Dead for 12 Hours!

For most of his life, Pablito's father was a sorcerer who believed and participated in the animistic traditions of his people. After Pablito became a follower of Jesus, and later a JFA Bible Worker, his father attempted to make his life difficult. Still, Pablito prayed for his father's conversion. 

Even after seeing God's miraculous power, Pablito's father did not fully believe, until he experienced it himself. When God saved him from the effects of poison, he finally had to admit that the God his son believed in was the true God. He accepted the Gospel and started sharing his testimony with others.

Not too long ago, Pablito's father died. This is how it happened: early that morning, he walked down the hill by his house to work in his banana grove. When he finished his work and started the walk back home, for some reason he fell over dead and rolled down the hill. 

When his family learned what happened, they were understandably shocked. “How can that be?” Pablito’s mother asked. “I just saw him walking a little while ago.” The family went to where his body lay and checked his pulse but found none. They carried him back to the house to prepare for his burial, but first, someone had to tell Pablito.

Pablito's brother-in law went looking for Pablito to tell him the sad news. He asked him to find a tractor for hire so they could dig a grave to bury his father. 

While rest of the family waited at home, Pablito's mother encouraged them, saying, "While Pablito is gone looking for a tractor, we need to come together and pray!"

Before going to his father's village, Pablito went to the church, where he spent some time in prayer.

"Lord, if my father is still not ready for heaven, please give him life. But if my father is worthy to be in heaven, then it's alright even if you do not bring him back to life again."

Pablito arrived at his father’s village around 6 pm. As he approached the house, he shouted.

"Father, wake up!”

Immediately, Pablito's father started moving again.

He had been dead for nearly 12 hours.

“They had told me he was already dead,” Pablito shared. “He was already stiff. But when I got there, he started breathing! I had just gotten there!” 

The next morning, Pablito's father woke up joyfully to the sound of roosters crowing. "My body seemed strong because the Lord brought me back to life," he shared. "I prayed, ‘Thank you God, for you have given me life again so that I may testify to others and to my family. I'm alive! I'm still strong!’”

Pablito’s father now

Pablito’s father helping to build a roof

“My father said, if it wasn’t for God, he would really be dead right now. If I hadn’t had faith, he told me, I would be dead. I told him, yes, you must trust God. Don’t be afraid to die. It’s okay to die if you trust in the Lord, because Paul said, if you live in the Lord, even if you die, you will be in the Lord.”

“My family told me, ‘if it weren’t for you Pablito, your dad would be dead, because no one would pray the way you did,' ” Pablito shared. “I replied, ‘I wasn’t the one who brought him back to life; it was God who brought him back to life.’ They said, ‘But what if you weren’t here? How could we bring your father to the Lord in prayer? Then he wouldn’t have been brought back to life.’ But praise God, he was brought back to life. So that is why my family really believes that God truly exists.

We don't hear resurrection testimonies every day (or even every decade in most cases), but we get excited when we do. Stories like these bear witness to the incredible power of God that is the same today as it was in the days of Bible heroes like Abraham, Moses, and Elijah. 

We may not all encounter situations like this; however, we can use testimonies like this one as reminders that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

Please pray for Pablito and his fellow Bible Workers, that God may continue to bless their ministries and reveal His love and power through them. 

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