DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — Tragedy struck Dieu-Merci’s life the day he climbed an 18-foot pole to work on the power lines at his electric company. A shock electrocuted his body and blasted him off the pole. His neck broke in the fall.

Crossworld disciple-maker and doctor Mindy met Dieu-Merci (whose name means Thank you, God) at the hospital a few days later. The first thing she noticed? The huge smile on his face.

Dieu-Merci had every reason to be angry and depressed. His prime years cut short. Limited therapy options. An uncertain future. All of this in a developing country with few sidewalks and wheelchair ramps, and where most handicapped people are confined to their homes.

But each day during his hospital stay, Dieu-Merci smiled with optimism. He never complained about the complications that arose. Instead, he thanked the hospital staff over and over for their care.

Dieu-Merci was released from the hospital after six weeks, still bedbound and unable to sit up or feed himself. He was left to continue his therapy exercises on his own.

More than a year later, Mindy visited Dieu-Merci in his home — a two-room, windowless mud house where he lives with his mother.

Dieu-Merci (center) with his physical therapist (right) and Crossworld worker Mindy (left)

To Mindy’s surprise, Dieu-Merci walked into the sitting area with crutches as his only help and seated himself in a chair! The same smile Mindy saw in the hospital sprang to his face again.

“When I returned home, my heart was darkened with hopelessness,” Dieu-Merci told Mindy. “But God was with me, and He made me strong. He gave me hope that I could have a good life.”

Dieu-Merci shared about the struggles he’s faced since returning home but also the hope he finds in trusting God. He reads his Bible and does his therapy exercises several times a day. He also journals about his experience, using his thumbs to type on his phone.

“I do miss church,” Dieu-Merci said. “If you can find a way to get me there, I’ll testify to the whole church about what God has done in my life.”

So Mindy and her husband, Wes, began looking for a way to get Dieu-Merci to church. A generous donor in the U.S. provided a wheelchair for him, and two months later, they drove back to his house to pick him up on a Sunday morning.

Dieu-Merci’s sister and his physical therapist helped Wes lift Dieu-Merci into the truck — the first time Dieu-Merci had been in a car since his accident. Though the ride was hot and dusty, he wanted to leave the windows down to breathe in the air and see the streets, once so familiar, that he hadn’t seen in more than a year.

Dieu-Merci shares his testimony of God’s faithfulness at church.

At church, the pastor preached from Acts 3 about Peter and John healing the paralytic man. At the end of the service, the pastor invited Dieu-Merci to the front to share his story.

“I spent a long time in the hospital, in a state of total paralysis,” Dieu-Merci said.

He spoke softly and the church bowed to his meekness, making silent room for his words in their midst.

“During this time, life and death argued day and night to take me. But God miraculously saved me during this difficult period. Now I thank God with all my heart.”

Just like the friends who lowered the paralytic through the roof to meet Jesus, Dieu-Merci has had many helpers in his story. His doctors, his physical therapist, his mother and sister who care for him at home, a foreign friend who provided his wheelchair, Wes and Mindy who took him to church, the pastor who made room in his sermon and service, and more. As they watch God work a miracle in Dieu-Merci’s life, together they all see Jesus more clearly.

Here’s how you can pray for this ministry.

• Pray for faith and perseverance for Dieu-Merci. His city has few accommodations for quadriplegic people. Pray that he will continue to recover use of his arms and legs for God’s glory.
  
  
• Crossworld worker Mindy said, “We’re often overwhelmed by all of the needs that surround us. It is difficult to know when to intervene in someone’s life and when not to. Pray that the Lord will guide us in our ministries of compassion, and that He will give us wisdom and discernment.”
  
  
• COVID-19 is worse in Congo now than it has ever been. Pray that the Lord will show mercy, especially to His saints.