A testimony of the grace of the God and the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ -- In the words of her nephew Galen Hunt
Transcribed by his daughter, Alana M. Campbell
Minnie Hunt was my father's oldest sister. She married a man by the name of James (usually Jim) Sloan. While we were living in Jefferson County, Iowa, between the towns of Libertyville and Batavia, Sloans lived about 20 miles away. And Floris was the R.L.D. address.
They never had any children. As a child going there, to visit was a bit dull: but I did listen to the men talk. I do recall when one frosty morning we cut down the hornets nest and burned it in the fire. When it got warm the hornets moved out fast.
He farmed a little 40 acre patch of ground which was not big enough to make a living on. So he used to supervise the work of the roads, and work too, of course. This was the way of balancing the budget! But it did require my Aunt Minnie to be left alone many nights.
From the time I was about ten, she was frequently crippled with arthritis. By the time I was 13, she was able only to get in and out of a wheel chair, and to do such work as she could get about and in from it.
As a family, we visited over there, a couple of times a year. By the time I was 14, she could not pick up a glass of water. She could not cook, and she could not eat. She was so crippled in her hands, and so nervous, she was nearly helpless. There came a few times when he had to leave her to get along as best he could.
The summer after I was 15, Uncle Jim called and wanted to know if I could come over and care for her, while he made a few dollars working for the roads. My father knowing how helpless she was, told me to saddle a pony and go. I was not prepared to find her so helpless. But Uncle Jim gave her a bath before he left. I much enjoyed the ride over the 20 miles of country roads with the branches of trees reaching far out over the fence.
My father did not tell me I was to be the nurse, he only said I was to keep her ccompany while Jim was away. When I got over there, soon I found I would have to do everything for her: she could not use her hands even when she got the wheel chair where she wanted it.
She mentioned many times how painful her hands were. And she complained of her distress because she could not use them even to help in taking care of herself. I was so sorry for her pain, aand distress: but what could a 15 year old do?
Uncle Jim was expected back on Saturday morning, and I was to return home, so that I could go with the family to church on Sunday. I had gone over probably on Tuesday morning. The day before I was to leave (probably friday) she said: Your father says your quite a preacher!
Then she asked me to pray that God would give her back the use of her hands. I rose to the occasion without hope in my heart. I had never done that before. I could hardly believe that God would do it.
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned [judged]. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any ly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.Mark 16:15-20
I made a short simple prayer, aand asked God to give her back the use of her hands. While I prayed, she held her gnarled, knobby, swollen, crippled hands in my own hard. When I finished my prayer, I massaged her hands one by one, as hard as I could. She did not say it hurt. All this took about an hour. When I had finished my prayer with the massage, her eyes were filled with tears and were down her cheeks. She showed me she could make a fist with either hand. She was so happy. ".... And the power of the Lord was present to heal them."
Luke 5:17
I don't know whether she ever told my father but I never did. This incident puzzled me, it raised a lot more problems for me than it settled. Why should God hear the prayer of a stupid 15 year old boy?
Then if God were going to heal her hands, why he did not completely heal her from all her arthrittis? She died some ten or twelve years later. She was still in her wheel chair: but she still had the use of her hands. Now I am older and better understand how divine healing works, I have better ideas about it. There is a science of the power of God that lies over and above the science of this world. It is put into operation by the prayer of faith: and the natural laws of science are suspended while the full power of God operates.
I had no faith in my prayer at all. She had faith only for the healing of her hands. I was always afterward so sorry. If I could have roused her faith for the complete healing, God would have given it! Ever after that, my Auntie said I had "Healing Hands." And much to my own embarrassment, she said that to others. I would in fact have kept this a secret, of our own until now. I give all the glory to Jesus.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes ye were healed. Isaiah 53:5
Who His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. I Peter 2:24
