Category: Guest-Writers

Written By: Alexandra Jezierski

Written By: Darryn Mills

On December 1st last year, I was playing floor hockey with some friends and ended up getting a concussion. I ended up going to the ER and they did a CT scan since I had been throwing up for about four hours. When getting the CT scan results, the ER doctor noticed something abnormal (not related to the concussion) and suggested that I stay overnight and have an MRI the next morning. A neurologist was consulted and he decided to do another MRI but this time with contrast. That was done on December 12th.

On December 18th we were informed that there were six spots and that they had absorbed the dye which indicated that they were active. That could either mean infection or cancer. That day I was admitted and numerous tests were done, including more CT scans, MRI’s, an ultrasound, a bone scan, and a nasal surgery. Since everything was negative a brain biopsy of one of the spots was done on December 22nd.

On January 14th we received the results of the biopsy. The spots were caused by PTLD (Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder) which was the result of being on immunosuppression meds for many years since the time of my kidney transplant at age three. This is usually treated by lowering the meds, but since some of the cells had begun to change to lymphoma (cancer), chemotherapy was necessary.

On January 19th I started the chemotherapy treatments that included two different medications. The first one was a single infusion, and then my body needed to rest for two weeks. After that they did another kind of chemo that included four infusions 12 hours apart. Since this medication was stronger, my body had to rest for four weeks. This completed one cycle, and the plan was to do six to eight cycles.

During my treatments I had to postpone both my college studies and my part time job. My lifestyle changed drastically within such a small time frame. Normal every day tasks like going to school, work, youth group, movies, and out for supper suddenly were not the best things to do anymore. Chemotherapy doesn’t just kill cancer cells; it kills all fast dividing cells. It kills red blood cells (which carries oxygen throughout your body) white blood cells, (immune system) and platelets (clotting ability). After each chemotherapy cycle, within seven to ten days all of these blood levels would get to an all time low and this is the most dangerous part for cancer patients. If the levels got too low transfusions were necessary. Since my immune system was lowered I had to be extremely careful not to get sick. A common cold can turn into something as serious as pneumonia if the patient’s immune system is not strong enough to fight off the virus.

I am extremely grateful that the cancer was found at a very early stage. I know that it was God that let the concussion happen. Normally this would not be discovered until the tumours had grown much larger causing many symptoms and possible irreversible damage.

Sometimes when we are first given bad news, our first thoughts are “Why God? How could you let this happen? What did I do to deserve this?” At first I thought these exact same things, but then as I remembered Scripture my attitude and point of view changed.

Jerimiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Even though sometimes we do not know all the answers or see the whole picture I believe that everything happens for a reason. I know for a fact that God never gives us anything that we cannot handle. It is in those weakest times that when we call on His name He will give us the comfort, peace, and strength that we need to carry onward. God is always there when we need Him and when things seem impossible to handle on our own all we have to do is call out for help and He will be there before we can say ‘amen’.

After going through two complete cycles of treatment with minimal side effects, the doctors ordered an MRI for April 1st to see how things were progressing. A week later on April 9th I got the best phone call of my life. The doctor told me that all the lesions were gone and that they could not find any signs of cancer! He said that they would continue to do two more rounds of chemotherapy to make sure all of the bad cells were killed.

At the beginning of this year I had thought that 2015 was going to be a complete write off. The original plan was to do six to eight cycles and when each cycle takes six weeks, I did not expect to be done all of my treatments until 2016. On May 15 I finished my last chemo treatment and I now have my entire summer back.

God does not let bad things happen to us to punish us. He loves each and every one of His children so much that He died on the cross. He wants us to choose to live for Him and accept Him into our lives. He uses trials and tribulations to help strengthen the relationship we have with Him while reminding us that He is the firm foundation. When we go through tough situations and cannot handle them on our own it forces us to step back and surrender everything to God. Even though going through the battle of cancer is the toughest thing I have ever had to face, I had a peace that passes all understanding knowing that God never left my side. I am truly blessed to have such amazing family members and friends who continually prayed for me during my treatments.

I believe that the trials and tribulations that I have gone through in my life have helped shape me into the young man I am today. They have strengthened my faith in God and I believe that He wants me to share what He has done in my life with others. During this journey I have had the opportunity to share my testimony with people who I never would have been able to talk to. I’ve had many people come up to me and say “Wow, you are an inspiration” or “your faith is so strong” and I have even had people tell me that my story has inspired them to pursue their own walk with God. Many doctors believe in only medicine to heal disease and illnesses, but I know the Great Physician who performs miracles!

About Darryn Mills:

Darryn Mills is a student at St Clair College, studying computer systems technology. He works part time at Nofrills in Essex where you can usually find him stacking apples and bananas. When he isn’t throwing a ball around with friends or spending time with family, he enjoys playing both the trumpet and guitar. God has had His hand on Darryn’s life since the day he was born. Darryn continues to pursue God with all his heart.

Written By: Shawn Chadwick

First I would like to thank Jesus for who He is and  all He has done for me. Also, Kerrington Sweeney and the women’s ministry she is apart of for this amazing opportunity. And last, but not least, I would like to thank you for setting aside time to hear what I have to say. Thank you 🙂

So where to begin….Jesus is amazing and loves to give. To begin this testimony I would like to say I have been to the state of California four times and I have not paid a dime other then food costs. Even with food, people offered to pay for my meal! God is so good. Each time I have journeyed to Cali, there has been supernatural provision from money, to hotel expenses being covered. However the last time I went is by far the most miraculous.

My family and I felt we were suppose to go to California for Revival meetings and a school of ministry. Problem being, as nice as this would be, we all worked full time, the airfare alone would be over $2500 and we just bought a new house. We began to seek the Lord on how those would all come about and God began to move. First off, I worked full time and my hours the week of the trip magically disappeared and doubled for when I would come back. My mom was a witness in an assault case, and she was set to testify the Friday of the trip…the  court date was moved 6 months. Now my Dad, love my Dad, was not sold on the idea. I mean, who would be, mortgage, time off and not to mention over $3500 in travel expenses. So my mom sat down with my dad and said “Honey, what would it take for you to know God is telling us to go?”

My dad replied, “Someone we have never seen before walking up to us and handing us an envelope full of money that would cover everything.”

It’s like God had a huge smile across His face and said, “Challenge accepted.”

The next day, our hotel arrangements were covered by someone who felt God told them to cover our hotel expenses. Now that’s great, but we still haven’t booked the trip. We didn’t know God had that worked out.

Three days later, a woman who NO ONE knew, walked into my mom’s office, handed the Secretary an ENVELOPE and said, “Could you please give this to Toni, God wants to bless her finances.” And walked out.

Thinking it a bit odd, the Secretary immediately went to my mother and gave her the envelope, she then preceded to walk out the office to talk to the woman who was there less than 30 seconds ago. However, when reaching the parking lot, no one was there….

Back in her office, she opened the envelope to find the EXACT amount we needed to cover everything for the trip!

So needless to say, God wanted us there lol. Even upon arriving, we found the school was over booked, but not only did God get us in, but floor seats in an auditorium of over 3,000 people from all over the world.

My friend, God wants to bless you, He just wants you to have the audacity to ask and believe.

Let’s pray! Father, I release supernatural breakthrough in finances, business, and dreams. I authorize the transaction between Heaven and Earth or a poured out blessing. In Jesus name. Amen!

Thanks for reading! Till next time Be blessed and Shalom!

About Shawn Chadwick:

Shawn has a passion to build up, strengthen, and equip the next generation to flourish in both their relationship with Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His call in life is to restore the Father’s heart to an orphaned generation and call the sons and daughters home. Shawn is a 22 year old college student from Cottam, Ontario.

Written By: Pastor Lisa Haris

I want to share a different perspective than what one might usually hear concerning the
miraculous.  One of the things that I am convinced of is that we all experience miracles,
a measure of divine intervention, on a daily basis, yet many times we fail to perceive them
as such.  You see, it’s typical human nature to downplay the small things…the things
that seem insignificant on the surface.  What we do tend to recognize are the big
things…the things that stand out from the ordinary.  We have become accustomed to
evaluating miracles based on the size of their impact on our lives…by their ‘noticeable-
ness’.  We might call it the ‘wow’ factor. But it is my belief that the Lord does not perform
what we might term big, medium or small miracles per say.  As I see it a miracle is a
miracle!

One definition given for a miracle is:
“A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and
is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency”

Notice that in this definition it portrays a miracle as something that is ‘surprising’?  So, it
would seem then that if it doesn’t catch us off guard—if it doesn’t have the ‘shock and
awe’ factor—it doesn’t fit the bill as a genuine miracle? I disagree…

Another definition of a miracle is:

“An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs”

I would agree that the miraculous is extraordinary in nature…that’s what makes it
miraculous!  It is God’s gracious intervention in our ‘human’ affairs.  In our humanness
we are weak but through His intervention we become strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).  If we
are recipients of grace, we are experiencing the miracle power of God because grace by
biblical definition is divine intervention.  Sometimes though, we tend not to see God in our
situations right away but the timing of our perception does not negate it’s miraculous
nature. It’s still a miracle…it’s still divine intervention.  We simply take it for granted
because it didn’t fit our definition, our perception, of a miraculous event or act.  Like the
two men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus is walking along side of us, ministering to our
hurt and despair, but our eyes haven’t been opened to ‘see’ it yet (Luke 24:13-32).  Or
like Jacob at Beth-El who simply failed to perceive that God was in that place with him
until God revealed it to him in a dream (Genesis 28:16).  We are just like that many
times too! God is working in our lives but we just don’t see it! But ignorance of the
situation does not demote its status from the miraculous!

As a born again believers our lives are touched every single day by divine intervention
whether we know it or not.  Sometimes it’s too simplistic.  We rejoice over the creative,
the financial, and the healing miracles that we receive…which I agree need to be
celebrated…and I am so thankful when the Lord does these things…but I also believe
that we must learn to walk in an attitude of thankfulness and gratefulness recognizing
that in our everyday walk with the Lord there are things going on—divine
interventions—that we have yet to perceive.

As a child I was raised in a religious home and attended a typical mainline church.  It
wasn’t until my teen years that I came to know the Lord and was born again.  My
spiritual journey was rich.  I learned a lot of great things.  But I must confess that it wasn’t
until a series of life events that prompted me to inquire of the Lord that I began to see to
see things in this way.

In 1994 my daddy had a stroke.  At that time a series of tests revealed that he had had
an undetected heart attack approximately 6-8 years earlier.  The doctor’s prognosis was
not good.  The doctor said that throughout his many years of experience dealing with
heart attack patients, he had seen better looking hearts in people who had passed away
from massive heart attacks.  He was shocked that he was still alive and as active as he
was.  My daddy did not go to be with Jesus until 2003 and up until the last 8 months of
his lifetime here with us, he was well and able in all aspects of life.  Every day for 15
years my dad was a walking miracle.  I’m sure you would agree with me that it is only
through divine intervention that a man can be well able and live with less than half of
their heart still functioning.  My daddy never had a pace maker, heart transplant, or
medical intervention in that timeframe because he didn’t even know he needed it!  Every
day from the time of the undetected heart attack really was a miracle for him and us. An
unperceived miracle!

In 2004, after hitting black ice and taking out a power line pole, paramedics arriving at
the scene of my accident said that they expected to find a dead person.  They had
witnessed accident scenes, where vehicles with a lot less damage, had taken the lives
of the occupants.  Not only was I alive but I was coherent.  Over the years as I have
continued to deal with this (while still believing for total restorative healing in my body), I
have learned, through multiple tests and examinations, and by talking to many doctors,
that in most cases similar to mine, people that have had similar diagnosis, usually go
into seasons of major depression and have in some instances even taken their own
lives in order to escape the chronic and painful effects in their body.  But through divine
intervention I can testify that I have not had to deal with any of those added issues.  PTL!

Everyday there are miracles in our lives. But do we perceive them?

I believe that in most cases when we ask for a testimony of miracles many of us expect
to hear about the healing miracles, the creative miracles, the salvation miracles, or the
financial miracles—which as I stated before—they need to be celebrated!  But may I
present to you today that there are divine interventions taking place in your life every
single moment of every single day.  The key is learning to perceive them.  It’s a miracle
that many of us can even walk and have peace in the midst of the things that affect our
lives.  You see, the day of salvation and every day thereafter is a miracle because
divine intervention is a natural way of life from that day forward.

So I challenge you today to be aware.  Be thankful.  Be grateful.  Recognize that because
the Lord is involved in your life you are experiencing miracles every day.  Not only that
but, you are a walking miracle from the day you chose to make Him Lord and Savior in
your life.

Blessings,

About Pastor Lisa:

Pastor Lisa has been a teacher of the word for 25+ years teaching in children’s, youth,
young adult, and ladies ministries.  She has been co-pastoring in all aspects of ministry
along side of her husband at Bethel Christian Church in Cottam for 18 years.  She has
been children’s ministry co-ordinator for 13 years.  Pastor Lisa has a passion to help
train and equip the body of Christ through teaching the full counsel of the Word.  Pastor
Lisa has a prophetic mantel.  She has a passion for worship, seeing marriages prosper,
and experiencing the body of Christ fulfill their destiny in bringing His kingdom here on
earth.  Pastor Lisa and Pastor Jason have been married for almost 21 years and have
two children Micah (18) and Madeline (16) who are both gifts from the Lord.  Pastor Lisa
is currently working towards completing her masters in ministry.  She lives to learn,
enjoys the outdoors especially the beach, and spending time with family.

Written By: Elizabeth Langford
The Little Miracles

There are more than one million words in the English language. Miracle, is just one of them. Just a teeny, tiny, seven letter word that like so many others in our vocabulary has shifted to become mainstream; an everyday word we use to describe something unexpected. We might casually say in conversation, “it was a miracle I got here on time,” alluding to the fact that traffic was horrendous that day. Or we comment to a friend, “it will be a miracle if I ever find my lost earring.” We remove goodness, wonder, awe, and sadly too often we remove God from the root of the word. Stripping it down to just another adverb who’s job is simply to describe the uncommon nature of the situation we’re referencing.

Or we think of miracles as so uncommon that they become something that happens to someone else, somewhere else, far removed from ourselves. We see them on the evening news, we read about them on social media, they creep into the conversations we have with our best friends, “did you hear the story about…?” When an airline pilot lands a jetliner on a narrow strip of water along the edge of New York City, saving the lives of everyone aboard we brand it the Miracle on the Hudson. And it is. It is a miracle of epic proportion. But what about everyday miracles? Is there such a thing? What about the out of the ordinary, unusual, and wonderful events that we can ascribe to God’s great love for us? The ones that happen without fanfare, without retweets and regrams. Do we even slow down enough to notice them? Do we give the credit of being real miracles?

In a world, and most certainly a culture, that is focused on what’s next, do we give God the credit and the glory for what’s happening now? Are we so quickly pulled into the next story, the next moment, the next situation that we don’t stop to recognize what we’ve just been witness to? Have we let God’s daily miracles become just another part of life?  Do we use the word too quickly or do we assign it so sparingly that we don’t let the “little miracles” take our breath away?

Webster defines a miracle as an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God. Think about that for just a moment. An unusual or wonderful event that we can step back from, look at, and attribute to God. I don’t know about you, but when I think of it that way, my life has been a series of one miracle leading into another. A series of unusual events that has God’s handwriting all over it.

A few weeks back I was sitting at my desk at home working on a large project and found myself stuck. Stuck in the middle of a to-do list several pages long, a menagerie of sticky notes across my desktop that had begun creeping up the side of my monitor like kudzu in the South. I went from being in full motion, hands dancing across the keyboard to being almost paralyzed under the weight of the work before me. My natural inclination was to just keep going. To keep pushing on, pushing through the work, through the piles, trudging on towards an ever moving goal that rarely rests or stands still. An explorer needing to press on for fear that standing in one place for too long might bury me with no hopes of coming out on the other side. And then a little voice inside told me to stop. Breathe. Rest.

I reached for my journaling Bible and I shifted gears. I put aside the to-do list and focused on God’s words, the to-live list. And then I did something I need to do more of: I invited God into that moment with me. I asked for His help on my project and I realized that I was honouring Him, not bothering Him by asking for divine intervention. Not more than 20 minutes later a friend texted offering help on the project I was consumed with. It might not be a miracle of epic proportions but it was evidence of God’s great love and it left me awestruck with wonder at His unceasing faithfulness. In my asking for help, God used my friend as an answer to prayer. She delivered a small everyday miracle that my Father in Heaven had so graciously given me. So today I’m making it a point to slow down. To take notice of the little miracles. The everyday out of the ordinary wonders that are all around when we begin to look for them. I’m reminding myself to invite God into every project, every place, because if I know one thing to be true, it is that I am always in awe of the miracle of His love for me.

Elizabeth Langford is the Ambassador of Joy for Showit, Inc, a software company focused on building technology that enhances creativity. She is a follower of Jesus, a wife, mother, writer and speaker. Read her blog at elizabethlangfordblog.com and follow her on Instagram at instagram.com/elizabethlangford

—

Showit, Inc.

Direct: (480) 239-5800 | elizabeth@showit.co

http://www.showitfast.com

Written By: Karen Belleau

If there is one couple I can identify with more than any other it would be Abraham and Sarah.

Infertility is a dark, lonely place and to date, the most difficult and heart wrenching trial I’ve encountered. To be honest, it is difficult to even put into words and no matter how well I am able to, unless you’ve walked the road of infertility, you will never know the level of pain and heartache.

You battle so many things when faced with infertility. Things like jealousy, anger, shame, loss, disappointment, and hopelessness. For the first 10 years Glen and I battled infertility we never discussed it with anyone. Not with my best friend or even my twin sister. It was too personal and too painful, like a raw open wound.

Glen and I approached this area in faith and believed that what God did for Abraham and Sarah, He could do for us.

We found Bible verses to declare like: Psalm 113:9 “He makes the barren woman to be a homemaker and a joyful mother of children.”

We had baby names written down in an envelope we kept beside our bed. We spent hours dreaming of what our children would be like and the kind of parents we would be. For years that’s all it was – dreaming, believing, and seeing nothing.

You battle like nothing else with infertility. There are babies and pregnant women everywhere and every one of them is screaming “I have something that you don’t”. I believe more than anything, infertility causes you to ride a roller coaster of highs and lows like nothing else. It’s a ride I took every month as I anticipated being pregnant only to be let down again and again, month after month and year after year.

There came a day when our infertility became very public. It was a Sunday evening service in our church. There was a guest speaker who moved in the prophetic. He had a track record of giving accurate prophetic words.

He called me out in front of my entire church and said; “In nine months you are going to have a baby.” I was overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit and this word went so deep into my soul, I hardly slept for two nights. God had heard the cry of our hearts!!

Two weeks after this wonderful and amazing prophetic word, Glen and I left for our first vacation alone in years. We spent our drive to the Muskokas talking about having kids, and dreaming and wondering about what God was up to. We were excited and full of faith. We even stopped and purchased a baby outfit as a way of exercising our faith. I hung that little outfit up in our cottage and then…. started my period. Imagine the heartache and confusion, the shame and disappointment.

I cried like I’d never cried before.

I questioned God and the accuracy of that prophetic word. I admit in that moment I would have liked to find that man and take his head off! How dare he make he hope like that! It’s funny how the first thing we do in our pain is look for someone to blame it on.

Pointing our pain at a person isn’t going to fix it. Even if someone is responsible for the pain we are experiencing, blaming does nothing except make it worse. Blaming will take you deeper into discouragement, disappointment, and powerlessness.

We were solid enough Christians to know that ultimately, the one to blame was the devil. He was the real enemy.

John 10:10 calls him a thief who has come to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy had been robbing us for years – in health and finances, in our physical intimacy, and in barrenness. God was not the source of all this heartache and pain. Glen soon reminded me that the message this man preached in that evening service, before he ever gave me the prophetic word, was out of Romans 4:17.

His entire message was about the importance of “calling those things that be not, as though they were”.

So we had a choice to make. Be angry and blame the man or receive the prophetic word and apply the message he taught to it. And so we began to say, “In nine months we are going to have a baby.” We said that again and again for years, believing that word to come to pass in our lives.

One thing that happened during this time was that I began working for an infertility specialist. The medical practice covered gynaecology and obstetrics, but primarily infertility and the majority of the pregnant women we cared for were infertility patients that successfully became pregnant.

You would think that working in that environment would have been extremely difficult, but it wasn’t. I absolutely loved my work! The grace of God was on me and I had many opportunities to daily sow seeds of hope and encouragement into the lives of hurting women. I cannot count how many times someone said “It’s just so hard and I want a baby so bad.” I was always able to share how much I could, indeed, identify with them, as I myself was also barren for many years. I was often asked how I could work in such a place without children myself and every time my answer was the same…

“I am trusting God for a miracle.”

Now the question you are dying to know by now is, did I do infertility treatment? The answer is no. We thought about it, sometimes a lot and I was tempted to try it on occasion, but in the end we never did.  Let me be clear, I have no problem with infertility treatments. The medical field has made it possible for thousands of women to have babies that otherwise would not have. To do or not do infertility treatment, is a personal decision each couple has to make and for us, our decision was not to undergo any treatments. I could have done just about anything at no cost if I wanted it, but I always wondered if I did move out in the medical realm, how would I ever know for sure it was God and not us.

It was too easy for those lines to be blurred and in my heart I so wanted our child to be a testimony of the greatness of our miracle working God.

So, after working full time for four years, I became pregnant!!

To be honest, at this point, being pregnant was the farthest thing from my mind. Yes we still wanted children, but we had made a decision to love our life and enjoy our days resting in the knowledge that God knew the desire of our hearts. I actually thought I had a bladder infection and was preparing the lab slip to send with my urine sample, when my co-workers teased me about checking off a pregnancy test too. I went along jokingly with them, and was amazed when I called the lab later that evening and was told I did not have a bladder infection, but was indeed pregnant!!

On October 27, 2007 I gave birth to a 5lb. baby boy. We held the long awaited promise in our arms!!

Our God is always Faithful!

About Karen Belleau:

Written By: Pascale Colucci

Miracles of Salvation

We were in Tiberias, Israel for a missions trip with YWAM. During one of our free evenings we were supposed to meet for dinner with a lady that we had recently met at the grocery store, but she couldn’t make it at the last minute. We proceeded with dinner anyway and we were led to a cute, casual sandwich joint. The owner was very friendly and he could speak English, so we hit it off right away. As we continued chatting throughout the night, we noticed that his friend who was sitting at another table was listening to us, so we joined him. He was very friendly and transparent about his life and the struggles he was facing. He was a 23 year old (that makes him 25 now!) Russian Jew who had recently completed serving in Israel Defence Force. He and his wife were divorced and they had a little boy together.

We soon discovered that he had been searching for the Truth and he loved reading books, so we gave him and his ex-wife some Hebrew literature. We met up with him for the last time before we left for Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit led us to give him a Hebrew New Testament Bible and he was extremely appreciative. Three months later, we received an email from him and he shared that he had become a believer in Yeshua!!! Our local contacts in Tiberias confirmed with us that he was truly saved and plugged in to a messianic church! Leading the lost to Jesus is such a privilege and leading His very own chosen people to Yeshua is part of fulfilling the prophecy that us Gentiles are to provoke the Jews to jealousy (Deuteronomy 32:21, Isaiah 65:1, Romans 11:11), so that they will repent and put their faith in Yeshua! Alleluia!

Miracles of Healing and Salvation

Another cool testimony was from our honeymoon in Maldives. We were renting snorkelling equipment from the main dive instructor, and we learned that she had an accident with her ear, so she hadn’t dived for a few months. We went back to borrow some equipment on another day and we asked if we could pray for her. She was willing, so we laid hands on her ear and prayed for her. A few days later, we saw her and she said her ear was completely healed and she could dive again! Praise the Lord!!! On the day of our departure, I went to say goodbye to her. I gave her a hug and told her that Jesus loves her and she just smiled back at me.

Since being in Windsor and serving at Lazarus Outreach Centre from last June, we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to do street ministry on Tuesdays. One of my most memorable encounters was witnessing to two female students at the University of Windsor campus with Pastor Gilles. From the onset, I noticed that something was bothering one of the students, so I asked her what was wrong. She shared that she had a toothache, so I asked if we could pray for her. I laid hands on her cheeks and asked Jesus to heal her. After praying, I asked her how she felt and she said she was feeling much better and her face lit up! At this very moment, we shared the Gospel with both of them and they chose to follow Jesus that day!!! Praise the Lord!

As I bring this post to a close, I want to get back to the current situation/circumstance we are in. As I had mentioned earlier, we were supposed to be in Denver, Colorado by now, or so we had hoped. We had been raising funds over the last four months but the Lord didn’t provide all the funds we needed, so we could not go. When I first learned about this, I was really devastated and it took me about a week to hold my emotions together. The first thing I did was doubt that David and I had really been hearing from God because we would not have pursued such a great undertaking if it were not His will! The devil began spewing lies in my head and tempting me to doubt God’s character. I had also come to realize that I felt devastated with the situation and with God because I had trusted Him conditionally. I had trusted Him to not let this happen and it did!

So what do you do in such circumstances? You continue waiting on God. That’s exactly what we are doing. We have been waiting to pursue seminary education since last April. We are still waiting on God and we are trusting in His direction instead of doubting. The origin of the word ‘wait’ in Hebrew refers to (1) ‘bind together (by twisting); (2) ‘wait’ is linked to the idea of piercing, (3) to carve, to entrench (to dig or cut a trench around a place, as in fortification; to fortify with a ditch and parapet). When the Lord delays in answering our prayers, He is not saying no. He is saying “Wait, not yet My child.” His delays do not mean ‘no’, but His delays actually means ‘wait’. In other words, when He is asking you to wait, or like our situation, making you wait, He is really inviting you to cling to Him, to bind yourself to Him. When the Lord makes a promise to you, He actually binds Himself to the oath and He will never ever break it. On the surface, nothing seems to be happening, it feels like everything is on hold and you are not moving at all. But we have to trust Him and believe that Daddy is doing something behind the scenes for us. He is preparing the way and making a way even when there seems to be no way. And at the set appointed time, He will bring it to pass if you remain in His will and stay on course. So the question is – will you cling on to Daddy?

My dear sisters, especially those who are facing crossroads or struggling with waiting on God, I pray that you will trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Remember that He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24)! God bless you!

Love in Christ!

~Pascale

About Pascale Colucci:

Pascale is a daughter of Father God, a lover of Jesus Christ and she is joyfully married to David Colucci. She’s a foodie and coffee enthusiast. She also enjoys travelling, reading, cooking, baking, dancing, running and wake-boarding. Pascale met her husband David while serving in the Alpha programme at an international fellowship in Shanghai, China in 2011. Their journey as vocation missionaries began with YWAM in New Zealand in 2013 and has led them to Lazarus Outreach Centre in Windsor, Canada since 2014, where she ministers to the oppressed and teaches the Word of God. Pascale has a heart for youth and women. She desires to bring them hope and inspiration through the Gospel, the supernatural love and power of Jesus Christ and her personal testimony. The Lord has been leading Pascale (and her husband David) to pursue seminary education as a stepping stone for future ministry. Since November 2013, Pascale is dreaming with God to establish a multi-faceted ministry to combat sex-trafficking across the nations.

“My greatest desire is to love and obey God, be on fire for Him, exalt Jesus Christ with my life, impact the nations and bequeath a spiritual inheritance for the generations succeeding me.”- Pascale Colucci

Written By: Pascale Colucci

Hello Sisters in Christ!

I’m so honored to have this opportunity to contribute a post for the Uniquely Yours Blog this September 2015! Praise the Lord! When Kerrington first approached me in June to contribute to ‘Miracles Week’, I was super stoked and in my mind, I was hoping and expecting to share how the Lord provided a huge financial breakthrough for my husband and I to pursue seminary education as by this time, we were supposed to be in Denver, Colorado! However, we are still here. As I prayed and sought Jesus’s heart for this blog, I feel He wants me to be ‘real’ and use my past and current circumstances to encourage every one of you who is reading this blog.

My Personal Testimony

I would like to start by sharing a brief testimony of my life with you. I’m from Singapore (Southeast Asia!) and I was raised by my mom, grandmother, and all my mom’s siblings (which I would never exchange anything for!). My dad left my mom and I when I was 5 months old, so I grew up looking for love and acceptance in ALL the wrong places – so wrong that my quest for “love” left me sexually violated when I was 15 years old. Over the first 25 years of my life, I found my identity in relationships (with the opposite sex), my career, material possessions, and being in the “limelight”. I moved from one destructive relationship to another until I finally lost all my self-esteem and self-worth. Until I totally lost myself, at least, whatever that was left of me. My life took a downward spiral in many ways.

Having been raised Catholic, I knew of God but I never really knew God. I sought to find answers for the heartache, pain, anger, rejection, abandonment, shame, hatred towards myself and my mother, and the verbal abuse from my mom in my life. I tried to find answers through occult practices and I even tried to find ways to heal myself. I was desperate for a fresh start and I knew that I had to get out of Singapore as my promiscuous party/drug lifestyle was getting the worst of me. In May 2010, I finally left Singapore to pursue a new job in Shanghai, China.

Four months into an emotionally and physically demanding job where I was verbally abused by my employer, I finally cried out to God for help. I cried “Lord, I can’t do this by myself anymore, I need Your help. And I’m not leaving Shanghai.” By November 2010, I officially became a Christian; I became a child of God. Alleluia!

Why am I sharing my testimony? It’s because Revelation 12:11 promises “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Before I surrendered my life to Jesus, I loved my life to death and it did lead me to a mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual death. It’s a MIRACLE that I got saved and it’s a MIRACLE that I’m even sharing my testimony with you. Praise the Lord!

Since I became a follower of Jesus Christ, my life has radically changed! Jesus healed me of rejection, abandonment, anger, and self-hatred! Jesus delivered me of sexual addiction, smoking, drinking, and party-drugs! Jesus has given me a new heart that beats only for Him and He has truly given me a new life, found in Him and in His agape love, alleluia! I have fallen so much in love with my Savior that I knew in my heart when He was calling me to ministry. I had little understanding of what that meant or looked like. In 2012, my husband and I heard the call to pursue Jesus even deeper, so we quit our corporate jobs in Shanghai, China, and we embarked on a new journey with Jesus through a Discipleship Training School (DTS) at Youth With A Mission in New Zealand. On February 7, 2013, at 2:52am, I heard the Lord’s audible voice in my sleep for the first time in my life. I heard Him say “You and David will learn about love and character building at DTS and you will teach it after.” I awoke in the middle of the night, thinking someone was talking to me but my roommates were fast asleep and there was no one else in the room. I will always remember this because His voice was crystal clear. From the moment I heard my Daddy’s audible voice, I knew He was calling us to serve Him full-time. And as I’m writing this, I’m being reminded of the call to be His missionaries. David and I have been serving Jesus full-time for almost 3 years now. Living by faith is a lot of fun but it also comes with a whole bunch of diverse challenges!

Here are some key moments in my life when I doubted God and how He radically showed up! I love that we serve a radical Jesus! Alleluia!

Miracles of Provision

While we were serving with YWAM in N.Z., we were behind in our rent for about five weeks. Throughout this time, we kept praying and asking the Lord if and when we could communicate our needs with our supporters. But each time we prayed, the Lord said “No, not yet, wait.” So we waited. But with every day that passed, our landlord who happened to be living right next to us kept questioning us about rent. I was really distraught and I felt so helpless. I wanted so much to reach out to our supporters but at the same time, I didn’t want to disobey God at all. I didn’t understand what God was doing and my heart grew weaker as time passed. Our situation was getting pretty bad and if we waited any longer to pay the rent, we would have faced a legal issue! Finally, we felt the release to ask for support, so we emailed all our supporters. Within a few hours that night, the Lord provided so much more than we needed! Praise the Lord! And little did we know then that the extra amount He provided would enable us to live in Windsor last year. Only God could have orchestrated such a divine provision!

Another really amazing miracle I would like to share with you is also about provision. When we first arrived in Windsor last May, we were newly married and we didn’t have a place of our own, so we stayed with David’s parents for the first four months. Let me break it to you this way single ladies— when you get married, if possible, DO NOT, again I repeat, DO NOT live in your parents’ or in-laws’ home, especially if they’re unsaved. It came to a point where we desperately needed to move out as living with his parents was daunting on our marriage. We fasted and prayed. We sought the Lord for a way out and at that point, it seemed like there was no way out. Then the Lord provided a rent FREE apartment for us!!! He also provided all the furniture and household appliances we needed!!! Praise the Lord!

You see, when you live by faith, most of the miracles you’d encounter are probably about provision because you become fully dependent on God as your source of income. After all, one of Daddy’s many names is ‘The Lord Will Provide’ (Genesis 22:14)! He is our Jehovah Jirah!!! Alleluia!

About Pascale Colucci:

Pascale is a daughter of Father God, a lover of Jesus Christ and she is joyfully married to David Colucci. She’s a foodie and coffee enthusiast. She also enjoys travelling, reading, cooking, baking, dancing, running and wake-boarding. Pascale met her husband David while serving in the Alpha programme at an international fellowship in Shanghai, China in 2011. Their journey as vocation missionaries began with YWAM in New Zealand in 2013 and has led them to Lazarus Outreach Centre in Windsor, Canada since 2014, where she ministers to the oppressed and teaches the Word of God. Pascale has a heart for youth and women. She desires to bring them hope and inspiration through the Gospel, the supernatural love and power of Jesus Christ and her personal testimony. The Lord has been leading Pascale (and her husband David) to pursue seminary education as a stepping stone for future ministry. Since November 2013, Pascale is dreaming with God to establish a multi-faceted ministry to combat sex-trafficking across the nations.

“My greatest desire is to love and obey God, be on fire for Him, exalt Jesus Christ with my life, impact the nations and bequeath a spiritual inheritance for the generations succeeding me.”- Pascale Colucci