thomas

no matter how dark a situation may seem, there are always the stories that remind you of the power, faithfulness, and love of the God we serve. thomas has one of those stories.

thomas (in the picture to the left he is translating from spanish to quiche when we presented to five senses to a group of kids at a local school) has worked for the fickers for a few years now, and i have gotten to hear his story many times. about seven years ago, before he was a christian, thomas got very sick; he went to the midwife, one of the only local medical people around, and she told him that the way to cure his sickness was to be hung upside down for seven straight days. seriously. 24-7 for seven days. so, his loving wife, hoping to see him get better, strung him up by his ankles from the roof. he does not share all the details, but while hanging upside down, he lost consciousness (shocker) and during that time he met God. he tells how God healed his heart with His love, and how he, in response, made a pact that from then on he would always share about His love anytime he could. after about 4-5 days of hanging upside down, certain he was going to die, he told his wife to cut him down. she tells how incredibly swollen his feet were, and how blood just flowed from his ankles. but thomas lived and has remained true to his promise: he shares his story every tuesday morning to the people waiting to be seen during clinic. he shares about how God met him and healed his heart, and how He can do the same for each of them. afterwards he asks if we have anything to say, and then he prays for everyone before clinic starts.

thomas is one of the most amazing examples i have seen of the power of God to meet someone where they are and the simplicity of the faith we claim. when he first met duane, he came to him one morning and told him that he had a word from God for him. he proceeded to open up his bible and share a passage from psalms. however, as he was reading, duane noticed that his bible was upside down, and when he asked him if he was really reading the scripture, thomas sheepishly admitted that he couldn’t read, but that he had instead memorized the passage so that he could share it with duane. wow. how he memorizes it, i have no idea, but i think of how i struggle to have the dedication to read my bible regularly, let alone memorize whole passages of it! and you will always find him smiling and praising God with a tenderness that can only be from the love of our Father. i still remember the first time he came with us to a home out in the country (the first time i was here – in june) to translate from quiche to spanish. the couple was in the mid-twenties and the husband had a brain tumor that left him blind and unable to work. the wife had just had a baby and was depressed, so she was not eating, and therefore was not providing any milk for her baby. i remember watching as thomas prayed for this lady in quiche, tears streaming down his face. leslie tells how he did the same for martina (the girl in the last post) when he heard of the situation she was in.

as i struggle at times to see God moving here, i look at thomas and i am reminded that sometimes i make christianity very complicated when in fact, our faith is very simple. that God will do whatever it takes to reach us where we are at, and that He will fill us with the strength, love, and faith to carry on.