Jesus’ Brothers

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus tells how he will separate the people when he comes in his glory and sits on his throne.  He will put the righteous on his right and they will receive their inheritance, the kingdom that was prepared for them since the creation of the world.   The unrighteous will be placed on his left and will go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  Of the righteous, he said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

 

Jesus speaks of giving the hungry something to eat and the thirsty something to drink and clothes for those who need them.  He spoke of sharing their home with those in need, taking care of the sick and visiting those in prison. 

 

As I read this passage this morning, I thought that Duane Counts would be a good example of someone who cared for “the least of these brothers of mine”. 

 

Last October AIM scheduled 4 Earthquake Relief Mission Trips to Chincha.  Duane was on the 3^rd one.  While he removed rubble from properties in Los Jardines,… ” he bent over a wheelbarrow and breathed in some dust that burned his lungs (his daughter, Kim, wrote 3 days later). He began to loose all of the feeling in his hands all the way up to his elbows and in his feet also; he couldn’t even hold a cup of water. A local pastor (Pastor Nestor) prayed over him and while he ran to get anointing oil, the translator asked why he was praying about the angel of death. While the pastor anointed my dad, all of his feeling began to return. The next day my dad found out that the pastor had seen a vision of the angel of death before my dad got to Peru. He realized the angel of death was coming for my dad. Basically the prayers of the pastor saved my dad’s life.

 

 My dad came back to the US on Thursday and was admitted to the

hospital. They found out he had a heart attack (losing 40% of his heart function, how much of this he will recover we do not know), and he had 3 stints put in Friday morning. He also caught pneumonia at some point before coming in the hospital (caused by what he inhaled on Monday). Last night they also discovered he had a stroke sometime after the heart attack (blood clots formed in his heart after the heart attack and later dislodged and went to his brain) which is what is causing his migraines and unbalance.”

 

Duane himself wrote: “I got out of the hospital yesterday.  Before I was released, I heard  the same statement from two medical professionals (an RN and a Neurologist) that I have heard from numerous doctors and nurses over the last week: “I’m looking at your chart and your test results.  You have had a very serious stroke, heart attack and chemical attack on your lungs.  The person I am looking at cannot be the same person. You cannot be doing the things you are doing.  It’s just not possible.”  I’ve told these people they don’t know the power of our Lord nor the faith the people in Chincha have!  After Pastor Nestor’s prayers, I have never doubted my full recovery. Nestor walks closer to the spirit than anyone else I have known.  In addition to healing prayers, he also gave me some insights on other  parts of my life in which I have been seeking God’s guidance.  He knew things about me he through the Spirit that he would not know as a man. What a gift he is to me and the people of Chincha.”

 

At Thanksgiving, a little over a month later, Duane wrote: “Since returning home, I have been sharing my testimony with anyone willing to hear the message.  My Church recorded my testimony and put I it on “my space”  http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26356918.  I have tried to think of an eloquent way of saying this but I just can’t get there.  I’ll just say simply that I don’t think I would be alive nor be as spiritually strong if I had not made the trip to Peru.  Thank God.  God willing and with my wife’s understanding I hope to return someday.” 

 

Well Duane has come back twice now since his recovery.  The first time he helped women in Chincha learn to make jewelry to sell and earn a living.  He is in Peru this week seeking out other crafts that the people in Chincha can make to sell.  He has begun a website to help make a difference in the earthquake ravished cities in Peru.  You can see it at: http://web.mac.com/dacounts/PSM.  He states that his purppose is to “Increase God’s Kingdom in Peru through: Conducting mission trips, funding of local Church projects and missionaries, support rebuilding efforts, and prayer.”

 

I am pleased to have been a tool used by God to introduce Duane to Peru through AIM where he can draw more Peruvian to the Lord Jesus!