Standing at the edge of the refugee camp outside Tambo de Mora, Peru at 3:53 yesterday afternoon, chaos broke out.
One of our teams had stopped by Lourdes’ house. Lourdes looked 65, but she was just 34, eaten up by stomach cancer.
Things happened in a fast stacatto way once the team entered the dark room where she lay propped up on a pillow.
Robby went to pray for her (click here for his account). She was barely breathing; her eyes blinked dully.
Lourdes’ sister went to adjust her and as she did, Lourdes breathed her last.
Robby, using his nurse’s training, confirmed she had just died. Her sister screamed.
I was standing outside with another sister, who, hearing the news, fainted. Adrenalin pumping, I went inside, unsure of all that was going on. My first thought was to ask Jesus to bring her back. I prayed this way as people rushed in, wailing. But God wasn’t in the prayer.
Nate, Gretchen, Sarah and Richard were praying for and consoling family members. God did seem to be in those prayers. The hardest thing was watching the ten year old daughter screaming, “Mommy, Oh Mommy!” After a while, a doctor and nurse arrived to confirm death. Eduardo, the husband, was ushered in while our team prayed. We had begun the day praying that God would guide our steps, so this was an extension of that prayer.
It turns out Lourdes was a Jesus-follower, a sister ushered in to the presence of the Lord, and we had been summoned to ease her on her way and to care for those left behind.
As we bore witness to the supernatural events underway, we couldn’t help sensing that the timing of our arrival on the scene was one more sign that on this day, as traumatic and riveting the events, everything was right on schedule. Last night, we praised our God a little more passionately, glad for the breath he has given us.
Wow… talk about humbling… I read Robby’s blog, too. I will continue to pray for her family and the WRs and you as God uses them to mourn with those who mourn, shine His love, and do whatever else he has in store for them.
Blessings,
Diana
I’ve been reading blogs as often as I could today, and I find myself asking the same question I ask often when I read WRers blogs “What if you all hadn’t been there?” What a dark place it would have been for that family, and what purpose God had for having you there!
It’s moments like these I realize more than ever God’s purpose in the World Race. Is it about wakening a generation and making them come alive? Yes. Is it about teaching a generation to learn who they are and who God is and how to love Him more? Yes. Is it about making a generation “wrecked for the ordinary”? Yes. But it’s also about each and every person these racers meet along the way – for those they share the gospel with, for those they hold and help and love, for those they bring hope and comfort to in times of darkness.
What if this team had said “No, Lord, I won’t go.” What a dark time for Lourdes’ family without all of your hope and comfort! God had you there for a reason!
But an even better question remains- What if you and I and millions more said YES- Yes to missions, yes to going, yes to the World Race, yes to whatever it is God calling us to? What would it look like if we always said YES?! Oh how much God has in store – if we will only let Him use us to be His hands and feet.
“That they would know Him by the way we love them.”