In the Beginning…Healed with Lack of Knowledge
In 1978, we were living in a home in Hollywood, Florida.
Rhonda experienced nausea to the point she became dehydrated, so the doctor sent her to the hospital. In the hospital they performed and X-ray to see if there was anything causing the nausea because she couldn’t get it stopped. The X-ray showed a teratoma on an ovary. A teratoma is a rare type of tumor that can be benign or malignant, and is made up of different types of tissue, such as bone, muscle, and hair. Teratomas can occur in several places in the body, including the ovaries, testicles, tailbone, chest, abdomen, and central nervous system.
The doctor recommended Rhonda have surgery while in the hospital to remove the teratoma. She and I discussed it and agreed to wait and go home and pray about it. We went home when she was released from the hospital. We knelt by the bed and prayed for healing.
We were just attending a United Methodist Church at the time. The church wasn’t Charismatic and no one ever discussed healing, tongues or any other “Pentecostal” type experiences. Even though we did not have any “Word of Faith” teaching we believed that God was a healer and could perform the healing.
A few days later, Rhonda went to her follow-up appointment with the doctor. He recommended another X-ray. To the doctor’s surprise, the teratoma was gone. He said, your prayers were answered and put the hospital X-Ray, and the follow-up X-ray side by side and one showed the teratoma and the follow-up X-Ray showed a normal ovary!
Our Daughter’s Miracle
Our second miraculous healing event involved our daughter Christi. Christi was just a couple of years old when we noticed she seemed to be crossing her eyes. We thought she wasn’t old enough to cross her eyes intentionally and just play with us or tease us.
Because of this eye crossing, we took her to an Ophthalmologist in Greensboro, NC.. The Ophthalmologist determined that she was terribly far sighted and had Amblyopia. Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, is a condition that occurs when the brain doesn’t fully process information from one eye, resulting in decreased vision in that eye. It’s the most common cause of visual impairment in children.
We were told that Christi must always wear her glasses, otherwise; she could lose the use of one of her eyes and if that happened, the stronger eye would dominate and take over. We followed the Ophthalmologist instructions and other Ophthalmologists instructions giving the same diagnosis each year after. The second Ophthalmologist was in Hollywood, Florida. About 2 years later, a third Ophthalmologist in Spartanburg gave the same diagnosis.
In Spartanburg, our neighbor, Bill and wife Gay, suggested we begin to listen to WLFJ Radio, and he shared some tapes by Kenneth Copeland, and Kenneth Hagin. We began listening to the tapes and learned that God’s healing is for everyone, however; not everyone is healed. That was a hard pill to swallow, but we kept studying and listening to tapes.
We had heard that Kenneth Copeland was going to be in Atlanta, so we decided to go to Atlanta to a Copeland Conference. Christi and David were with us. We didn’t realize how much Christi was taking in and learning during the conference. But we later discovered she was listening intensely.
Well, after a few weeks or months, Christi has a visit to the Ophthalmologist in Spartanburg, and he reduced the strength of her glasses by half. Often lenses for children’s glasses are standardized and easy to provide from stock. Christi’s prescription was still too strong, and the lenses had to be ground special.
A few more weeks went by, and Rhonda called me at work in a panic. Rhonda told me Christi wouldn’t wear her glasses, and she reminded me the risk of losing sight in one eye.
My response was, “Ask Christi if she sees better without glasses on or with them on”. I said this is what we’ve been praying for. Christi told her she can see better without glasses.
Christi told us that this was what she believed for and she started believing she would be healed after the Kenneth Copeland conference.
We took her back to the Ophthalmologist and he said her eyes were perfect, and a couple of years later we took her to an Ophthalmologist in Greenville at the Jervey Eye Clinic. The doctor was so impressed he brought in a doctor that was in residency. He told the doctor; Christi’s eyes were some of the healthiest he would ever see!
Today if you ask Christi, she will tell you that one night she was lying in bed and looked out the window at the moon and she prayed to God to heal her eyes. She woke up the next morning, put her glasses on and couldn’t see when she put them on.
The photos above show Christi at 3 years old with glasses and then after her eyes were healed at about 9 or 10 years old with perfect vision.
Another Family Healing Testamony
Our third healing miracle happened about 1998. Rhonda had a spot on her nose that kept breaking out. She went to the dermatologist in Greenville who took a biopsy and told her it was skin cancer. He recommended that she come back and he would remove it using the “flap “method. A skin flap is a surgical procedure that can be used to reconstruct the nose after skin cancer removal.
She had the surgery performed and returned one week later for follow-up. The dermatologist removed the bandage and startled her by saying, “oh, no, necrosis has set in. Skin necrosis, also known as gangrene, occurs when skin tissue dies due to a lack of blood flow or a bacterial infection.
Of course, this diagnosis brought tears to Rhonda’s eyes. The dermatologist told her she would need to see a plastic surgeon, but he would have her return a week later to make sure.
At this time, we were attending Shannon Forest Presbyterian Church. We called the church and asked the pastor, William Mashburn, did they anoint with oil and pray for healing. He said, “yes”, and he came to our house and anointed Rhonda with oil and we all prayed. The next Sunday, the elders of the church met Rhonda and I at the front of the church and laid hands on her and prayed.
The week following that Sunday, Rhonda went back to the dermatologist. He took off the bandage, looked at her nose and said, “well, you have your miracle. Your skin is healing”.
A Fourth Healing Testimony
Our fourth healing miracle occurred around 2005. Rhonda was getting a regular medical checkup that included a mammogram. The mammogram showed a lump like tumor in her breast. Rhonda was referred to a surgeon that did a second mammogram in his office. The surgeon said he didn’t like the edges of the tumor and wanted to do surgery right away. Rhonda wanted a second opinion and if possible, to see a female surgeon. The doctor declined her request and said he couldn’t refer her to the female surgeon because she was in the same practice group. So, we left his office and said we wanted more time, and he didn’t feel like she should delay any surgery but we decided to walk away anyway.
The next day, the doctor’s office called and said they would set Rhonda up with a female surgeon in their office. We prayed and told the surgeon we were believing for healing though faith. The female surgeon didn’t want to wait, but again Rhonda pressed her for more time. Reluctantly the new surgeon agreed to work with Rhonda for six months. Each return visit, the surgeon used a sonogram to monitor the tumor and by the end of the 6 months the tumor was gone. This is another time our prayers were answered.
Today, Rhonda and I are in our 70’s and are not prescribed any drugs for anything. We do not have any chronic diseases. This is very unusual for people our age, since on average, persons our age may be on about 7 prescription drugs.
We believe through faith, food and fitness we take care of spirit, soul and body!