw her sitting in the back of a cart that people pull behind a bicycle

She looked like a different person. She wasn’t slouched over anymore. She was smiling and looking directly at us. Her whole countenance had changed.

Approaching her, Drew said, “God told us to bring you and your family these fruits. He wants you to know He loves you and that you aren’t forgotten.”

We handed her fruit and then she pointed at her eyes and said, “After you guys left this week, God gave me new eyes.”

Looking closer, we could see that her eyes were completely transformed. We were overwhelmed at what God had done. This was a huge miracle. Her milky, sightless, white eyes were now brown and seeing.

We were so excited. “We knew it! We can tell! You have beautiful new brown eyes! Jesus did that out of His love for you!”

“Thank you for your prayers. Thank you! Thank you!” She kept saying.

Because she had new eyes and now could see, her mannerisms also were different. She wasn’t reaching out towards us to find us. She was looking at us in the eyes!

She was so beautiful. I was filled with so much thankfulness! What an amazing God we serve! Martha lived in misery, thinking she was forgotten, but God reached down and touched her, bringing light and color to her darkness.

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During our trip to the village, Martha’s healing was one of seven healing miracles that Maggie and her team saw. She looked back on that and concluded, “I know God doesn’t heal every single person, and as a nurse I think medicine is awesome, but God does still do miracles today. We see it more here in India. Sometimes I think it is because God is all they have. He is their only hope.”

Through our partnership with ICM, we will continue to follow up and provide food and school fees for Martha and her family. If you’d like to help them, click here.