HEALING TESTIMONY

Hello to everyone at LHBC: My 14 year old daughter and I attended your Spring 2006 Camp. Being raised Lutheran, marrying a Catholic and raising our family in the Methodist church made Lake Hamilton an extremely unlikely place to find us on Easter. The story of my testimony begins a couple of years ago. My family was experiencing difficulties from many directions. One afternoon as I sat watching my daughter skate at the local rink, a woman came over and sat down next to me. I had spoken to her quite a few times before and we were starting to develop a friendship. She commented that she had seen me reading my Bible several times and that she felt led to tell me that my family was under “spiritual attack”. Of course I said, “WHAT?” She told me to get a book on the subject. I was at the bookstore that day and purchased a stack of books on spiritual warfare!

A life-changing event happened that very night. The first book that I started reading was “A Beginners Guide to Spiritual Warfare”. I could not put the book down and fell asleep while reading it. I was awakened in the middle of the night by my daughter’s voice calling, “Mom”. I woke up and lifted my head off the bed towards the door, expecting to see my daughter standing there. To my shock, I saw a small figure standing on the corner of the foot of my bed in the direction of my daughter’s voice. My first thought was that someone had broken into our home but that thought quickly left as I looked at this small creature. He was definitely not human. He looked like a wrinkled old man with gray sagging skin and he wore a tattered suit and necktie. He was also carrying a bag/suitcase of some kind. He was about 4 feet tall and stood there motionless, looking at me. Even though it was dark, I could see him clearly. After a few seconds, he zoomed forward and disappeared as he flew past between my husband and me. My husband was sleeping on my left. He passed through the headboard of our bed and out the wall of our home, right in between us. As you might assume, I did not sleep anymore that night. I just prayed. I had just seen a demon. Later that day I came to realize that ugly demon was trying to scare me and keep me from reading my books on spiritual warfare. I became angry that he had used my daughter’s voice to wake me up. She was not even at home, but in another state with her figure skating coach. I was back to reading and learning within 24 hours. As scary as the event was, I consider it a blessing. That little demon made a big mistake when he showed himself and tried to scare me.

I am sharing this story with you because the events that followed led me to Lake Hamilton Bible Camp. During a hair appointment a couple of years later, I told my hair stylist that I was reading about spiritual warfare and had actually seen a demon. To my surprise, she told me about her sister-in-law that was in the deliverance ministry. That person turned out to be Carla Butaud. What a friend Jesus and I have in Carla. We talked on the phone for more than an hour. The phone call ended with an invitation to your camp that was in two weeks. This little demon made such a big impression on me that I purchased airline tickets, reserved two bunks in the dorm and started to pack my bags. I had to learn more. I had seen first hand that the forces of spiritual darkness are REAL. I didn’t understand why they were messing with my family and I wanted them to leave us alone.

During that same time, I was terribly worried about my daughter. For the last year she had been suffering from daily headaches, muscle weakness and soreness, hives, exhaustion with any type of physical activity, crying spells and diagnosed depression. For a young lady that was a two time national competitor in figure skating, this was devastating. A month before we left for Lake Hamilton we received the diagnosis of Hashimotos Disease. We have all the lab reports and were told that it is a non-curable degenerative disease where my child’s thyroid would be attacked by antibodies and eventually be destroyed. At some point we would start hormone replacement medication but in the meantime, there was not much that could be done. Just wait and continue to watch her lab results.

Through my talks with Carla and being at Lake Hamilton, I learned about the spiritual roots of illness. Hashimotos Disease is a disease of the autoimmune system and is rooted in self-hatred, anxiety and fear. I had regretfully put my daughter’s figure skating coach in a position of authority over her. I always knew that her coach was a very needy, manipulative person. I somehow thought that I could help her. I now know that she had a strong Jezebel influence on my daughter and me. I had already got my child out of the situation and I learned that I had to break the spiritual ties from this six-year relationship. I also had to teach my daughter that you do not earn love and self-worth based on your earthly successes.

When my daughter and I arrived at Lake Hamilton we did not know what to expect. We didn’t even know exactly why we were there. Did we need deliverance, prayer or a healing? We just trusted that the Lord had brought us to this place. We attended 6 am prayer meeting and almost every meeting for the four days we were there. My mind and spirit were overwhelmed with the praise, teachings and deliverance that took place in that small gathering hall. At forty-four, I felt like such a child. I had read in Scripture that we should take up our shield of faith and the sword of the Word, but had no idea how to do that. Lake Hamilton taught us how to begin.

While at the Camp, there was one person’s ministry that made a very special impact on our lives. That person is Dr. William Null. One morning at the 6 am prayer meeting, as he held my daughter’s head in his hands and looked into her eyes, and he began to minister and pray for her, we both began to cry. We left Lake Hamilton changed people. Over the next weeks we saw marked improvement in my daughter, both physically and emotionally. Last week we received a letter from her physician with the result of her recent lab results. I once again had tears in my eyes as I read the report that her thyroid levels had normalized. This was our first lab test since our trip to Lake Hamilton. Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ and blessings to everyone that has played a part in our walk. My daughter is now happy and healthy. Her energy level has returned. Her eyes are bright, her smile is beautiful and the depression is gone.

We live in a suburb of Houston and I find it difficult to find other Christians that understand and take my spiritual warfare and me seriously. I have connected with the author of a book that I purchased at Lake Hamilton, Mitsi Burton. I discovered that she lives close by and she invited me to join her and a small group of ladies every Wednesday night. We speak of Lake Hamilton quite often and pray for the work that you do, declaring God’s Kingdom from your small camp in Hot Springs, AR. Keep up the good work! TX

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