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I prayed for a man in St. Peter's square today

And he cried.

By Tineke Ziemer

September 2^nd, 2014

I believe that things in my life are orchestrated by One greater than me. Almost two years ago a beautiful friend named Laura asked a question that would change my life. “Would you like to go to Rome with me?” There was inside of me in that instant, an absolute knowledge that God had a plan for me on this trip. I had no idea what it was, but I knew I was supposed to go.

Over the next long while, after spending nine months in prayer, things fell into place by divine intervention and the trip was booked. And now we are here. And less than 15 hours after being in Rome, I found one of God’s children in need of His love.

This man’s name is George. (I asked permission to take his photo and share his story.) He asked me for money, which I could not give. But something greater transpired. Within a few minutes of coming over, he sat down to talk and through broken English, began to share his story. His hand is broken and by all I can tell, he is homeless. He said he had been to see a priest to get prayer for his hand but it didn’t work.

I had been feeling a little shy about talking to a total stranger. But in that moment I felt an uncharacteristic boldness and I knew one thousand percent that the Lord wanted me to pray with this man. I asked him if I could and he said yes. I laid my hand on his hand and prayed. And he started to cry. And he didn’t want to let go. I hugged him and he clung to me. I spent some time talking to him and hearing his story. He had been through many things in his seventy years, including serving in the war. The experience he talked about the most was that he had met Jesus Christ in 1971. He then started to preach Jesus like I haven’t heard anyone preach in quite some time, and though I was his only audience, he spoke passionately.“There is only ONE power, ONE power and that’s God, that’s Jesus Christ. Not this papa (the pope) and all of this!” he said waving his arm around to indicate the grandeur of St. Peter’s Square. I could only clasp his hand, smile admiringly at his spirit, and agree whole-heartedly. God is truly the one and only God, the rest of us are only human, and it was a beautiful reminder that he meets us where we are, in the state that we are in, and loves us without measure despite our circumstances. In this case, he met us in the midst of the incredible collonades of St. Peter’s Square, 284 columns that have stood the test of time since 1606. In that moment, all of the awe-inspiring, man-made beauty faded away and God saw only the heart of one lonely man and one hopeful girl.

George touched my life in the twenty or so minutes that we talked. When it came time for me to leave, he didn’t want me to go. He said “Bella, I hope I see you again one day.”

I walked away with my heart rejoicing, feeling that I had been called according to His purpose. And even if only this one man needed only this one little prayer, and God sent me all the way from Canada to do it, I believe it was worth it!

(I wasn’t aware that my friend Laura had taken a photo of our hands during the prayer. She showed me later and I was so touched. She called the image “A Prayer for George.” Thank you Laura!)

*** UPDATE*** It’s been two weeks since I met George. I saw him again tonight as we were walking through the square. He remembered me and gave me a big hug. I asked how his hand was doing and he showed me! WOW! Praise God - it is in much better shape. When I saw his hand last it was yellow and purple and swollen. Now it looks like a normal hand. He had medicine for it. Thank you Lord for getting George the help he needed and healing his hand. George was sad to hear that I was leaving Rome and tried for quite some time to find the English words to ask how he could write me. I didn’t have a way of leaving him my address right then and there, so I guess it’s in the Lord’s hands if I’ll ever see him again. He said “I love you” as I walked away and I said “God Bless You.” It was a bitter-sweet parting, but I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring George back into my life for a few minutes tonight so I could be encouraged by his progress.

I prayed for a man in St. Peter's square today

Laura and I spent several hours photographing St. Peter’s Square this morning, and here are a few images to share with you. (I have no idea how these look, as I’m on a laptop and can’t edit accurately.)

Here’s a shot I got of Laura just before a police man blew his whistle at us and started high-tailing it over. Apparently we were NOT supposed to be in that “aisle” of the square. Whooops! Who knew? We saw an open gate and went through it. We did think it quite funny though, that we were whistled at by the polizia… but not for being good looking, unforunately. Oh well, better luck next time.