One morning we went out with a translator to do some street evangelism in the community next to the base we were staying in. We met a young man named Evno who had severe pain in his face and his left cheek was swollen. At first he was not so enthusiastic that we wanted to talk to him. He wasn’t a big fan of Americans. But as we introduced ourselves and exchanged a few words with him, he eventually became fond of us and started opening up. We asked him if we could pray for his cheek. He said he didn’t have much time because he was on his way to the hospital to get it checked out by a doctor. However, through our insistence, we managed to sit him down for a couple of minutes to pray and ask Jesus to heal his cheek. After our “Amen”, we looked into a very puzzled face. The young man grabbed his face and shook his head, saying, “When you prayed, the pain was suddenly gone.” The once swollen cheek was gone, and we realized he was healed! When we said goodbye, he ended up following us and telling people what had just happened to him. We thanked and praised God for what just happened to this young man. He was healed!
A few days later, we went to visit Evno again to see how he was doing. He told us that his bad tooth that was causing the pain fell out by itself the same night after we prayed for him! We were able to tell him that it was not us who healed him – not some magic spell – but Jesus Christ. He shared with us some of his life story and we could clearly see that Jesus met him again and again through other healings and dreams he has had and he became very interested in the God who healed him. Another few days later, we were able to talk to him again and explain the whole gospel, what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, what it means for us now and how we respond to what Jesus did for us. Evno was interested and wanted to give his life to Jesus Christ and be baptized on the spot. However, since it was already evening and getting dark, we had to postpone the baptism.
It was hard to contact Evno in the coming days as he had long working hours and wasn’t always at home; however, after some more persistent visits to his home, we were able to find him and finally lead him in a water baptism. We started with “Repentance” – that is, intentionally turning away from the sins one has committed. When Evno shared his story, he told us that he was involved in voodoo in the past and it became evident that the stronghold was still binding him. So we started praying for him that any strongholds over him would leave him. We continued to pray in the name of Jesus Christ and spoke truth over Evno and his identity in Jesus. Finally it seemed that the stronghold was broken as Evno looked healthier and much more alive. Then one of the Haitians we were with asked him how he was doing and if he was ready to be baptized now. Evno responded by saying, “Yes, that is what we came here for.” Full of joy, we were then able to baptize Evno and at the end we prayed for the filling of the Holy Spirit. We are incredibly happy that a lost sheep had come back to his shepherd. THANK YOU JESUS! After we baptized him we asked Evno how he was and he said he felt a deep joy. God is great and to Him belongs all the glory!
Simea and Pascal’s testimony
