Yasiah's Miracle

Yasiah crawled to the door of the house and saw his mother lift a waterpot onto her shoulder and begin to walk toward the village well to draw water.

Ten-year-old Yasiah [yuh-SIGH-uh] lay on his bamboo mat on the floor of his family’s small mud-brick house. He watched idly as his mother swept the floor clean. Then she prepared a mixture of cow manure and water and rubbed it all over the dirt floor. When it dried, the floor became shiny, like polished stone, and kept the mosquitos and bugs away. 

Yasiah’s mother went outside and began grinding chilies, onions, garlic, and some leaves on a grinding stone. She was making a paste for the family’s curry that night. 

Yasiah crawled to the door of the house and saw his mother lift a waterpot onto her shoulder and begin to walk toward the village well to draw water. Yasiah wished he could run along to help his mother as the other children did, but he could not. When he had been a baby he’d had a terrible sickness called polio. It had left his legs too weak to support his body. 

“Mother, will I always be crippled like this?” Yasiah asked.

 “Yes, unless God works a miracle,” his mother said. He knew his mother felt as bad as he did that he could not walk. “But for now you must be content as you are.” 

“You said that maybe God could do a miracle for me,” Yasiah said hopefully. “Could we ask a pastor to pray with us for a miracle?”

“Since the missionaries left our village, we have had no pastor to pray with us,” Mother said. 

Good News for Yasiah

A few days later Yasiah’s father came home from the fields with some news. “A pastor is visiting a village about 10 miles away. Some people went to talk to him and ask him to come and visit our village. They say he belongs to the ‘Seven-day Church,’ but he is a good man.”

Yasiah’s eyes brightened. “Maybe the pastor can come and pray that I can walk again,” he said. 

The pastor visited Yasiah’s home and prayed for the boy. Then he told Yasiah’s father, “You should take your son to the city, where we are holding special meetings. Ask the pastors there to pray for your son.”

Father and some of the village men carried Yasiah to the bus stop, where they caught the bus to the city. They found the Adventist pastors and asked them to pray for Yasiah. After they prayed one of the pastors said, “Believe in the power of Jesus Christ, and I believe you will walk again!” 

Yasiah was so happy! He was sure that Jesus would heal his legs and that he would walk again. “When will the miracle happen?” he asked his father. “Will it be tomorrow?”

“I don’t know,” his father said. “We must have faith that Jesus knows best.” 

The Miracle

The next morning when Yasiah was alone he tried to pull himself up and stand. He did it! He could stand! “Yes, Jesus,” he whispered. “I believe You will heal my legs.” 

After that Yasiah pulled himself up and stood many times every day. He could feel his legs growing stronger. Soon he could even take a few steps.

“Look, Father!” Yasiah called one night as his father came in from the fields. “I can stand, and I can walk if I hold on to something!” He showed his father. 

“Yes, God is answering our prayers,” Father said. “Tomorrow I will make a stick to help you walk!” 

After that no one could keep Yasiah down. He was up practicing his walking with the help of his stick. Slowly his legs grew stronger. Soon Yasiah could go on errands for his mother; he could help her draw water from the well and even help his father in the fields.

Come and Teach Us

When people in the village heard of Yasiah’s miracle, they begged the Adventist pastor to come and teach them about Jesus. They were hungry to learn more about God’s Word.  

Now on Sabbath Yasiah walks with his parents to a little church made of mud with a thatched palm roof near the village well. The believers sit on the ground to sing and worship. 

Our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help build a church for believers like Yasiah and his family. Let’s do all we can to help make their dreams and prayers come true.