DIVINE APPOINTMENTS
Thinking back over various encounters we had over the years, I have been thinking of a man we called “Leg Man” and wondering how his life has played out. We met him in Hanoi, Vietnam in the summer of 1998. While driving across the city one day on our motor bike, we came upon a construction accident scene. A cement beam had fallen on a worker’s leg, obviously breaking the femur and severing an artery. His co-workers were trying to prop him up on the back of a motorbike to take him to the hospital. As they lifted him, his leg, bleeding profusely, hung loosely backwards. Upon seeing this and realizing both the pain he was in and the further damage being done to his leg, my husband, Bob, (an Emergency Medical Technician) stopped to help. He explained his medical experience to them in Vietnamese and temporarily set the leg with a splint made of two broomsticks. Next, we paid for a taxi to take him to the hospital.
A week later, we visited him in the hospital with a Vietnamese friend to see how he was doing. We learned that he was a poor farmer who had gotten his crops in and came to the city hoping for extra work to support his family. His leg had been operated on and the bone pinned. It was a rough Job. We gave him a little money for food and medicine and learned his home location.
Several months later, we went with a Vietnamese church worker to visit him. It was one of the poorest homes that I had seen. The house was made of rough clay bricks, with clay tile roof and dirt floor. For furniture there was just a wooden bed in one corner with him lying on it and a bench. He knew that Bob was in medical work and had come to check his leg. There was already a lot of muscle atrophy as he hadn’t exercised it or been able to walk for two months. Looking at the condition of his muscles, we didn’t think he would ever walk again. We shared with him why we had come to Vietnam (because of God’s love for the Vietnamese people and how our God is Almighty and powerful). “Leg man” and his wife said that they had never heard the name of Jesus before, and no one ever told them about the Creator God Who is above all Gods. Our Vietnamese friend shared the Bible account from creation to the resurrection. An invitation was given to believe and Leg man, his wife, and father all wanted to pray and accept Jesus. Then we prayed for his leg and went away rejoicing.
Our Christian friend visited the next month, and the man was up and walking and praising God! It was really a miracle and they all knew it. Our friend introduced another Christian in that area, and they gave a Bible study. This time Leg Man’s mother was there to hear about Jesus and accept Him into her life! The Christian friend started going every week to nurture them in their newfound faith.
A few weeks later, Bob and I went to visit them again and brought a Vietnamese Bible. They were thrilled! Later, we were told that his aunt had accepted the Lord and he was reading the Bible to his family and having a weekly visitor who instructs them in a Bible study.
Every Vietnamese family who are not Christians have an altar to worship their ancestors. They place daily offerings of food, drinks, and incense on them to appease the ancestors. Leg Man’s family took down their ancestor altar. This was a major significant act in their culture! He said that all his chickens turned black died the next day, but he wasn’t turning back to ancestor worship. His desire was to meet more believers and learn more about the God Who healed him.
It was our privilege to live in Vietnam at that time and see God show up to draw men and women to faith in Him.
“Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.” Isaiah 26:8 NIV
