Encountering God's Healing Power
Mike and I recently flew into Salta, Argentina, with great anticipation. For myself, it had been 14 years since I last preached in this beautiful former Spanish colonial city located at the foot of the Andes mountains. Even though it was fall in the country (their seasons run opposite of ours in the United States), the landscape was green, and the climate was unseasonably mild.
Driving to our hotel was a pleasure as we passed two lovely cathedrals with beautifully ornate facades. We stayed at the Alejandro I, a five-star facility right across the street from a tranquil plaza where people laughed and strolled. The trees were ancient, and their canopies spread several stories high.
The meetings did not start until the next day, so we went out to dinner with our host, Pastor Juan Barzan, and his family, along with our translator, Claudio Cabrera. Claudio is the son of two of the most famous Christian leaders in Argentina. His parents, now with the Lord, were our dear friends. We enjoyed the sweet fellowship and the exceptional restaurant, which featured very talented singing waiters!
I was excited for the meetings, which were to begin at 9:00 the next night. Nothing starts too early in Argentina! Our American stomachs had to wait in anticipation of the good asado (barbecue) to come, not to mention the spiritual feasts.
When the time finally came, the building of Iglesia Catedral de los Milagros was packed with 2,000 people, plus many more peering into the church from outside and lining the walls. They came hungry, and God did not disappoint!
I started by praying for the sick as I made the call to those who could not run or had loss of mobility. The place went wild with people running! Many who needed knee or hip replacements instantly experienced a miracle.
While we were taking testimonies, Mike noticed a young girl, who appeared to be about ten years old, running and jumping with excitement. To his delight, he found that she had been deformed in her legs with severe bowing to such a degree that she could not run, but she was leaping around because her once crooked legs were now perfectly straight! What joy and praise to God erupted in the room!
The next night, the Lord showed me that He wanted to straighten crooked backs. When I called this out, around ten people with scoliosis came to the front, saying they had felt a warmth in their spines and were healed. One young man in particular wept and wept because his spine had been so damaged, he was unable to walk, but now he was walking by himself.
One of the ushers handed me two braces from legs, as well as some crutches that were no longer needed. I watched a man who was injured in a car accident walk on a foot that had been broken—he was free from pain and completely mobile! Others were out of their wheelchairs. There was a woman who had a bone protruding out from under her chest cavity because of a car accident, and it completely vanished! The goodness of God was truly being made visible to the people.
One of the unusual ways God sometimes uses me for healing is turning metal into bone. I made a call to those who had lost mobility because of metal pins, rods, or wires in their bodies. The healings were spectacular. Formerly frozen shoulders were healed, and others were once again able to bend over, move their feet, or run.
That same night, a woman came forward because she had a disease that caused the calcium in her body to be soft, and her rib had broken that day. She was completely healed!
It was no wonder that we saw a great harvest of souls both nights. We estimate that around 500 were saved in the services. I called for those bound with drug addictions to come, and grown men responded, weeping in repentance for their sins and then again with joy when they were saved and set free!. Young and old came—mothers, fathers, and children all entering into the family of God.
As usual for a trip like this, Mike and I finally collapsed into bed after 2:00am. After all, as they say in Argentina, “the night was still in diapers.” I am sure heaven was still rejoicing with a great heavenly party long after we were deep into dreaming of God’s blessings from the night.
