Power of the Holy Spirit

Jonathan, 21, joined e3 Legacy in Cambodia last month for his first mission trip. Read on as he shares his experience.  “The power of the Holy Spirit—this topic manifested over and over with each new day on this trip to Cambodia—was demonstrated through abilities to find words or passages in the Bible, through seeing the most unlikely hearts convicted, through the peace we felt.  This week, I have seen His power more than ever before in my life. The most memorable of these demonstrations was the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of Van Nang, a 75-year-old villager in the town of Bet Sai Da.

When we approached this man for the first time, my translator and I thought he was asleep, but it turns out his leg was hurt and he was unable to move it. It had been this way for months. Now, healings have always been a tough subject for me. I grew up in a church/home that did not stress healings to be of any importance, so I have always been considerably skeptical. But the Lord had been preparing my heart for a few months prior to the trip, and I was willing to experience and believe the truth of His power. Meeting Van Nang was a perfect reassurance of God’s impeccable timing.

Immediately after hearing of Van Nang’s leg, I asked if I could pray for it. He agreed, and I asked God to heal him. This was the first time I had asked this of God, and also the first time I believed it might happen.  But nothing did. I prayed again, to no change. I asked if I could share the gospel, and he agreed. His response, however, was that he’d only believe after being healed, so I prayed again. Still, nothing changed. That night the Lord put it on my heart to share with our team and have everyone pray. I felt such a unity amongst the body of Christ while we prayed. The next day I returned to Van Nang’s home to pray and found him standing! He told me that the morning after I prayed, he was able to walk for the first time in months. He chose to accept Christ and acknowledge Him as his Lord for the rest of his life. It was amazing to see how God, through the Holy Spirit, worked in both of our lives at the same time. God’s power is undeniable, whether you are a skeptical, young Christian, or a Buddhist of 75 years.”