Jesus has radically loved the elementary school kids in our after-school program all year! A few weeks into the academic year, we were teaching the kids that God is in a good mood and that He heals people’s bodies when we ask Him. During snack time, before the lesson, we asked if any of the kids needed prayer.
After hearing “my cat is sick” and “my dog ran away,” a little boy said his back hurt. On a scale of one to ten, his pain was “at a 90.” All the kids rallied around him and quickly released healing over him. The look of shock when he realized his back didn’t hurt anymore was priceless. That day, 23 kids were healed of physical problems that ranged from hurt ankles to eczema.
We prayed for a little girl’s grandma who was in the hospital. The grandma was supposed to be in the hospital for another week, but the day after we prayed, she was able to go home. The 7-year-old girl told her, “I know why you came home from the hospital early.” The little girl explained that we prayed for her grandma at school the day before, and that God heals people when we pray because He’s in a good mood. Then she told her the story of Jesus and how He gave everything for her, and the girl led her grandma to Jesus for the first time! A few months later, the grandma passed away. She is with Jesus right now because a little girl encountered the goodness of God and brought that encounter home with her.
After God showed up and demonstrated His goodness to the kids, we intended to teach them how Jesus’ blood paid for everything. Before the lesson, we mentioned Jesus’ name in conversation, and one of the little boys asked, “Jesus? Who is Jesus? I have a cousin named Jesuís, but I’ve never heard of a Jesus.”
After hearing about what Jesus did, God encountered them all through a vision where Jesus took away their bad things and gave them His good things. That day, 22 kids, including the little boy who had never heard of Jesus, gave their hearts to Him.
A week doesn’t go by without one of the kids being healed in their body or someone deciding to choose joy in a sad situation. This Thursday a little girl told us, “My mommy and daddy fight a lot, but now I just pray, and Jesus makes it all better.”
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