‘I saw a man’s leg grow back!’

When I was eighteen, I went to the Philippines to volunteer with the mission organisation, YWAM. I was part of a team, and we focused on helping a ministry that worked with street kids in the city of Cagayan de Oro, on the island of Mindanao.

We performed dances, as well as shared the good news of Jesus to the crowd.

We would also go to squatter villages and in an open space we set up a little stage and speakers. We performed dances, as well as shared the good news of Jesus to the crowd. There was always a crowd – as it was unusual to have a group of westerners turn up with matching T-shirts, and perform a co-ordinated dance routine to DC Talk’s Free at Last (I was always at the back, as I was the tallest, and potentially the least gifted…).

One particular day we started to set up our stage in a poor area. The speakers were up, and we were about to start, when I saw some of the villagers carrying a man through a narrow path between shacks, towards us. He seemed to not be able to walk and had bandages around his stomach. He was also making a lot of noise. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I could see he was distracting everyone from what we were doing.

Silently I prayed, ‘Lord, please make him be quiet.’

He was brought to the right of our little stage area, close enough for me to see he only had one full leg, and the other look withered in some way, either a deformity from birth, so perhaps injury. He also seemed to have a wound around his stomach.

He was also still making a lot of noise, arms in the air, shouting. I was still praying for God to make him be quiet!

Then, one of the people with him went to my friend standing next to me, an eighteen-year-old Canadian girl called Jen, and through an interpreter asked her to pray for the man. I was just glad he hadn’t asked me.

After a few minutes he was silent, he looked down, and started taking off the dirty bandages that had been around his middle. Where previously there were open sores, he had healed skin

Jen faithfully went to pray for the crippled man. One of the Philippine members of our team had already started to speak to the crowd, but everyone was still distracted by this man. After a few minutes he was silent, he looked down, and started taking off the dirty bandages that had been around his middle. Where previously there were open sores, he had healed skin. He was amazed, but with the language barrier it took a while for us to understand what had happened.

When it was clear he had been healed, most of our team gathered around him to pray for his withered leg. I was just watching what was happening, I didn’t think I had faith to believe God would heal his leg.

But as I was watching, the miraculous happened, his leg seemed to unfurl and grow out, as if it was completely normal. The man was silent. He tentatively stood up on BOTH feet, and then he burst into tears, crying in broken English, ‘thank you Jesus.’

Many of the villagers came to faith that day as they saw their village cripple supernaturally healed in Jesus name.

For me it was a holy moment. The Bible had just come to life in front of me. I said to God, ‘That’s it. I will never doubt you again.’

I remembered the story of Jesus healing the man with the shrivelled arm in Matthew 12.

‘Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.’

And although some say, that was Jesus, that was Bible times, miracles don’t happen like that today. Jesus said in Matthew 14:12 ’Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.’

Many ask why don’t we see these miracles more often? Why do they seem to happen in poorer countries? Why hasn’t God healed me yet?

I don’t know the answer, but I know faith is what pleases God. So let this story feed your faith, that whatever impossible situation you are facing, God is able and he is good.