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CBN.com – Hirut Haile was content with her new life as an Ethiopian immigrant to Israel. She was busy adjusting to a new country and culture, but in February 2003, Hirut faced the biggest challenge of her life.
Hirut was talking on the phone to a friend when she suddenly lost strength in her right hand. As the phone fell to the floor, she realized that her face and leg were also paralyzed. Hirut was having a stroke.
“I was trying to get up. I was crawling on the floor to reach my door,” she recalls.
A neighbor discovered Hirut on the steps.
“I couldn’t express myself. I mean, I was trying to tell her [the neighbor], but I was not able to use my speech. My speech was already gone,” says Hirut.
Hirut was rushed to the hospital, where she saw Dr. G.P. Newman.
“She came in as an emergency patient with an acute situation where she was paralyzed on one side of the body,” says Dr. Newman. “She had difficulty speaking; she couldn’t express herself. Since she had a problem with high blood pressure and previous episodes of clotting in the veins, I was concerned she had had a stroke. The chances for recovery from a stroke in that sort of situation are not very likely.”
Hirut’s physical situation looked desperate, but Hirut was a Christian and so she was depending on God to take care of her.
“I started to trust Him and I started to encourage myself and to wait for His time,” she says.
After five weeks in the hospital, Hirut began physical therapy that included daily speech exercises.
“I was telling to all the people who were there that I was testifying about God. I was giving to some words about the only One who can heal them, which would be only Jesus,” Hirut explains.
After three months in physical therapy, the doctors had done all that they could. Hirut was sent home to face life as a disabled person, relying on a cane and wheelchair to get around.
She prayed and fasted for four days, calling out to God to make her well. By the end of that time, Hirut sensed that she should stop asking God to heal her and instead ask Him to help her live with her disability.
“I was filled with joy every time. I don’t know how, but I was happy. I was not depressed,” she says.
The next night, two friends came by to cheer her up. Instead of praying for her healing, they asked God to continue to fill her with joy and praise.
“I felt like I was on air,” notes Hirut. “I was screaming, ‘I think I am healed!’ So I jumped from the bed and I stood. Then and I was running.”
That day Hirut ran door-to-door rejoicing. Today Hirut is still overwhelmed by God’s goodness.
“I don’t have any words. I don’t know how I can repay Him,” she says crying.
Hirut’s healing is complete. Now she plans to go to Bible school. Her goal is to be equipped to tell the world that God still heals today.
“I will tell to everybody about His work, about what He has done to me. This will be my job. That’s it,” she says.
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