They called at the last minute and we only had a couple of seats left on our bus. Eight-year-old Leslie had been in the hospital and her mother had heard from someone there about a “miracle bus” going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (to Miss Kuhlman’s meetings). Leslie’s parents wanted their daughter healed from cancer. That’s all we knew. Leslie was just released from the hospital, and her daddy carried her in his arms. He boarded the bus and gently lowered her onto the seat. We were all surprised to see the age of the child and to see how very weak she was.
During the long bus ride, Leslie and another passenger—a goofy guy in a natural, kind way—became friends. He was sitting across the aisle from her and every so often she would lean way over and tap him when she saw him sleeping. He would pretend to wake up startled and she would think that was so funny. They played back and forth; it was so cute.
Then in the middle of the night, while everyone was still wide awake, as her daddy sat beside her, she looked up at him and said, “Daddy, it’s your birthday and Jesus is going to heal me. And I’m going to come back and that will be your birthday present because I don’t have money to buy you anything.”
Well, everyone on bus just fell apart with compassion for this darling little girl and the faith she had to be healed. For the remainder of the bus ride all the people were concentrating on Leslie. Many of us prayed. Every thought, every eye, every ounce of strength we had was focused on that little girl. She went like a trooper all the way, even though in pain. I am overjoyed to tell you that in that service God healed Leslie.
This was a genuine demonstration of the supernatural power of God. Truly, you could not fake or manufacture this level of miracle. Before Leslie was healed, her mother uncovered Leslie’s cancer-eaten leg from the knee to the ankle, exposing her little leg that was completely split open to the bone from the cancer and all the radiation. The skin on her radiated leg was like black leather, it was burned so badly. The pain had to be excruciating for that little girl.
Right in the middle of the Kathryn Kuhlman service, God was healing Leslie. Miss Kuhlman stopped what she was saying and looked over toward where Leslie and her parents were sitting. “What’s going on down there?” asked Miss Kuhlman. A doctor from Johns Hopkins Hospital was there and he examined Leslie’s leg and said, “Miss Kuhlman, I can’t believe it, but I see skin growing.”
Hallelujah! The well-respected physician from a world-renowned medical facility saw that right down to this little girl’s bone there was flesh growing and skin growing over the flesh. The doctor was watching and screaming—he had never experienced anything like what God was doing in that moment.
The ride home from that service was more than any of us could imagine. We were all in awe of God’s miracle-working power to heal. We heard that a few days later, Leslie was riding her bicycle—healed and whole. That’s a miracle!
Even though many would like to focus on what happened at Miss Kuhlman’s meeting, I want to point out that we collectively created an atmosphere on that bus that fueled Leslie’s faith to receive healing. Granted, she came into the bus with unusual faith! Still, our objective was to sustain an atmosphere that would keep her level of faith high. I encourage you to do the same. Meditate on the good works of the Lord! Think about His countless promises, boldly recorded in both Old and New Testaments, revealing His hear to heal. Get lost in the words and works of our Savior Jesus, who “went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38 NIV). Don’t wait to arrive at the miracle service or crusade—create an atmosphere through your own life that keeps faith high. This is what we saw in bus ride after bus ride. The bus was no more special than the buildings where Miss Kuhlman held her miracle services. What made the bus a special place were the people who created an atmosphere for the miraculous!
