Story of Hernan: A Report from Mexico - 15 Feb 2008
Even when we just strive to throw a few prayer weeks, God decides to show up and – magnificent as he is – great things happen. This is the story of a friend who was brought to our city by love of his mother, encountered God in our prayer room and found a greater love in a Father he never knew.
In September, I was attending a broken lamp in our prayer room and we were all busy working out the final details of the week when one of the staff members brought in a friend of his named Hernan. I had never seen him in my life, so we were introduced that very same day. He told me he was there to help out in whichever way he could and my first reaction was, “Finally, someone that looks able to fix the toilet!”
As ‘spiritual’ as my reaction was, the week started to unfold and I got to know a bit about Hernan. He had never heard about community or Jesus or about his faithfulness and grace, but he wanted to experience these things and see if maybe a transformation was possible in his life.
About a month before the week started, Hernan’s mother had become increasingly ill with intestinal cancer and the doctors told the family that an operation needed to happen immediately. The cancer could spread to other parts of her digestive system and her chances to survive would decrease dramatically if much time passed. So he left his job, plush apartment and 42” flat screen TV to rush to his mother’s side for what he thought might be her last few months. When he arrived they set an date for the operation, but they would have to wait about six weeks to see the results.
Stranded, he remained jobless and his bank account began to wane. By the time we met, he was broke, emotionally stressed and trying to deal with a great sense of hopelessness. He surrendered to God on our first evening together in the prayer room. He told God to remember him, to please forgive him and to heal his mother.
Over the next few days, he experienced massive change in his life. Prayer became Hernan’s top priority and he became one of our key people during that week of prayer. He assisted our visitors, cleaned the floors, served coffee, listened and listened some more. At times he would be so broke that he couldn’t even afford a few tacos. He still remained distressed about his mother’s situation but he now had hope. At one point he said, “I know God will let his will be done in my mother.”
The week ended as a great season of prayer, but Hernan went away with a story that would mark his life forever. Toward the end of the week, he told us that he had gone to the doctor and the news was that his mother was no longer at danger, her cancer had not gone away but the operation would be a lot simpler since her intestine actually grew long enough so that they wouldn’t have to stretch it when they cut out the cancer and thus – in his own words – leaving his mother as a “brand new 2008 model”. If that wasn’t enough, he found a really good job the very same day the week ended and also received a very expensive watch as a present from his previous boss!
Today, his mother is cancer free, and he has been promoted every month since taking his new job!
