Bhuti Vusi

The other day I was walking through the community with some volunteers. Now this isn’t a regular activity I get to participate in, but I was hosting another team of missionary students. We had to get through a wire fence so one of the care workers lifted one of the wires so I could bend down and get through. As I bent down and my upper body paralleled the ground, I saw a Cobra quickly pass directly under me. And in this position I froze. The care workers squealed a little bit, but mostly laughed at my frozen response. I survived a Cobra.

On a sad note, Vusi passed away. Now if you haven’t been keeping up with my blogs, please refer to Drowning in a Sea of Yellow. The care workers said Vusi had passed away the night we prayed for him. It’s interesting how similar this situation is to one that burned me deep: Gloria. The circumstances were very similar. The only difference is how we responded to the need. When I met Gloria, I sensed God wanted to just give her peace and rest and so I sat and held her hand for a very long time and then prayed for peace and rest. She died that night. When I first walked into Vusi’s room, I sensed the end of his life nearing. In that moment, I felt strongly to sit on his bedside and hold his hand and tell him he’s beautiful and God loves him and God sees him even within his pain. But I just sat back as a group of people prayed intensely for healing. It’s hard to not feel like I failed him in that moment. God clearly had a purpose for Vusi then. Perhaps God wanted him to die with dignity while being loved. We, as stupid Christians, completely misinterpreted God’s will in that moment and, in our emotion-filled initiative to manifest God’s power, as his son and wife watched us, we prayed and thanked God for healing.