DAWN Fridayfax 1999 #24

A Walking Miracle

Shortly after her birth, as a 7-month baby Silvana was almost drowned. Following a difficult youth, her life became a living hell: she was permanently ill. Her bones became like glass, so brittle that they would break as she pulled on jeans or lifted a glass of water. She dislocated her kneecap so frequently that it soon was not worth going to the doctor: she put a cloth between her teeth, went into the bathroom and relocated it painfully herself. Then she was diagnosed as suffering from leukemia, and liver cancer not long after. Finally it went so far that bile started issuing from her eyes, nose and ears, and that she coughed parts of her liver and other organs. The situation was unimaginable; doctors described it as "like a cancer patient 5 days after their death". Her skin began to shed, so that she could not even take a shower. During that time, she bore 4 children. She and her husband spent all their money on doctors, hospital bills and occult healers. She had never heard of the gospel, she says, until a friend invited her to an evangelical church. The pastor and church members were shocked; they had never seen such misery. "The only part of me which did not hurt," she remembers, "was my hair." The whole church prayed for her, and five days later, she woke up to the surprising discovery that she was no longer in pain. Not only was her skin completely healthy, but doctors discovered that she had a literally new stomach, liver, bones and blood. As a result, Silvana decided to give her newly-received life completely to Jesus. She and her father, a doctor, realized that only Jesus could have healed her. That was in 1995.
"You anoint my head with oil"
Soon after her conversion, she began to experience astonishing phenomena. She wanted so much to give that which she had received from Jesus to others. She discovered that oil flowed from her hands following hours of prayer, sometimes up to 18 bottles a day. Today, a prayer team of which she is part uses this oil to anoint the sick, following Biblical instruction. "I have seen water turned to wine several times," she told us. Another phenomenon is the gold dust which often suddenly falls from her hair when she prays, sometimes in handfuls. A skeptical pastor recently asked whether she put something in her hair before praying. The gold dust has already been chemically analyzed several times, for example in Canada and Washington. The analysis always reveals the same: the dust is formed of small round grains of exactly 24-carat gold containing a tiny drop of oil wrapped in a thin layer of platinum.
God also fulfills strange desires
Some time ago, Silvana, who grew up in a poor family, wanted very much to eat a particular marmalade which she could not afford on her husband's laborers' wage. She prayed for it. One morning, a small boy rang at her door, and gave her a jar of exactly the marmalade she wanted, saying "Here, this is for you!" Touched, she thanked her husband for fulfilling her desire. He, though, was very surprised, because he had not ordered any marmalade. It was simply too expensive. Silvana believes that it was an angel who gave her the jar.
God touches nobodies
When Silvana is asked why she thinks these things happen to her, she smiles and says "I am a complete nobody. When a pastor saw me, he did not even dream that God could use me. But God makes somebodies out of nobodies! That is the message of my life. Today, I just want to pass on that which God has given me. Maybe God will anoint my head with oil..."
Comment
Ueli Haldemann, the Brazilians' Swiss prayer coordinator, warns against a new Christian sensation mentality: "The gold is not important. It's about our commitment to God," he says. "Many Christians are so hungry for supernatural experiences that they are in danger of becoming uncritical and forgetting that Jesus must be the center of all things." Could it be, we ask ourselves, that more than a few Christians try to stand out through their own efforts, and sun themselves in the audience's applause, while God simply covers the supposedly unworthy in gold, 'honoring the members of the Body of Christ' which we often overlook in our program-oriented church world?
The poor metal detectors...
In both London Heathrow and Zurich Kloten airports, the metal detectors were activated as Elizabeth or Silvana walked through. Their handbags, which normally contained traces of the gold dust, were also carefully searched. "No, we are not carrying any weapons!" they told the surprised customs officials.
A prayer conference is being held in Goiania from 22-27 July, to which foreign visitors are also invited. Information from Ueli Haldemann, PF 212, 8212 Neuhausen 2, Switzerland, e-mail UHaldemann@t-online.de