July 21, 2003
Special Issue!
FSM 196 (FN 305) DO
Copyright: Sept.1991 By Family Services, Zurich, Switzerland
Articles Written & Contributed Directly by Missionaries on the Field!
—By Mary, SEA School & Training Center
Shortly after I had attended our Area's Summit '90 Delegates' Meetings & made a commitment to change & grow in several areas of my personal life, I began to feel very weak & started to have some pain in my lower abdomen. A couple of days later, I began bleeding quite heavily & the pain increased to the point that I couldn't walk. I began to get hit with fear at this time. My mother had once haemorrhaged when I was a child & the Enemy brought this back to my mind. Right away, I had prayer against fear, which was a real help.
The next day I went to the doctor for a check- up, & it was a real help to have had that prayer against fear, because past visits to doctors had often struck fear into me. It was a real blessing to be forearmed & bathed with prayer! After an ultrasound test, the doctor explained that I had two cysts on my right ovary.—One that was five cm. & another that was three cm. in diameter. When I heard this, somehow I had a real peace in my heart, TYJ! The prayer against fear that we'd had the night before helped me not to worry but to really trust that the Lord was in control & that He was going to work it out!
Over the next few days I began to pray about what the Lord was trying to show me through this, & was reminded of my Summit '90 lessons & my prayer for the Lord to truly change & remake me. Through the trials & tests to come I had to trust that He was doing just that!
First of all, this affliction slowed me down considerably as I was quite weak & not able to keep up with my usual work pace. I oversee the kitchen & staff for our large School, so there's always plenty to do to keep me busy.—And that's one of my greatest temptations! Instead of living up to my name, Mary, sitting at His feet & learning from Him, I tend to be like Martha, "encumbered with service." So I knew right away that the Lord was trying to get through to me on this longstanding NWO!
I also needed to learn to depend more on His strength & to trust that even if I didn't have the physical strength that I thought I needed to get the job done, He could work through me better that way, as "His strength is made perfect in weakness." One quote that spoke to me was, "Adversity doesn't make us frail but it shows us how frail we are." (GT, "Trials & Triumphs", #39) This affliction showed me how frail I really was spiritually & that I really needed to depend more on the Lord in order for the Lord to be able to use me the way He wanted to use me.
A couple of days later, one of the sisters got a verse for me, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth, shall be bound in Heaven & whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth, shall be loosed in Heaven." (Mat.18:18) This really spoke to me, as this was exactly what I needed to have happen.—I needed to have something "loosed on Earth"—the cysts from off my ovary. So I decided to claim this verse for my healing.
The following day we had prayer vigil & read "War in the Spirit" (ML#2075) & this verse was also in that Letter! So I knew that this was another confirmation that the Lord wanted me to claim this verse. In devotions I shared my prayer request & told everyone that I would like to claim this verse for my healing.—And amazingly enough, the person who was going to pray for me picked that very verse, Mat.18:18, from the Promise Box! How encouraging! I just knew that the Lord was going to do it!
A couple of days later, the Home had a united prayer meeting to bring several of us who had serious afflictions before the Lord. I knew that the Lord wanted me to use this opportunity to confess my NWOs before all & ask them to help safeguard me. I so much want to become more of a "Mary" & not a "Martha", to really make spending more time with Jesus my top priority! Also, I knew that He was trying to get through to me with some lessons along the line of "Pity the Weak", as I have often had a self-righteous & critical attitude towards people who are weak in the flesh, instead of seeing them or the situation as the Lord does!
We had laying on of hands & anointing with oil & another encouraging verse was chosen from the Promise Box. It was 2Sam.22:28a, "The afflicted people Thou wilt save." I knew from that point on that He was going to heal me. What I didn't realise at that time was how much I was going to have to fight for my healing.
The next morning when I got up, I was bleeding heavily & I felt very weak. It seemed like a horrible oppressive cloud was hanging over me, & I felt very discouraged. I knew then that I really had to fight with the Word because I personally didn't have the strength to win this battle. I read different Letters on fighting, as well as "Fight for Your Healing!" (ML#2072) The Word really gave me the strength to go by faith. Judging by my feelings, I wasn't healed at all. In fact, I felt worse! Not only was my physical condition worsening, but I was being attacked with doubts & fears. The Enemy just let me have it with both barrels! I knew that I had to fight & couldn't give up!
Then after three or four days, I woke up one morning feeling wonderful! The cloud was gone! I felt stronger! And in my heart I just knew that I was healed! I thought, "Wow! I can't wait to go back to the doctor to get it confirmed that I'm healed." At first I thought I would wait until it was confirmed before I told anyone, but later that day, as I was reading "Healing & Rewards", the Lord told me I needed to testify of my healing, & I saw that I couldn't wait until I had the proof. I needed to go ahead by faith & testify, which I did in our next united meeting.
When I went back for my second checkup, it had been just over one month from the first time that I had seen the doctor. That morning another test of faith came as I began to feel discomfort in my lower abdomen for the first time since the Lord had healed me. I knew it was "lying vanities" & I claimed verses & resisted the Enemy! Right up to the moment that I walked into the doctor's office I felt the pain, but as soon as I sat down in his office the pain went away! He checked me & said that I was completely healed. TYJ!
I learned from this that it really pays to fight the Devil's lies & be militant against the Enemy. I also learned through all of this that, "the trial of my faith really is much more precious than gold that perisheth!" (1Pet.1:7) I am so thankful to be back in full health again & know that healing is a real gift, a touch of Heaven! Jesus gave me back my life, so now I need to use it faithfully for Him!
Through this illness I also came to understand & appreciate His promise to me—& all of us—in the quote, "The Lord is not just trying you for now, He's trying you for the Future that you may rule the World in Jesus' name. He's trying your patience, He's trying your endurance, diligence & faithfulness to see how much you're willing to stand & how much you can stand for His sake that you may rule the Earth in the days to come."
Though this experience was certainly one of the most serious times of testing that I have ever gone through, looking back now I can see so clearly that it was also a very necessary part of His Plan to prepare me for a "bigger job" both here & now & There & Then! When I prayed to be broken & remade, He took me at my word! My illness was the catalyst that He used to keep me desperate to change in my NWO areas!—And I'm so thankful for it all! —Not only for His healing touch, but more so for the breaking I so sorely needed & for His Love & Word that carried me through! TYJ!
From Daniel & Esther Fighter, Guatemala
At the Delegates' Meetings Esther had prayer against a sickness she had, called Lupus*, to thus bring an end to this serious affliction. Lupus is an "incurable" sickness that the medical profession doesn't know a whole lot about & doesn't really know how to treat. It was discovered as the cause of her severe arthritis about one & a half years before. She had been having arthritic pain for three years & blood tests all came out positive for Lupus, which normally is fatal after awhile as it causes kidney failure. Esther had also been showing some symptoms of kidney damage. (*Lupus: A group of diseases which affect the skin as well as many internal organs. Researchers believe it could be caused by a breakdown in the body's immune system. Severe cases can be fatal.)
After having united prayer & returning to our Home from the Delegates' Meetings, Esther continued to have pain & even seemed to be worse. We had some trials thinking that she was not going to be healed even after having had united prayer, but we continued to cling to His promises.
Then shortly afterwards, the doctor asked Esther to take the blood tests again, which she did, & we were thrilled & happy to hear that not only does she not have any signs of Lupus, but she also has 100% function of her kidneys! PTL! She still has problems with arthritis, but the cloud of having a major sickness is now gone & she has been more active. The arthritis, even though painful, doesn't carry the fear & uncertainty of Lupus.
We thank the Lord that He has healed her from that terrible sickness & that He has really done a miracle in her life by taking away any damage that occurred to her kidneys during the time she had it. We know it was just the Lord's merciful healing hand in Esther's life, saving her from a disease that only He could cure! TYJ!
From Gabriel, U.S.A.
Nothing short of a miracle is the only way to describe what the Lord did to actually have bone grow back in my pelvis where cancer had eaten it away! It amazed the doctors, who a year ago told my wife to prepare herself to become a widow! PTL!
From Daniel & Harmony, Mexico
We prayed with a lady last month who had a blood clot in her brain. The doctors had told her she would die soon, but after we prayed, when her husband took her back to see the doctors, she had no blood clot at all! PG! It was also a wonderful testimony to her husband, bringing him to faith in Jesus, & now they both want us to give them Bible classes.
From Victor, Poland
One of our catacombers had an internal cyst & was taking treatment long before meeting us. The doctors decided to operate on her & her parents were pressing her to continue the treatment. But now in her new-found faith she decided to commit it all to Jesus. During our last visit with her we had Communion together, laid hands on her, & claimed a miraculous healing. Back at our Home we also had united prayer for her. She had just done some more tests at the clinic & when she picked them up, to the doctors' surprise the results were normal! The cyst was gone! It was quite a testimony for the doctors & for her parents as well, & a beautiful faith-building experience for her! TYL!
From James & Cherith, Brazil
Joana had a beautiful little baby boy! Although he was big & healthy & strong, there was a problem with his blood, & the medical solution was to change his blood with a transfusion. However, in answer to our desperate prayers, the Lord healed him! Most of the doctors were sympathetic to Joana's wish of waiting until the transfusion became absolutely necessary. They kept him under strict observation for about a week, & watched him getting better & better, PTL!
Joana & Cephas witnessed up a storm in the hospital to doctors & patients, & people came to their room asking for Posters or phoned them up asking them to come & pray for them. Twenty-three people got saved.
It was a very expensive hospital, but the Lord honoured their faith & faithfulness by touching the administration to give them the room for free, & the doctor gave a 60% discount on his fee, GBT!—A total saving of $1000.
We also met up with a close friend of the Family who was also at the hospital with his son who was sick. He was very worried about his son, but on seeing us & seeing us witnessing there, his faith was really encouraged! TTL for great victory out of seeming defeat!
From Hannah Willing, India
I had been having irregular bleeding for awhile so I decided to have a checkup, & the doctor found a large ulcer. I had to undergo a D&C (scraping of my uterus), & tests showed that the ulcer was not malignant. TTL! However, the doctor said that the bleeding was caused by a hormone imbalance & I would need to take chemical hormones to correct this. I didn't feel it was the Lord's Will to take these chemical hormones, so I asked for desperate united prayer for the Lord to heal me. TYJ, I was miraculously delivered & have not suffered this irregular bleeding for the past three months! PTL!
From Faith, Argentina
I went through some really heavy battles with a spirit of fear that oppressed me for more than two years, causing my heart to beat very fast & my blood pressure to rise. It nearly killed me, as I feared having a heart attack! Three doctors examined me & after three electrocardiograms, they each told me that I had a perfectly healthy heart!
However, the fear in my heart, although not so big after the doctors' examinations, still had a real grip on me, & all the symptoms of numbness of toes & fingers, rapid heartbeat & extreme weakness persisted & sometimes lasted for days. This was a time for me to be very desperate with the Lord, as the thought of dying & leaving my nine precious children was almost unbearable!
Finally when I had come to the end of myself through this "disease", my Shepherds had a very heavy prayer meeting with all the Home & anointed me with oil, strongly rebuking the spirit of fear. After this prayer, I was completely healed, & one year later I have still had no more problems! I want to say that the greatest help to me & the only thing that sustained me through it all was the Word! Psalm 91 & all the verses on fear & fighting the Devil were invaluable & such a strength during this time. TYJ!
(Editor's note: Praise the Lord for this wonderful & miraculous healing! God is on the throne & prayer changes things! TYJ! We'd like to add a little note of clarification. This sister probably did have prayer at different times throughout her illness, but since this point isn't brought out in her testimony, & since she only writes about having desperate prayer after she "had finally come to the end of herself," we'd like to clarify that it's best to have prayer right away when you're battling any illness or affliction. Don't put off asking for prayer until the illness has progressed to such a degree that the Lord has to do a really big miracle. Seek the Lord's help & healing through united prayer at the onset of any illness or affliction. "There is great power in united prayer! One can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight!" PTL!)
From Abraham & Maria (Josue & Samaria) Fiel, Mexico
When we went to visit Maria's family, Maria's aunt phoned & said she thought that the Lord had sent us here to help her son, Pancho, who was having problems with alcoholism. We saw him a few times over the next few weeks & he received the Lord, but he was still having a real drinking problem.
Then one day his wife told us that a friend of Pancho's, who was an alcoholic, had died in his arms, & ever since then Pancho had had this problem with alcoholism. We immediately realised that Pancho must have picked up the bad spirit from his friend when he died. We explained this to Pancho & he agreed that we could pray for his deliverance from this bad spirit. We laid hands on him & prayed for him & rebuked the devil.
Then he said that his whole body felt weak & he had to lie down. He kept repeating "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," & then the evil spirit left him & he started to cry & he said that he felt that a huge weight had been lifted off of him. He said, "Now I don't need alcohol!" TYJ! He said that he had never believed in evil spirits before, but he is now so thankful to be delivered & wants to begin taking Bible classes! TYJ!
From Joy, SEA
I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. It was a very easy birth after being only 30 minutes in the hospital. But afterwards I had a pain in my leg, which the doctor said was probably from the varicose veins I had gotten during the pregnancy. I came home but the pain got worse & soon my leg became so painful & inflamed that I couldn't put my weight on it. It was phlebitis, a complication of varicose veins.
In my case it had complicated even further into thrombophlebitis, which is quite serious as your blood starts clotting & moves towards your heart & your lungs & can kill you! The first doctor hadn't recognised it as it's not so common in Asians. We had desperate prayer & the Lord totally healed me. TYJ! It was quite a sobering experience & I learned not to take things lightly, but to stay desperate, as after the birth I kind of relaxed & got a little lifted up that everything had gone so well, taking some of the glory for myself instead of giving Him all the glory for everything, LHM! TTL for His mercy!
—Backaches Healed & Lessons Learned from Attacking My Addiction
By Shiloh, Enterprise Training Center, Latin America
To be honest, I was a caffeine addict! I'd been drinking coffee for nearly 20 years. I never really felt too guilty about it, & would always brush off testimonies of how people had quit drinking coffee by thinking that if it bothered them it was good that they quit, but it doesn't bother me!
Several years ago we went to Europe & that's when I was introduced to espresso coffee which is what everyone drank there. Before that I usually drank instant coffee. Around that time I started having strong backaches from muscle tension & I kept getting checks that the coffee could have something to do with it, so I finally decided to quit.
The problem was that when I stopped drinking coffee, I found myself to be so sleepy all the time, especially in the mornings, that after three months I decided I'd rather drink coffee & get something done about my aches & pains than feel so lazy all the time! This experience caused me to resign myself to the fact that I needed two cups of coffee a day in order to have any energy!
Many times non-coffee drinkers would comment to me, "How can you drink such strong coffee? It makes me so nervous!" And I would say, "It doesn't make me nervous at all!" But meanwhile my backaches were getting worse until finally it got to the point that I couldn't do any type of physical work or even work at a desk without being in pain!
Our Shepherds here suggested I go to a specialist to get a checkup, & the doctor recommended a treatment of massage to help relax the muscles. He thought that after five or six treatments I would feel better, but I wasn't really responding very well & the pain continued. Finally he said that he thought the problem was emotional & that I needed to relax. Although he used the word "emotional", in my heart I knew he meant "spiritual", & I started to pray about what the root of this tension could be.
One of the Shepherdesses here told me that she had had backaches in the past when she was staying at the Folks. At that time she was taking B vitamins & brewer's yeast to help her relax, but at the same time drinking coffee. Then Mama told her that it was a waste of money to take vitamins & then do away with their good effect by drinking coffee, so she quit drinking coffee. My Shepherdess strongly hinted that I should do the same, but LHM, I half-heartedly tried to cut down by cutting out the afternoon cup, but as soon as my back felt slightly better I was back to two cups a day!
This was right around the time that our Training Program was beginning here in Latin America & we were learning to "ride the wave"! I wanted so much to be able to make it through the training period, that I started worrying a lot. Because I couldn't do a lot of physical work I felt that I wasn't enough of a blessing, as I was used to proving myself by how hard I could work. It led to a vicious cycle of feeling useless & comparing myself to others & how the Lord was using them, & all the while I was getting more fearful & worried.
It all came to a head when one day a sister with whom I had been working closely, pretty much on the same level, was given more responsibility. This caused me to fall apart & get very discouraged.
A few days later we were going to have a prayer meeting during which everyone could bring up their personal prayer requests for anything they needed help with, & it was suggested that I could ask for prayer against comparing myself with others. We were given a few days to read up on the subject that we needed prayer for & to gather verses to claim.
At first I wasn't really sure what category to study as "comparing" wasn't in the Cat Book, but as I read & prayed I realised that comparing has a lot to do with fear & a lack of trusting the Lord that He's in control of our lives & He knows what's best for us! So I asked for prayer against fear, nervousness & worry, & claimed Isa.26:3.
After the prayer meeting, one of my sweet Shepherdesses said to me, "You're not going to like me for this, but I think it would really help if you'd quit drinking coffee!" I believe it was the united prayer that gave me the conviction to want to fight against anything that could be causing me to have this problem with worrying, & I decided on the spot that I would quit!
The first four days were very difficult, & that's when I realised that I really was addicted, as I had headaches, nausea, lack of appetite, & worst of all, I felt totally depressed! A real encouragement for me to keep going when I felt the worst was an article that came out in the WND (#332) called "Caffeine—America's Greatest Addiction", which contains some very convincing arguments for giving it up!
Just experiencing those withdrawals is enough to make me pray that I never start drinking coffee again! TTL, after four days the withdrawals passed! I was afraid that I would feel lethargic again, as I did the last time I quit, but the Lord showed me to drink lots of water, which seems to give me plenty of energy, & I haven't been at all tired!
But best of all, I've noticed a big change in my personality, & others have also commented on it. I feel so much calmer inside. It goes right along with the Prayerfulness Revolution & the lessons that Josiah learned about slowing down, as before I was so keyed up all the time that it was almost impossible for me to slow down & I know that I often got ahead of the Lord.
I can't say that I've totally gotten the victory over worrying as it's a pretty deep-seated habit which I believe was at least partly formed by "constantly living in an artificially stimulated state" (to quote the WND article)! But I am learning to lean more on the Lord's strength now, TTL!
(Ed. Note: Others have also testified that eliminating caffeine from their diet has stopped their backaches. So if you have back problems, eliminating coffee or black tea could help! Try it! You just might like it!)
—By Hepsi Translator, Brazil
No matter what our need is, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil.4:19), & the following story shows how God supplied several needs at once for me!
I had been having a lot of pain in my uterus for a few months & had gone for several check-ups to a gynecologist friend of ours. He really did take care of us as unto the Lord, but despite many tests, had been unable to diagnose the terrible pain I was having for four or five days every month. I was praying & trusting the Lord, but like Grandmother said, I also wanted to know what I had, to be able to pray against it.
So after praying with the Home, I went to make some phone calls to try to find another doctor who could diagnose my problem. I looked in the phone book & called the first number I saw under "gynecologist". It was a lady doctor & I explained to her that I was a missionary & asked if she'd check me for free. She asked, "Who recommended me?" & I answered, "It must have been God, because I prayed & you are the first person I called!" So she said, "If God sent you, please come to see me any time, whenever is best for you!", & she made an appointment for me at her private office.
When I arrived & introduced myself, she said that she felt like she already knew me. I talked to her about the Lord & our Work & showed her our PR album. When she saw a picture of a brother, she said, "I know this man—I gave him a ride one evening. He was with a girl—could it have been you?" And then I remembered her! She had indeed given us a ride about a month before. When she had let us in her car, she said that she had never given anyone a ride, much less at night!
We had thanked her for helping us & told her, "You must be in tune with God because we prayed for a ride & you're taking us", & then we shared with her a little about "Prayer Power". At the time she had a churchy lady with her & she told us that it must have been her friend that was in tune with God, not her! We got her number & after that the Lord made me think about her many times, but unfortunately I was always too busy (so I thought) to call her. After meeting her again I saw how true the saying is, "Never forget a sheep, & never let a sheep forget you," because she had also been thinking about us this whole time.
Anyway, back to our meeting at her office. She was overwhelmed, she was just bubbling over with joy as she said, "That time in the car when you said I was in tune with God, I thought for sure it was because of my friend, but this time she wasn't here, you prayed & I answered the phone!" And I said, "Yes, you yourself made the decision to help!" So she really saw that it was the Lord Who had us meet again, & she prayed to receive Jesus that same day.
Well, she checked me & she was the person the Lord wanted to use to diagnose the problem I had. She said I had a very big sore on my uterus & that it was so big it must have been there for a couple of years. Usually they cauterise this kind of sore, but mine was too big & she said she would advise me to try to let it heal a little naturally & when it was smaller maybe cauterise it. Her plan was that she would put medicine on it once a month to clean it & I'd have to forego making love for a few months until it was healed enough to be cauterised. I told her we were going to pray for the Lord to heal it.
When I went back one month later, she said, "I can hardly believe it! I'd say it's 40% better! It's a total miracle because this kind of thing usually takes a long time!"
From then on she became a friend & started reading the DFs. After a few visits from me & other sisters who she began to help also, she invited me to go to her house & meet her daughters. This was a big step for this lady because people in that particular city are very selective & don't invite "just anyone" to their house. But she just prided herself in our "Godly friendship" & would introduce me to people she knew as, "So-&-so, a missionary, a good friend of mine."
Another reason this lady was a blessing was because I wanted a doctor who I could be open with. I told her I was separated & because of that I made love occasionally but I didn't have a very active sex life. It turned out that she was separated too, so she felt I understood her situation, & we became very good friends. She'd tell me what she was going through & every time I went to see her we'd read something together & then I'd pray for her & she felt so fed & happy!
To make a long story short, after the sore was gone, I'd still feel some pain. So one day she said, "You know, I was thinking, since you haven't had such an active sex life for a while & you haven't gotten pregnant in three years (at the time), maybe your body is just suffering from a lack of sex. Maybe you should try to make love more often." I must say that it broke my bottle to hear this doctor tell me that! But sure enough, a couple of months after that, I got mated to one of the brothers, & my sex life increased & the pain was gone! I never had it again!
She definitely was an answer to prayer & has become a good friend of the Family & a faithful contact. Of course, the Word always has the answer & He heals us through our prayers, but He did use her to help. TYJ!
It shows how important it is to follow up on someone when the Lord keeps reminding you of them, as it shows He's concerned about that person. TTL He cared enough to put her in our path again. GBY! ILY!
—Healing of Children's Eyes!
From Michael & Tabitha, SEA
For three to four weeks our 7-1/2-year-old daughter, Angela, had been complaining that her eyes really hurt & that sometimes she couldn't see the print in her books. We took her to two doctors who said her eyes were fine, but she continued to have pain in her eyes & was unable to see more & more. One doctor said it could be a problem with the muscles in her eyes & suggested that we take her to the hospital for more extensive testing.
At the hospital, the eye doctor in charge informed us that Angela's problem could be an eye or brain lesion, & she proceeded to give her an optical nerve test to see for sure. She informed us that if this were the problem, it was probably too late for any treatment. After the test she told us that this was a very abnormal case as Angela could hardly detect the brightest lights with either eye! She said that this was an emergency situation as they suspected a brain tumour!
That night, I prayed desperately for Angela's healing & the next morning we had united prayer with our Home. Angela & I then had Word & prayer time together. As I was reading "Faith & Healing" with her, she commented that she could not read any of the words on the page. We both took a stand of faith that the Lord had heard our prayers & He was healing her & that if we had faith even as a grain of mustard seed, we knew He was doing it! We decided that as we read & pointed to the words that we would praise the Lord as soon as she could see just one word & we claimed the verse, "Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law." (Psa.119:18)
Almost immediately she began to see the words one by one, & soon she was reading the whole page! She immediately wanted to testify to her class & went down & read a paragraph of "Faith & Healing" for her classmates!
Her healing was so miraculous & immediate that she didn't even have to return to the doctor for further testing. The Lord showed us many lessons about prayer power & how He was requiring 7-&-1/2-year-old Angela to have faith for her own healing. This experience has taught me a lot about the spiritual warfare going on in the lives of our children & has greatly increased my own faith for healing. PTL!
From Europe
Our little 5-year-old, Carmen, had contracted a serious infection in her eyes. TTL for His mercies, as He did a real miracle, & after repeated desperate prayer for her & seeking the Lord for what He was trying to show us through this, her eyes are now completely healed! What a miracle!
From Freedom & Happy, N. America
Our son, Michael David, was born with what we thought was a sticky eye. By the time he was a year old, though, it hadn't cleared up despite all of our care & prayers. A doctor then discovered that one of his tear ducts wasn't developed properly & when his eyes watered, tears ran down his face instead of draining inside. He would get infections easily & his eye would water a lot. The doctor suggested the best thing was to operate to make a hole for the tears to drain. He said it was quite a common procedure, & that problems like this one don't correct themselves.
Now that we knew what was wrong, we prayed specifically for the hole to open. Well, nothing happened for a long time. A year came & went. Again we had united prayer & counted it done. Then when he was 2-1/2, his eye was healed! I look at him & think of that quote, "You'll be glad you trusted Him tomorrow." It took 2-1/2 years, but we're glad we trusted Him!
From Abner & Lily, Europe
We'd like to thank our precious Family for their prayers when our daughter Crystal (6) was at the hospital. When we brought her to the hospital we suspected that she had appendicitis, but to our surprise she had to go through all kinds of examinations, blood tests, X-rays etc. Finally, six hours later, the surgeon came & gave the diagnosis of appendicitis. Along with the appendicitis was the complication of an abscess under the liver that they had to drain. After the operation she was prescribed heavy dosages of antibiotics & kept having fever & pain.
The doctors didn't know exactly what caused this pain & fever, but because they assumed that it must be another abscess forming, they told us they would have to operate again. We couldn't bear the thought of that as after all she had gone through, Crystal was very fearful & would even start screaming as soon as they came into the room. They began to use different antibiotics to see which one would work, but none helped & Crystal was getting worse. She was so pitiful. Our hearts broke every time the nurses came in to do more tests.
Then the time came when we realised we couldn't trust in what the doctors were saying because they were all so pessimistic. We received from the Lord not to look to men or hear their words, but to look to Him! The Lord showed us that we were fearful of the System & that we needed to take a stand of faith against it! We couldn't stand the thought of Crystal going through another operation so we decided to put the Lord on the spot! We asked Him to heal her without any medication & without another operation!
We soon had to face the doctors' unbelief. When we told them that we were going to trust the Lord & take her off the antibiotics, they insisted on more tests, which we went along with. They couldn't find anything wrong with her but were still puzzled by the fever. In face of their doubt, the Lord really encouraged us & we got beautiful verses & prophecies. His Word was the only thing we had as all the World seemed against us!
The next day Crystal was much better, sleeping well without nightmares, TTL! She started getting hungry & wanted to walk, but the fever persisted. The doctors kept putting pressure on us, telling us that we were wrong & that she was going to have peritonitis (a serious inflammation of the lining of the abdomen, which can cause death). It was a real fight & we had to really hang on to the Lord & His Word & keep our conviction & faith strong!
Finally we felt we had done all we could.—We had prayed all the prayers we could, cried all our tears & confessed to each other & the Lord all our sins, so it was up to Him now. Then on the third day a sweet doctor came to see Crystal. As he was looking at the scar on her tummy, he suddenly came up with the reason for the fever—an infected scar! Therefore no operation was needed! TYJ! We were so thankful for having trusted the Lord & stopped the antibiotics that were so hard on her.
The next day, she was able to leave the hospital & with good food & proper care she completely recovered to full health! TYJ!
Through it all we learned many lessons! First of all we saw how little faith we had in face of the System's fears! The Lord didn't fail us, & He used this test to strengthen our faith in Him & His leadings, TYL!
We also learned to be much more thankful for the great gift the Lord has given us in our children. He convicted us about not taking enough time for them, as sometimes we were even too busy to stop for Parent Time.
Most of all, it changed our lives to see the Lord's hand move mightily, as a result of our wonderful Family praying for us. The Word came alive as never before, & we experienced God's mercy & Love for His children in answering prayer & fulfilling His promises!
—By Angela Fiel, Latin America
I met the Family when I was nine years old. As time went by, the Family kept visiting my parents' house, & when I turned 18, my sister & I joined the Family.
However, I joined because I was pregnant, not because I really wanted to serve the Lord, so after a short time I backslid because I wasn't there with my whole heart. I went back to my baby's father, as his lover. He was married, plus he had another girlfriend besides me, but I didn't mind.
A few weeks after I backslid, the Lord started working in my life & I had a miscarriage. I was almost four months pregnant, & it made me very sad as I had really wanted to have a baby.
Over the next years I got pregnant several times, but my pregnancies always resulted in miscarriages. The doctors said I had a hormonal problem & that I was barren. I could get pregnant, but after a few weeks my uterus would reject the fetus. I begged the doctor to give me a hormonal treatment so I could have a baby. God forgive me for putting my faith in the doctors, instead of in the Lord.
Finally, with one of my pregnancies my doctor advised me to stay in bed the entire time, which was very difficult. I also took shots because of being exposed to German measles during the pregnancy, but the doctor told me that even with the shots, the baby could still be born deformed. Thus I spent the whole pregnancy sad, depressed & wondering if my baby would be born all right.
In this difficult time I began to read my Bible & I prayed for my baby to be born normal. The long months of pregnancy went by, & my child David was born. (I chose the name before he was born, to show my thankfulness to the Lord.) He was so beautiful & I was so happy because the Lord had given me what I desired the most—a son! I didn't care if I was married or not, I had my son!
Well, the Lord was still working in my life because when my baby was one month old, I noticed he had difficulty breathing, & as the months went by, he started getting sick with fevers which didn't go away. I would give him medication to stop them, but the sickness would only go away for a few hours & then come back.
He was diagnosed by a pediatrician as having asthma attacks. The doctor prescribed a medication that contained adrenalin, which he had to take every morning & evening.
When he was six months old, I was desperate, as the sickness was getting the best of my child. One night I called my doctor & asked him what I could give my boy so that he could be healed once & for all, & he said, "I'm sorry but there is no cure for this. There is a chance that when he grows up it will go away. The medication I'm prescribing for him is just to control the sickness & to decrease the pressure in the lungs, as if we don't do that, he could have a heart attack or lose consciousness & go into a coma."
"But never take your child to a hospital," he said, "or you won't be able to get him released. Just call me when your child gets sick, regardless of the hour, & I'll come to see him." Then I asked, "Is there any hope for him to get healed?" & he said, "Only a miracle, Ma'am, only a miracle!"
I had begun working as a secretary when he was a few months old & I didn't even want to go back home after work, because just seeing him would make me cry, it broke my heart to see him suffer so. I felt like the Lord had abandoned me! I started murmuring, telling the Lord, "Why? Why did You give me a sick child? You'd better take him back if You're going to have him suffer like this. Take him, please. I can't continue seeing him like this." Now that I know His Word, I understand that what I was saying wasn't right, because on top of murmuring, I was getting bitter towards the Lord & that made me sink even more. But I've asked the Lord for forgiveness &, TTL, I know He's forgiven me!
My baby turned one year old without getting any better. Since he was born, he had rarely slept lying down. He normally slept sitting up or in my arms, as I sat in a chair or on the bed. By that time the Tapes, "Sweet Dreams Tonight" & "Words of Love & Wisdom," had come out, & I played these Tapes for my child & myself. They helped me too because, due to the tension, I would often get sick from sinusitis & rheumatic fever.
It was then that my sister & her husband (who are in the Family) came to visit me. My sister told me, "If you join the Family & serve the Lord, He will heal your baby!" As unbelieving as I was, I answered her, "Who will supply the medication I have to give him? He not only suffers from asthma, but he also has a terrible cough that continually bothers him & interrupts his sleep. He's allergic to the sun, the air, the dust & I don't even give him baths because he gets sick. He can't play because he gets agitated & sick. All those medicines that you see here, even the one made with opium, don't do anything for him! I have already taken him to all kinds of doctors & nothing helps!"
Then my heart broke, & I started crying & told her, "Pray for him & me, because I'm dying together with him!" By then, due to the pressure I was feeling, I had begun to seek a way out in alcohol & cigarettes, & I often didn't come home until almost dawn, to avoid having to face the pitiful state of my son. By that time, he was terribly thin because he would throw up all his food, & his bones were deformed because of malnutrition. Both the illness & the medicines were slowly finishing him off!
God bless my sister, who continued to call me on the phone to comfort me & to insist that if I served the Lord, my child would be healed. Soon David was going to turn two & he was in the same shape as he had been all along. I really couldn't remember when I had seen him healthy.
Once I took him to a hospital to get some vaccinations against his allergies. They gave him 25 vaccinations! I couldn't imagine there could be so many! And they handed me other medicines to give him as well!
Then one night when our family doctor wasn't in town, I had to take David to the hospital as he looked very sick. When I arrived at the hospital, the doctor said, "The asthma is complicated with pneumonia. I'm going to give him a shot, but if he doesn't improve in 20 minutes, he's going to have to be hospitalised." Then I remembered what my family doctor had said to me about never putting him in a hospital, & I started praying desperately.
In that moment, I analysed my life & saw that all that I had done for David was in vain. I had a good salary, but I spent almost all of it looking for a cure for his illnesses. I bought the best things for him, but I couldn't buy his health. What a desperate situation! I said, "Lord, I'm going to give my son to You for Your service, but right now You've got to keep him out of this hospital!" When I had just finished saying that to the Lord, the doctor came out & said, "Your son is all right, you can take him now." After this I told my sister, "I want to serve the Lord," & I joined.
When I joined the Family, David continued to get sick, but I felt like the Lord was testing my faith, my love, my obedience & my willingness to serve Him, because one of my main motives to join had been because it was my last hope for the Lord to heal my son.—Not because I really wanted to serve Him & forsake all.
But I know that my son's sickness made me get close to the Lord. The Lord used it to really shatter me & once I was back in the Family, He began remaking me! God bless my Shepherds for all their patience & love towards me, for their words of comfort & encouragement to help me shtick & keep on going, even if the Lord didn't heal David!
I've been in the Family for three years now & David is 100% a new child! I waited, trusted & obeyed, & now he's healthy at six years of age! Two years ago the Lord healed him completely, & now he does the same things a normal child does & doesn't get sick. He jumps, swims, gets sunshine & air, takes baths & his bones are well-formed. His healing is a real testimony to me & also for my parents.
There are two verses I always remember: "Ye shall seek Me & find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jer.29:13) & "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God & all these things shall be added unto you." (Mat.6:33) Not only was my son miraculously healed, but I myself am really happy & thankful to be serving the Lord. I thank the Lord He has also blessed me with a sweet husband & a precious little girl. TYL! Thanks to you, Dad, for the Letters full of faith that the Lord inspires you to write. They are a great comfort to me!
—Our Son Was Healed by God's Mercy!
By Michael & Priscilla First Love, U.S.A.
GBY! WLY & hope that this testimony will inspire your faith that God is "a very present help in trouble!" (Psa.46:1)
We were a few families living together in a motel on Miami Beach, all with the similar vision of eventually going mobile & then on to the mission field, where some of us had been before.
We were actually planning to move from the place where we were staying, in obedience to the Lord's leading. It was not at all safe for children & we had decided that the children should never be allowed to play on the second story balcony as it was very dangerous. Facing towards the beach, the balcony looked right out over the street, with nothing to prevent the children from falling, as the railing had gaps between the wooden bars measuring 18 inches apart. This was wide enough for almost any child to slip through.
Two days before we were to move, I (Priscilla) started packing our bags to leave. My husband had gone out witnessing with another brother, who had left his son of four years in my care. This meant that I was left with three small children to care for, whose ages ranged from two & a half to four years, in addition to my 12-year-old daughter, Estrella.
The children had just finished an inspiring class in school. As we were running behind time on our schedule, I sent Estrella to take the three children for Get-Out, while I stayed behind to prepare lunch. The children ran out the door with Estrella behind, forgetting to pray. Suddenly I received a check in the Spirit to warn them to stay away from the balcony overlooking the beach. I brushed it off, however, thinking to myself, "It's OK, Estrella knows very well not to go there," & so I went on preparing their lunch.
Within minutes, Estrella burst in the door screaming, "Mommy! Daniel fell!" Daniel, our 2-1/2-year-old son, was limp & white in her arms. He had fallen from the second-story balcony onto the solid concrete below!
Taking him in my arms, I rushed downstairs to the apartment of another Family couple to ask for united prayer. In my mind, I could not accept what had just happened. We never think that these situations will happen to us until they do occur! I cried out to the Lord with more desperation than ever before in my life! I commanded the Lord to keep His promises. "Concerning the works of My hands, command ye Me." (Isa.45:11b) "He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the end." (Phil.1:6)
Upon receiving this promise, I knew that my son could not die. I literally told the Lord, "You're not going to take my son's life, are You? You can't go against Your Own Word!" I was like the widow of Zarepheth when she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God, art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance & to slay my son?"—1Kgs.17:18.
Then, from the depths of my being, I asked for forgiveness for all my sins. Begging for mercy & another opportunity, I asked God to trust me with the care of my precious son once again.
Daniel's eyes then opened halfway, & his face, intensely pale, agonised with pain. I sensed him losing consciousness, he was beginning to slip away. Looking firmly at him, I yelled his name so he would hear me, "Pray to Jesus, Daniel!...Look at me, Daniel! Ask Jesus to let you stay with Mommy!...Pray to Jesus, son!...Pray! Say, `Please help me, Jesus!'"
Though on the verge of being unconscious, I believe Daniel prayed in his heart. Within minutes, the ambulance arrived & I felt that everything was now in God's hands. When Daniel began to cry, I praised the Lord for this sign of life! Hallelujah!
At the hospital, the doctor took X-rays of Daniel's whole body. As I waited with my son in my arms, I noticed that his hip was protruding & thought that it might be dislocated or even fractured. Then came a flood of doubts & fears like, "He will probably be an invalid for the rest of his life." May God forgive me. The whole experience had taken its toll on my reserve of strength to the point that I was weakened beyond measure & the Enemy was using this weak moment to strike with his doubts & fears.
But God's grace proved sufficient for me. Daniel was frightened & very restless, so I started quoting him Psalm 23, which he had memorised. Hearing this, he soon fell asleep. TYJ for Your wonderful Word! After a while, he stirred, mumbling incoherently, & then out of the blue, he said clearly that he wanted to leave!
Soon the doctor came to give the results of the X-rays, with an expression somewhat different from when we were first attended. Smiling, he said, "You may go now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your son!"
"Thank You Jesus!" I exclaimed. "It's a sheer miracle!" Then the doctor answered, "Yes...it is a miracle!" This was quite a testimony as most doctors don't believe in miracles, especially not here in the States! He was baffled & didn't understand how it could be so, but the results were there. The medical attendants present were very inspired & one started kissing & hugging Daniel!
It wasn't long before Daniel started wanting to walk around, & we walked out of the hospital. TYJ! We received 1Sam.1:17, "Go in peace: & the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him." —And also the story where Elijah prayed for the boy who had died. "And the soul of the child came into him again, & he revived." (1Kgs.17:21-22) TYJ!
After this fiery trial, I was afraid that something worse would happen. But these fears again proved to be the lies of the Enemy, as Daniel didn't have a scratch on him. Nothing was swollen or bruised, he didn't even have dizziness. He had experienced the total miracle of a resurrection by God's healing power. Just as the three friends of Daniel the Prophet came out of the fiery furnace without even the smell of smoke, so had our Daniel! Hallelujah! "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there any thing too hard for Me?" (Jer.32:27)
From Michael (Daniel's father)
When I learned of Daniel's fall from the second story, upon returning home from witnessing, it was very hard to believe anything had happened to him. It all seemed so incredible, as the only sign that anything at all had happened was a red patch similar to sunburned skin which covered most of Daniel's left hip & dorsal rib cage just below his shoulder blade. This was the only physical indication of the event. There was not even a hint of dizziness or sluggish reflexes; he appeared totally normal. The Lord had done a mighty miracle for all to see!
The following day, even the redness was gone & Daniel was back to his cheerful self. The whole motel had witnessed this miracle & some of the people there had even prayed for him.
When considering the scientific probability of surviving such a fall, you realise that it was only an Angel of God that could have prevented Daniel from the obvious injury he should have experienced.—Falling headlong onto a solid concrete floor from an 18-foot drop.
In His divine mercy, Jesus delivered our son from death or permanent injury, as if the accident had never happened. "As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psa.103:12)
To this day I'm not only astounded by Daniel's miraculous recovery, but I am also ashamed & must accept the blame, though somewhat indirectly. Prior to this accident, I spent very little time in the Word with my 12-year-old daughter. My marriage of five years also lacked this essential ingredient of fellowship around the Word & studying it together & I neglected to really feed on the Word with my wife. There was "never enough time" in my personal schedule to spend with my wife & children, nor was sufficient time spent supervising the correction of the children.
If there's not enough time in our lives for our children, then there's not enough time for anything else, because the children are God's Work & the most important part of it! They're the best disciples we've got!
I thank the Lord for His miraculous & merciful help & intervention!
(Ed.note: TTL for His supernatural healing & these beautiful lessons! Such serious events help us understand why Dad has so often warned us to "make it impossible for an accident to happen." Knowing that the apartment was dangerous, this dear family was moving in two days. But times of moving can be difficult, with extra work, breaks in routine & more stress & strain on everyone. The Enemy can pick just such a weak moment to attack. So even when travelling or in a temporary location, please bar entrance to any dangerous spot, & do whatever necessary to preserve our precious little ones!
(Also, it is not normally recommended to pick up or move someone with serious injuries to the head or neck, as it could make the injury worse. In this case, however, the Lord protected the child, TYJ!—And God answered the desperate prayers of this dear family! PTL!
(TTL for all the lessons we can glean from this accident! They still do not detract from God's exciting, miraculous, wonderful healing of little Daniel! Hallelujah! PTL!)
Copyright 1996 The Family