A Miracle For an Atheist By David E. Godwin
She was frightened beyond words. The doctor pointed to huge x-rays on the wall showing signs of a malignant condition in the lungs. Delia had asked for the examination because of the severe pain that affected the ability to raise her arms. After learning that there was no light on the horizon, Delia went home to a feeling of dark, piercing hopelessness. Every day became an increasing struggle for her. When she could no longer lift her hands to feed herself, she contemplated suicide. Residing near the Panama Canal Highway, Delia decided that she would end her life by stepping in front of a semi-truck. In her pocket, she would include a handwritten note exculpating the truck driver from all charges. What she did not know is that God, in His mercy, was engineering a miracle that would change her future. As she prepared for her
gruesome end, Delia suddenly heard a voice she had never heard before, “If you want to be healed, go to the crusade at the Templo Vista Hermosa.” Instinctively, she knew it was the voice of God. The place she was sent was a theater converted into a church, our first plant in Panama City. Even when faced with such a bleak future, Delia argued with the voice, “But that is not my religion!” The reality was that, at that point in time, she had no religion. She had followed religious traditions in her early life but never experienced anything. Ten years before this encounter with God, she had become an atheist. But cancer had a way of changing things. It only took a moment for her to decide.
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I remember the first Sunday evening I saw her standing in the crowd in the 1960s. However, that was not her first time into our church; Delia told me she had come for the earlier morning service and hugged a back wall, “to make sure we weren’t some weird religion.” After hearing the Word of God and the powerful testimonies of people transformed by Jesus, she returned to the night service and was seated front and center. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. At the conclusion of the service, Delia responded to the call for prayer. Just as we were about to pray, and knowing nothing of her (or the circumstances), I felt moved to publicly ask about her need. She answered that she could not