Prayers for Healing

Over the past year, many of us have come before the Lord with prayers for healing for ourselves or for loved ones. For the past few months, many people from the churches in Pleven and Odarne have not been able to participate in worship gatherings because of sickness and other reasons related to COVID-19. We are praying for physical healing in these situations, because we know how much these people need the support of other believers as they seek to grow in the faith. We are praying for emotional healing for those who are struggling with depression and fear, as the events of the past year have turned their plans and lives upside down. Most of all, we are praying for spiritual healing for the ones to whom we have been sent. Every day, we talk to people who struggle with distrust, bitterness, and other sins–bondages from which we know that only Jesus Christ can set us free. We know that God will always answer prayers for healing in the way that He sovereignly deems best. As we seek to trust His timing, we want to boldly and intentionally pray for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing of people in Pleven, Bulgaria–healing which will cause many to glorify and believe in our Almighty God.
One person whose healing  we have been praying for recently is a lady named Ina. We first met Ina and her sister-in-law Mira at an O.C.C. outreach event last winter in a village called Batsova Mahala. She welcomed us into her home, and she shared with us about her desire to learn more about the faith that her sister-in-law (a believer) had shared with her. We were so excited about the possibility of starting a Bible study in this village where there was no church presence and where we saw such an openness to the Gospel. Then, we were so disappointed when Covid and our summer stateside assignment put a a long delay to these plans. Yet we knew that one thing we could do during this time was to pray for the village of Batsova Mahala and ask others to join us in prayer.  A few weeks ago, we finally reconnected with this sweet family, almost a year after we had last seen each other. What an exciting surprise it was to hear that over that past year, their entire family had decided to follow Christ!! They had even started gathering together for worship in Ina’s home, and a relative who is a pastor in another city had started visiting them occassionally to share with them from God’s Word! We also found out that Ina was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer which required immediate surgery. From what we can tell, it sounds like her condition is very serious. When Ina’s sister-in-law, Mira asked if our church would help pray for Ina’s healing, she said, “I think that if others in our village see God’s power and see the strength that He gives us, they will believe in Him too. We all placed our faith in God, and now this is the time of testing we have to go through so our faith will be made strong.”
Ina and Mira’s story has been an encouraging reminder to us of the power to prayer! Even though there are times that we may feel discouraged by things that limit our ability to help with certain needs, God is always able to do what we cannot! When we pray for the lost, He hears. He makes a way for those who are seeking Him to find Him!
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