Venezuelan Pastor Manuel Duque underwent a surgery to correct a left-foot deformity at the Knot Hospital in Suwon, South Korea. According to the doctor who performed the surgery, the surgery posed several risks but thankfully concluded successfully. Pastor Duque will now need to recover for at least 10 days before he can be declared medically risk-free.
Born with the deformity, Pastor Duque spent his 49 years of life suffering with a walking disability. He shared that the deformity caused him several pains in life – many times pain beyond physical pain. While growing up he had trouble identifying his purpose in life since he felt rejected by members of his community including family members. One day he was introduced to the gospel and had an encounter with Jesus which changed his life completely and then soon after he received a promise from God regarding his foot – God had told him that he would “heal” his foot.
After he received the promise his family would encourage him to attend many healing crusades so that he would experience God’s ability through various evangelical leaders who performed healing miracles on other patients. His family would find themselves discouraged, however, when Manuel returned with no visible change on his foot. Sometimes they would fault Manuel’s lack of faith for the lack of God’s response but Pastor Duque shared that while at times this affected him, he always recurred to a conviction he had deep down his heart – God would heal him through doctors.
After the surgery, Pastor Manuel recounted his life process to arrive to the present point and his conclusion was to give all the glory and praise to God. He expressed his gratitude to Olivet Assembly of Korea churches as well as donors from different countries for the support and assistance to be able receive this life-changing surgery in South Korea.
“One thing I have never done is to run,” Pastor Manuel shared. “I am excited God is allowing this new time for my family, ministry and for me.”