The Fall Before the Miracle

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

— Jeremiah 32:27 (KJV)

There are moments in life when everything seems to be going according to plan—until something completely unexpected happens. On September 16, 2026, the brethren from San Vicente invited us to celebrate their Family Day with them on September 20, 2026. Since we had already grown close to the brethren, especially the youth, we gladly accepted. We wanted to spend time with them, create memories, and simply enjoy fellowship outside our usual ministry routine.

On September 20, 2026, we traveled from Ternate to San Vicente. Everything went smoothly. After almost two months of being busy with missionary work, it felt good to relax, laugh, and spend time together again. We were having such a great day that we expected to return home the following day.

But plans changed.

Because the people who were supposed to bring us home became busy, we ended up staying until Tuesday. Little did I know that Tuesday night would become a moment I would never forget. We were on our way to a nearby home for worship when I decided to call some of the youth to join us. I went ahead, carrying a three-year-old child in my arms. As I slowly walked down the road, two large dogs suddenly started fighting. Before I could react, one of the dogs crashed into me with tremendous force. I fell hard, and the child was thrown from my arms.

When I hit the ground, panic rushed in, I tried to catch the child but I landed directly on my knee. I immediately felt that something was wrong. When I touched it, I could feel that the bone was no longer aligned properly. Somehow, I managed to push it back into place. Then came the pain. It was so intense that I felt like I was going to black out. “Lord, why? Why did this happen?” I whispered through the pain. I could not stand.

Thankfully, one of the youth’s fathers came, helped me sit up, washed my wounds, and checked if I had been bitten or scratched. Eventually, they called a tricycle because I had no strength left to walk. On the way home, I kept reminding myself: Maybe God allowed this for a reason. But even as I struggled with my own injury, my thoughts kept returning to the child. He had been thrown from my arms, and I knew his head had hit the ground. I could not stop worrying about him.

My knee was hurting terribly, but the uncertainty surrounding his condition weighed heavily on my heart. I kept wondering whether he was seriously injured and whether he would be okay. When I finally got home, one of the first things I did was ask my companions how the child was doing. They told me that the child had been thrown quite hard and had hit his head. My heart sank. Thankfully, after the family checked on him and had him treated, we learned that he had no signs of a fracture. He was okay. That news brought me so much relief. In the middle of everything that had happened, I could only thank God for protecting him.

That night, I prayed desperately for a fast recovery. I remembered that when I experienced a similar injury in 2023, it took almost a month before I could walk normally. I was afraid the same thing would happen again—and I worried about how it might affect our ministry.

The next morning, I was still afraid to stand. But I needed to use the bathroom, so with the help of my partner, I slowly got up using crutches. Afterward, something happened that I did not expect. I tried standing without the crutches. And I stood.

I remember thinking, “I am Lord’s favorite” I laughed because, honestly, I could feel His love in that moment.  I could stand again much sooner than I had expected. Although I had not fully recovered, and walking long distances was still difficult, the improvement was remarkable compared with my previous experience. It felt like a miracle. And that experience exposed something in my heart.

When I prayed for healing, I believed God could answer—but I still had doubts. “Will I really recover quickly?” “What if this takes a month again?” “I’ve experienced this before.”

I realized that I was still depending on my own understanding more than I was trusting God's power. But when we sincerely place our needs in His hands, we can trust that He knows exactly what we need. That Tuesday night was unexpected. But so was the miracle that came the next morning. Sometimes, the moment that makes us ask, “Why, Lord?” becomes the moment that reminds us, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

Name: Rhovic Mendoza | 66th Batch 1000MM

Mission Field: Tarnate, Samar Island