I was 18 when my problems started. For some reason, when I tried to stand up I couldn’t move my legs. I couldn’t stand or straighten them, they just ceased up.
The physiotherapist told me I would need immediate treatment to help me walk and also that I may always need to use a walking stick. I felt really sad and depressed.
People would look at me with pity or I’d hear children whisper, ‘Why’s has that girl got a stick?’
I was determined to get on with life and I’d boast because I could drink more than anyone without getting drunk. I would drink bottles of vodka and then have baileys as a ‘nightcap’. I was always ready to argue and fight.
I hated my life and did what I thought would make me happy, but at the end of the day I still felt sad and empty.
My mother invited me to the UCKG HelpCentre after she heard about an event hosted by the UCKG. I didn’t want to go but I thought, ‘I have nothing to lose.’ I saw someone give a testimony about being paralysed and carried to a healing service at the UCKG, and now they were healed. Though it worked for them I still didn’t believe it could work for me. But during the meeting I did feel different inside - the sadness was gone.
The following Sunday, I went to the church. A pastor spoke to me after the meeting and advised me to make a Chain of Prayer on Tuesdays as this could be my chance to get my life back to normal.
The strong prayers and messages helped me to believe that I could be healed. I would anoint my leg with Holy Oil and drink water that had been blessed during the service, believing that God could heal me.
Within a few months I was completely healed. It was just after we’d made a strong prayer and the pastor asked if there was a pain we could not feel anymore that I noticed my pain had gone. I remember the pastor saying that God doesn’t heal half way - He heals completely - and I believed in that.
I was sure that the pain wouldn’t come back and it never has. I can walk, run and do everything I couldn’t do before. After the service I went home and told my mum everything.
I have also been able to let go of past hurts and have a different outlook on life, because I know that I am not alone in my battles - that God is always there, not only cheering me on but also making opportunities and opening doors for me to be prosperous.
I am at university working towards my degree in Special Needs, Inclusion and Deaf Studies. I have a great job that pays just as well as my old job did even though I only work half the hours.
Simone Anderson,
Lozells, Birmingham
Life can be different if you take charge and decide to make things different. Speak to a spiritual counsellor at your local UCKG or call the 24 hour helpline on 020 7686 6000 now to help you get started.
