During my time of living on campus at YWAM Ships Kona I befriended a German student named Nils. He was famously accident prone, and it became a bit of a running joke. First he god washed up on the rocks after a night swim and got sea urchin spines all over his foot. Then his leg got sucked into an underwater pipe while we were swimming at a waterfall area on the island. Then, during a soccer game one night, he collided with another student and broke his arm!
The day after that accident we were talking and I felt like God was giving me faith to believe for miraculous healing. I was a bit nervous though and did not step out in faith. I just did nothing.
Then, after Nils got his cast on, the doctors told him it would be at least five weeks, but probably seven, before he could get it off. They scheduled a check up in three weeks, though, to see if he could get a smaller cast that did not go beyond his elbow. After that he would have to get his final cast off while on outreach in Papua New Guinea – something he was nervous about.
I felt down because I felt like I might have missed what God wanted to do when I first felt faith for a miracle. Then I got another opportunity. Nils and I were sitting by the pool, talking, and I shared with him that I felt God wanted to heal his arm. This time I laid hands on his cast and, along with another friend, prayed that his arm would be healed by the three-week check-up. This is what I felt God leading me to believe for, so I prayed it out in faith.
Three weeks later, Nils got back from the hospital and his cast was off. The Doctor and Nurse had done an X-ray and his arm no longer needed a cast of any size. I was so overjoyed. It felt like, even though I may have missed the first thing God led me to do, God still healed Nil’s arm.
It was such an amazing thing to experience. We told everyone at the base and, even now as I am writing this, I feel deep joy welling up inside me as I remember it. It was an awesome experience to witness this miracle and see the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
Iain Alexander Cook