Christian Living

---

Watch out for those deadly vipers along the Amazon! They give you eleven seconds to live.

One of these vipers struck its venom into Jim, a missionary to the Venezuelan Indians. “God help me,” Jim screamed.

The Indians held their breath. The believers prayed in earnest, “Oh, God, You have all power. Please spare our missionary.”

"God answers prayer, Jim," one of them whispered when Jim did not keel over and die. Neither did he recover at that moment.

For days his Indian friends watched as he lay in bed at the point of death. The believers kept praying, “Oh, God, please let Jim live.” Day after day they kept their vigil. For about three months the missionary lay sick in bed.

His wife nursed him carefully. He slept a lot and managed to sip some of the warm broth his wife served him.

One day the missionary opened his eyes and smiled. Encouraged, the believers continued their pleas. Gradually he began to improve.

Finally, he sat up in bed. “Honey,” he said, “Can I have some vegetables in my broth today?”

Day by day Jim grew stronger. One day he was able to sit at the dinner table and join his family in prayer.

“Dear Lord,” he said, “We thank You for making me well. Thank You for caring for us. Help us to keep trusting you no matter what happens. Amen.”

After many more days, he regained his vigor. Once again he carried on his missionary work with the Venezuelan Indians.

God sustained Jim in his hour of crisis. The Lord still sustains the native believers in Venezuela, though missionaries can no longer enter this country.

God watched over Jim just as He watches over us. The Bible says that He sees every sparrow which falls and He cares much more for us (Matthew 10:29, 31).

Pray for the missionaries and natives who live too far away to get to a doctor when tragedy strikes. God still has the power to heal just as He did Jim in Venezuela.


Printed in Breakthrough Intercessor, Summer 2000, Vol. 21, #3

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE