In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, the author recorded an account of extraordinary sacrifice by the friends of a paralyzed man. This group of men were determined to find help for their friend, even if it required great physical effort. When they couldn’t get near Jesus because of the crowds, they brazenly made a hole in the roof and lowered the ailing man down in front of Jesus. Jesus acknowledged their faith, and then healed the sick man (Luke 5:18-26).
During the week of community ministry prior to the Miles Ahead crusade events May 2 and 3 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the medical team encountered numerous stories of suffering and sacrifice–and of lives saved. Here’s one example. Dr. John Clifford, an orthopedic specialist and one of the volunteer physicians on duty, takes up the tale.
Someone Finally Understood…
“On the first day of our mobile clinic [Tuesday, April 29] a man comes in with his brother in his arms, carrying him …. [The patient] had a stroke two months ago, and the brother had to carry him everywhere, to the bathroom, to his bed… anywhere he needs to go. He’s completely dependent upon his brother …
“I examined him and realized he had a dense right-side hemiplegia, which means he’s completely paralyzed on his right side, with a complete expressive aphasia. With expressive aphasia, you can understand everything that’s being said to you, but the center of your brain that controls your ability to express yourself is completely obliterated, so you can’t express yourself. You can’t write, you can’t sign and you can’t speak. You’re completely cut off from the world…
“My wife [Nanci Clifford] is a physical therapist, so we brought her over and she began to work with him. And she’s a huge prayer warrior too, so she prayed over him and with the family. She laid hands on him, and she also did therapy on him, so it was a fusion of traditional medicine and spiritual healing. As she was explaining to the family why he couldn’t talk to him, tears started streaming down his face. Someone finally understood…
“She worked over him a while and worked out some of his contractures, and prayed over him, and he was able to stand for the first time since his stroke…”
The improvement was wonderful for the stroke victim. But he still didn’t have any way of getting around. However, God wasn’t finished with the story yet… (To be continued…)
