In 1971, Reese Hurley sat alone in his rocking chair in Cambridge, Maryland. His wife had passed away, but little did he know that God was about to send him into a whole new season of serving the Lord.
“I was sitting there rocking in the rocking chair and the Lord spoke to me, says, ‘Take that chair, take it out in the yard and bust it up since you won’t need it no more,’” said Mr. Hurley. He was surprised by the voice. “I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Well, you’re going around the world.’”
On July 2, 2025, Mr. Hurley celebrated his 100th birthday. In the decades since he heard God’s call, he has visited 28 countries with the goal of sharing the gospel. “I’ve been the equivalent of three times around the world,” he said. “Oh, close to 60,000 miles.”
For over 50 years, Mr. Hurley has attended Cambridge Wesleyan Church in his Maryland hometown. Reverend Jack Diehl, Cambridge Wesleyan pastor, said, “He’s got an uncanny ability to just feel the Holy Spirit, and he’ll just go out.”
That readiness to follow God’s prompting has led Mr. Hurley to more than one miraculous story. One of the earliest took place on a trip to Tibet. During his visit, he met a Buddhist monk who was a community leader. The man spoke English, so Mr. Hurley was able to speak with him and learn that he was struggling to walk because of back problems.
“He says, ‘It’s very hard for me to minister. I can’t get around,’” Mr. Hurley recalled. “I said, ‘Well, maybe the Lord will touch your body, who knows?’” The man had been walking with a cane, but when Mr. Hurley laid a hand on his back, he jumped up and started to move freely!
“It’s probably the first grand miracle that I’ve seen since I was converted,” Mr. Hurley said. Afterward, he remembers the monk telling him, “Buddha has never done anything like that for me.”
Mr. Hurley’s attention to the Holy Spirit has resulted in visions, healings and powerful prayers. “That’s the kind of stuff that I’m just overwhelmed by and amazed by. … I long for that kind of connection,” Rev. Diehl said.
Even now that he lives in a nursing home, Mr. Hurley is on mission for God. He prays for the nurses and the others in the nursing home regularly, and a lot of people come to pray with him.
The Cambridge Wesleyan community also makes sure that Mr. Hurley can still get to church every Sunday. But now, he isn’t the only one making that trip.
“Since he’s been here,” Rev. Diehl said, “we now have six people that come from the nursing home that want to be in church every Sunday.”
All six are wheelchair users, so the church has been organizing three trips back and forth from the nursing home every Sunday. “Now, we’re praying a God-sized prayer,” said Rev. Diehl. “We’ve got a couple businesses in Cambridge that use handicap-accessible vans, and now we’re praying, ‘Okay, God, since you want them to be here, you have to provide us with a van.’”
The church is in touch with one of those businesses, hoping for a grant to go through in December that will help the church get a handicap-accessible van.
In the meantime, Cambridge Wesleyan is happy to witness Mr. Hurley’s continued faithfulness to God. He has even received his lay minister’s license.
“The people that are coming to Christ, here in this nursing home, because he’s willing to be obedient to Christ,” said Rev. Diehl. “I’m humbled and honored that he’s part of our family.”
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Jerah Winn is a writer for The Wesleyan Church. She is passionate about sharing stories with others for the glory of God, and she currently resides in Central Indiana.
