Jesus, Universal Saviour
 
"...thou art God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forlorn, saviour of those without hope"(Jdt 9:11)
 

 
It came as a deluge-sorrow upon sorrow, accident after accident. In April 1984 I broke my left shoulder bone in an accident. As a result my arm began losing strength. Only four fingers were movable. Long-term treatment could do nothing. I could neither raise my arm nor carry even half a kilo weight nor comb my hair. Two years later another accident left me injured in the hip and backbone. I was unable to walk. Each day saw an increase in the pain. My left arm became shorter. The muscles of the right leg and waist were wasting away. Thyroid imbalance became worse. I was just a bundle of sickness. Pain-killers became my refuge as medical science could do nothing. My mental stress instensified when I realised that I would be confined to bed and the wheel chair. In 1997 came a heaven-sent boon-a Bible convention and healing service by Fr Augustine Mundackatt from Potta.
 
There were two testimonies of people whose legs attained their normal length. What could be the prayer for lengthening the arms,I wondered.
 
Being a Hindu, this was a completely new experience for me. The talks on the Bible and the interpretation of the word of God touched me and gave me great peace. God's word,"See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me"(Jer 32:27)? pierced me through and through. The promise of Jesus that, "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away"(Jn 6:37), was also for me and my family-this conviction was entrenched in the depths of my being . I repented of my sins, surrendered all my illness into the divine hands and cried out to Jesus, my Lord and God along with the thousands gathered at Fatima High School. When all raised their arms, I felt someone holding up my arm and raising it. My stiff arm rose heavenward. I had never, never in my wildest dreams, hoped for an increase of two and a half inches in my left arm. This God of mercy had compassion on an unworthy non-Christian handmaid of his! I stretched out my arms and when I opened my eyes I found them equal in size!
 
There passed through my spinal cord and around my waist an electric current. And with that, the pain of several years left me for good. The foot I had to drag at every step, regained strength and Jesus filled me with his peace. Can I ever thank him enough!
 
Uma Chandrasekhar,
Fatima, High School,
Bhavnagar, Gujarat