Oaks Community Church

Rich

I have been fighting a life threatening disease for the last 20 years but didn't recognise it myself for about the first 5 or so years. It is a disease that people didn't really recognise or accept then, but thankfully they do now. I have been suffering from clinical depression which has led me in to some very dark places nearly taking my own life on two separate occasions. If it weren't for the extra support from fellow Christians at the Oaks Community Church and the Love they have shown in praying for me and with me I'm not certain that I would be writing this now. God has brought healing in to my situation, sometimes by lifting me when I need it and speaking to me at the darkest moments and sometimes by putting the right person close at hand to talk to.

I still have depression but feel that I am now climbing out of it and starting to remember who I was before this started. I know that God is with me and when I remember to ask for Jesus' help he is always there. I don't know how others cope with hard times like this if they don't have a faith in God or the support of great friends around them, all I know is that I am thankful to God for keeping me alive to enjoy my family and this wonderful world around me.

Coming soon!

Stay tuned...

Sharon

In October 2015, I started being ill with chest pains and a chest infection. During some blood tests, it was discovered that my antibodies were attacking my thyroid. I was referred to the hospital where the decision was made to remove half the thyroid.

Moving forward to February 2016, I went into hospital for a fairly routine operation to have half a thyroid removed. The morning after surgery, the surgeon came to explain that during surgery he accidentally cut through my vocal chord. The implication of this was that I only now had a slight whisper of a voice which even at this point was more than he expected. Consequently, I needed intensive speech therapy and the original problem I went to the doctors with was now getting overlooked.

I felt straight away when the surgeon broke the news that God was going to use this in my life and would heal me.

The next few months were not easy at all, I couldn’t go back to work initially, it was extremely difficult to communicate and be involved in a lot of activities I was involved with. I was having weekly speech therapy and of course still having to go for appointments with ENT. I was regularly receiving prayer for God to restore my voice but nothing was happening.

August bank holiday arrived and we went with other people from our church to a Christian event that ran over the weekend. There was a speaker there from Africa who God used for praying for the sick to get well again. I was extremely disappointed that I came out of the meeting exactly the same. No voice.

I whispered to friends that I was extremely angry at God.

Too be really honest by this stage I still believed I would be well again but also psychologically I wasn’t well at all and was visiting a health psychologist. BUT, all was about to change… in September someone in the church felt strongly that they need to pray for healing, for me to get well and so they did.

By the time I went back to the hospital in the October to see the surgeon I had a voice. I walked into the surgeon’s room, he asked how I was, my response, with a voice, was “I’m fine thank you”. His head lifted with his mouth open in utter amazement. He responded “You’re a Christian aren’t you?”. I replied “Yes”. He then said “Do you believe in healing?”. Of course, my answer was “I certainly do”. He was out of his seat, so excited. It turns out he is a Christian and he wanted to know my story, and so I shared my journey that I’ve shared here. He asked if he could out of interest use the camera to have a look. On my medical notes he wrote ‘miracle’. He said “You do know, medically, you can’t have a voice?”

Onto speech therapy, a wonderful supportive speech therapist who again when heard me speak said, “You know medically you can’t ever get your voice back?”. My response was “I know, but I believe in a God who heals”.

So now, four years on, I have recently been back to the ENT where they put the camera down into my throat and said “Do you know your vocal chord doesn’t move at all?”.

I thank God for having a voice.