The call of the gospel: ministering to the lame man, Jose

When we arrived in the city center, it was crowded. There were people all over the street from different walks of life. There were groups dancing their troubles away, street vendors, living statues, homeless begging for change, people sleeping on the street, and more. The bustle of the city surprised me compared to the calm of the Mission House and surrounding neighborhoods. The Cathedral stood in the center of downtown; its sheer size and the echo of the bells ringing throughout the city made it impossible to miss its presence.

As we walked the streets, the site that struck me the most was that of a lame man, dragging himself through the street on just his arms and pushing his change cup in front of him. It was the first time in my life I’ve seen a lame person without a wheelchair to get around. Our group hurried down the busy street to see the tomb of Saint Oscar Romero, a martyr and beloved man of the city. When I looked around at my group and the people on the street we were passing, I couldn’t believe no one noticed this man. The crowds were looking at the street vendors, living statues, and architecture, but all I could see was this brave man making his way through the crowd. How strongly he stood out to me. I instantly felt a call on my heart that I was in the right place; that this is where I would encounter the gospel in El Salvador.

After seeing the tomb, our group headed to the other side of the Cathedral, and we passed this man again. As I walked by the second time, again I noticed that people hurried around him and paid him no attention. But I couldn’t get him off my mind. When we were finally told we had thirty minutes to walk around before Mass, the only thing I wanted to do was to go pray with that man. It was so strongly on my heart that I knew it was something God was asking me to do, but I was also scared. Who am I, a foreigner, to come pray over him without anything truly to offer him to help? How would he receive it? I didn’t even speak the same language. But the call was strong, so I mustered up the courage to tell my friend, David, about the pull on my heart to pray with him and he agreed to come with me, as did two others.

After finding this man a little way down the street, I got nervous again. Were we really going to do this? To walk up to him to pray? I knew Jesus wanted me to live His gospel, but it didn’t stop the nerves from coming. David and I shared a moment of hesitation that eventually turned into shared courage, and decided we would approach him. Luckily, David was fluent in Spanish and could speak to him in his language and translate. As we stooped down to talk to him, the first thing I noticed was the immediate joy on his face. He was not sad. Though he was very dirty, only had four visible teeth and his body had physically failed him, his heart and spirit were strong. We learned he was 59 years old and had been lame his entire life. He shared that he was a friend of Jesus and asked that we pray for his difficulties and burdens. As I looked at him and his joy through obvious trials, I felt like I saw the face of Jesus. As we prayed with him, a feeling of warmth fell over me as I knew Jesus had been calling us to come and see this particular man. He had called us to seek the least of his people, the one no one stopped to talk to and had overlooked.

As I briefly opened my eyes while praying in the middle of this crowded street with arms extended, I was surprised to find there were people watching. A circle had formed around us, and they were videoing and taking pictures. David and I caught eyes and he said, “Kayla, everyone’s looking,” to which I think I smiled and responded, “Good!” I didn’t want the attention, that was not why we were praying with Jose, but it hit me in that moment that people finally noticed him; how joyful that made me. Perhaps for the first time, they saw this man that they walked past numerous times. Many stooped to put money in his cup while we prayed. I can only hope that they took note of the prayer and witness of Christ Jesus and show the same compassion tomorrow to others they encounter. I pray they find the same courage I managed to summon up with the help of my friends when the Lord calls them to pray with someone. I pray that I keep that courage as I go back home to a land that is spiritually poor.

But that wasn’t the end of our time with Jose. After we prayed over him, he asked to pray over us. He gathered the strength to reach out his arms, shakily, to put hands on us and pray over us. How humbling this moment. How beautiful his faithfulness. Though physically handicapped and clearly tired, he was spiritually alive. As we hugged Jose and said goodbye, I took a snapshot of his face in my mind. I encountered the face of Jesus today through a man named Jose. What I never expected, was that I was the one who would be healed when I followed His voice to pray over this man. I was the one spiritually blessed by that experience; Jose already had the joy of Christ within him and hope that went beyond understanding.

Lord, thank you for blessing me with this encounter. I pray you physically heal Jose so that his body may match the joy of his soul. I pray you keep him safe and bless him. Thank you for giving me the courage to follow your voice; I pray I listen for it more often, push out the fear and act out of love. Help me to live the gospel every single day of my life; help me to answer when you call.