ISSUE 002
PUBLISHED BY CARMEL MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
>>needforadjustment? your guide to practical christianity
abigwelcom Well it’s that time again and we hope you enjoy this issue of twentyfour7. We lead with the question ‘need for adjustment?’ God loves us so much and wants us to walk in the fullness of his provision. Just a tweak in our way of thinking brought by the revelation of the word can change situations amazingly. God is a good God and by standing on the Word we can see great things happen... That leads me on quite nicely as we welcomed Mia Ford our first grand daughter into the world on 14th March 03! For those of you that don’t know this baby is a supernatural happening of the highest order! Check out the back pages for the full story and see that God’s promises are REAL! We also welcomed Wynne Lewis to Carmel Christian Centre who taught on finding a bridge with people to reach the lost. I’m sure you will be encouraged enough to ‘Get out there’ and touch people! And lastly we reveal some things you never knew about us in our interview! So sit back with a nice cuppa coffee and enjoy!
Michelle Di Somma
in issue 2 of carmeltwentyfour7>> For comments and suggestions for the next twentyfour7 please email us on carmel@ blueyonder.co.uk
main teaching
guest teaching 4
interview 5-7
testimony 8-9
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Carmel twentyfour 7 is published by Carmel Ministries International. Reproduction of this publication in part or whole is prohibited. Editor: Michelle Di Somma Associate Editor & Copywriter: Lyn Birdsall Assistant Copywriter: Clare Irwin Interviewer: Sarah Oliva Art Director: Darrell Irwin Photography: Julian Clarke & Darrell Irwin
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churchservices Sunday Morning Service 10.30am Sunday Evening Service 6.30pm
churchoffice Unit D, Central Trading Estate, Bath Road, Arnos Vale, Bristol BS4 3EH
contactus
For any further information contact Lyn Birdsall on 0117 775533 Saturday 3rd May Worship Celebration (Pop from the Tops) 7.30pm
Tel: (0117) 9775533 Fax: (0117) 9775678 Email: carmel@blueyonder.co.uk
Saturday 7th June Joint Breakfast 8.30am
www.carmel-uk.org www.anchor-uk.org
Tuesday 1st July ABTC Open Day 9.00am Evening School 6.30pm
howtofindus
Saturday 5th July ABTC Banquet
A4 Bath Rd
Central Trading Estate
Saturday 12th July ABTC Graduation
Old Petrol Station
Sunday 28th September Worship Celebration (tbc) 6.30pm
Bristol Temple Meads Train Station
Wednesday 29th October Sunday 2nd November Faith Convention “Empowering for Excellence” Wynne Lewis, Trevor Loveday Dr Tayo Adeyemi
Thursday 25th December Christmas Service 10.30am
becomingapartner A Partner is a sharer, an associate, one who engages with another in business, one who plays on the same side as another.
Account Details
Partnership Is Important – It releases power to get the job done. We can accomplish the Great Commission together in unity.
United Kingdom HSBC Account No: 401406 – 11341294
Partnership In Caring – We are instructed to watch over and take care of the partners in our charge (Acts 20:28). Partnership In Sharing – The whole ministry of sharing is to give of oneself in the areas of love, time, talents and finances.
HTV Studios
A4 A37 YMCA Building
Directions from Bath: Follow A4 Bath Road all the way into Bristol and turn left into the slip road before Burger King, passing HTV Studios on your left hand side. Proceed for approximately 500m and the Central Trading Estate will be on your right hand side. Turn into and follow all the way to the end. You will see a large 'Carmel Christian Centre' sign on the last building on the right.
Sunday 21st December Christmas Play
Partnership In Prayer – We believe it is vital for every Partner to develop a strong personal prayer life, and to pray for the leadership for Godly wisdom and direction from the Lord.
Unit D
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South Africa Anchor Ministries International First National Bank, Cresta Account No: 3000080594
Carmel Ministries is a registered charity (Charity No. 1094052) with Luke 9vs2 as its mission statement. All finances sown go into the work of establishing God’s Kingdom through evangelism and preparing labourers for the harvest.
Directions from the M4: Take Junction 19 into Bristol on the M32. Take Junction 3, the A4 Link Road, and follow the signs to Bath. Pass Sainsbury's on your left and at the traffic lights (Burger King will be on your right) turn right. HTV Studios will be on your left as you proceed for approximately 500m and the Central Trading Estate will be on your right hand side. Turn into the entrance and follow all the way to the end. You will see a large 'Carmel Christian Centre' sign on the last building on the right. Directions from Bristol City Centre: Follow Temple Way towards Temple Meads Railway Station passing it on the left hand side. Follow the A4 Bath Road passing a Quick Fit garage on the left, and a disused petrol station also on the left, opposite red brick Victorian town houses. The entrance to the Central Trading Estate is immediately after the disused petrol station, on the left. Turn left into the entrance and follow all the way to the end. You will see a large 'Carmel Christian Centre' sign on the last building on the right.
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guest teaching
bridgingthegap What we call revival, Jesus calls “the harvest”, John 9:37 “ The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” To start revival “Pray” for church labourers to bring in the harvest. In John 4 the disciples were grumbling as Jesus didn’t seem interested in the food they had brought back from Sychar. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me”. God sent HIM to Samaria for a specific purpose “to finish His work.” Recognise where you are sent, and for what purpose. “Do you not say four months more and then the harvest? ”The church still regards revival as something past or future. “I tell you – open your eyes!” Is the church blind? “…look at the fields – the harvest is ripe”. The shortest route from Jerusalem to Galilee was through Samaria, but Jews, taught to hate Samaritans, made a longer detour instead. When Jesus said in John 4:1 “We’re going back to Galilee” the disciples must have rejoiced to be finally going home – but surely not through Samaria! Samaria was part of the 12 tribes of Israel, but since Ahab and Jezebel had lifted the borders, immorality and idolatry had flooded in. No-one had sought to turn that society back to God since the days of Elisha and Elijah. Jesus knows it’s time for change. When they reached Jacob’s Well, Jesus was tired. When the woman appeared, they probably thought “What a pity our Lord’s siesta is spoilt by such a woman.” Only fallen women went to the well at noon. Jesus’ reaction teaches us how to start a revival. Many would have condemned her but Jesus builds a bridge of friendliness. A Pastor was asked to pray for an unsaved man who bred canaries. The Lord told the Pastor, “Study canaries – that will be the bridge.” When he felt equipped he knocked on the man’s door, knowing a previous Pastor had been assaulted. He was met with hostility but immediately mentioned canaries and was invited in. They talked canaries, not God. Consequently, the man was in church the next Sunday, the first to give his life to Christ. When the disciples returned, they saw Jesus still talking to the woman, uninterested in their food. He says, “My food is to do the will…” Talking to a Samaritan woman was culturally offensive to them – but was God’s will. Then He said, “Did you not say amongst yourselves if we were back here in four and a half months time we would see a harvest?” That’s the second mistake of the church – not living for the moment.
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Wynne Lewis 24.03.03 The disciples must have passed the woman that morning. Did they tell her that Jesus could change her life? Or when they were waiting for the food in Sychar, did they urge anyone to come and hear Him? No! They had no burden… If the church doesn’t wake up corporately and individual members don’t shake off complacency to seek the lost, God will step outside the church and revival will happen elsewhere. In the late 50s, in California, multitudes of hippies were saved, with no church anywhere near. Thank God Pastor Smith, of Calvary Temple, woke up and discipled them, making his church famous. What the disciples should have done, this immoral heathen woman did. She had never been to a Synagogue, read the Old Testament, prayed, taken a course in soul winning yet she brings hundreds to Jesus “because of her testimony”. They said, “Now we really know that this man is the Saviour of the world.” That phrase is found nowhere else in the gospels. Through this woman they had a view of Jesus crossing Judaism into Gentile territory, all because of friendliness. In the early days at Kensington Temple the upstairs was empty. One day I looked up to the balcony and there sat a woman with multi coloured pyramids of hair, the first punk I’d ever seen in church. Those on the ground floor criticised their new Pastor for bringing the world into the church… That day, she was saved! The next Sunday 10 punks came! With a bald head, I couldn’t minister to punks – but she could. Television stars, footballers, pop stars, brought their friends to Christ, turning a congregation of 334 to 7 meetings, with many thousands coming to the church. Build bridges of friendship into the lives of the lost – bring in the plenteous harvest.
teaching
Rev. Gerri Di Somma
Part of a series ‘Practical Christianity’. Tapes available.
facingyourneed God never intended our Christian walk to be complicated and difficult, but an expression of His victory over adversity. If you can understand the patterns and principles that God ordains for your life you will walk in constant victory. We complicate our Christian experience by ignoring the spiritual patterns and principles set out by God to help us walk in his provision. Paul says there is no need that God cannot meet – he saw God meet all his!
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19
Out of the spirit flows the natural John 4:24 – “God is Spirit and those that worship him must worship him in the spirit.” Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God (who is spirit) created the heavens and the earth” (which are natural) John 1:3 – “All things were created through Him.” (So everything we need in the natural realm is first manifest in the spiritual realm.) A principle that we need to understand is that all natural needs are taken care of in the spirit – the Spirit sustains the natural. Our problem is that we always try to meet the need naturally rather than spiritually. Jesus said in Mark 11: 23-24, “If you say unto this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea and do not doubt in your heart, that which you say shall come to pass” and in Mark 11:25 “If you have unforgiveness in your heart, forgive.” The mountain won’t move until you tap into the spiritual realm and get your relationship right with God, so that when you speak with the authority of God that which is natural will manifest. Everything that you need is already supplied in the spiritual realm – it simply needs to manifest in the natural realm. We must consider Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you.” and Phil: 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” God who is Spirit, the source of all life, and who is able to do all that is necessary to sustain your life, will meet those needs by His unlimited ability demonstrated through the provision of Jesus Christ, so that your faith might not be in vain.
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flat battery?
Paul learned the secret of facing a need while in prison in Rome. In his letter to the Philippians he reveals the pattern, the practical way to receive from God. Through his faith, his need is met by the Philippians, so he writes to thank them and share these steps: Step 1 – Be enthusiastic
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Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” We are not to hide or deny, disregard or be deceptive about needs. We are to rejoice in the Lord in a continuous attitude. Our focus should be on the Lord and not on our need. If the provision of our need is in the spiritual then our focus must be on the spiritual as the source of supply, not the bank manager, the counsellor, the NHS or the dole. God focused people are continually stable and steady, regardless of circumstance, because their lives are governed spiritually not naturally. Be enthusiastic about the things of God...
recharge yourself... –
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Step 2 – Be confident
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Christian enthusiasm is not without reason; the reason we are confident is because Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is present, is at hand (Phil 4:5). I don’t get anxious if the church is full or empty because I have confidence that God said what He started He will bring about (Phil 1:6) Unless the Lord builds a house, we labour in vain. If I try to build the house, I labour in vain. When we take on care, we’re not confident in Him, we’re busy working it out. If we can trust God to save souls, we can surely trust Him to be the source of supply. Step 3 – Be peaceful Phil: 4:6,7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Our faith convention just got better... Faith Convention is back with a new name! ‘Empowering for Excellence.’ This year’s theme is Equipping the Leader Within held on 29.10.03 – 01.11.03 At some time in life we will be called to lead; whether it will be in the minisry at work or in the home, this course is for everybody. Leadership Stream: The spiritual and the practical are fused together in a stimulating and inspiring seminar for leaders and future leaders facing the many challenges of ministry. Worship Stream: The worship and creative arts stream is specially designed for people who want to know more about worship, as well as learning how to incorporate the arts into every church setting, whether it be Sunday services or special events. Contact our Events Co-Ordinator – Lyn Birdsall on
0117 977 5533 291003 – 011103
empowering forexcellence
We think if we worry enough something will happen but “Seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” When there seems to be no natural solution there is always a spiritual one. Paul says your provision lies in the spiritual, through prayer, praise and thanksgiving. The result is peace and contentment. Phil 4:11 “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content.” Some years ago I employed two people to run my company while I was concentrating on the possibility of establishing a business to enable me to come to the UK and start ministry here. That was my plan, not God’s. When I returned, I found that serious mismanagement had taken place by one of the men, and I was on the verge of bankruptcy. I repented to God for placing my responsibility in somebody else’s hands. Then I released them both, telling them I didn’t hold them responsible for the debt. Before God could meet my needs my heart had to be right. I cried out to God. He told me that he had already moved on my behalf and a certain man would be my deliverer. This man was an atheist to whom I owed most of the money. I went to see him and told him I couldn’t pay him. He replied that he had wanted to know if I had the guts to see him and tell him. He then called in his wife and said, “I want you to know that this man’s debt is completely wiped off. If any one of my staff say anything in this city about this man, they wil be fired.” Not only did he spare my reputation but he offered me a fair price for my business and even royalties on the product. He then even offered me tea! God delivered us supernaturally so that we were enabled to come and establish God’s plans and purposes for us in the UK. Step 4 – Be Positive Phil 4:8 – “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” All battles are fought in the mind. When we meditate on justice, truth, purity, righteousness and remain positive, we cannot feel sorry for ourselves or become negative – we remain positive.
teaching Kenneth Copeland tells the story about the fridge that He was believing God for. He thanked God daily for it, visualising it in the kitchen and taking out a cool drink.. People questioned his lack of excitement when the fridge came. He explained that he got excited when God met his need in the spiritual and from then on he remained positive. Step 5 – Be practical Phil 4:9 –“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. ” Paul says be practical, learn from my life, from the things I taught you, from what you saw others go through, and grow wise in God through them. You don’t have to go through the pain of learning if you learn from the wisdom of others.. A need comes when your circumstances change. You don’t hide, deny, or disregard the need but face it.
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Practical steps to facing a need needforadjustment?
In Philippians 4:12 Paul says, ”I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Paul’s attitude remains positive. It is not what happens to us which is important but how we respond to what happens. The need should reveal certain qualities in us – gratefulness, joyfulness, contentment, flexibility and faith, our trust in God. The need causes us to search our hearts and ask the Lord what is wrong. The need also reveals our trust and dependence on God. There might be some practical things that need to change. We may need to cut up a credit card, go on a diet, review our standard of living, get debt or marriage counselling. Whatever we need to do Paul’s conclusion applies to us – ”I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13) Step 6 – Be Generous Phil 4:18 –” Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice well-pleasing to God.” Paul speaks of an acceptable sacrifice – if it hurts, it’s costly. David said in I Chron 21:24 ”I will not offer with that which costs me nothing.” Like the widow who gave the prophet her last meal we should be giving generous, give ourselves totally to God then and those around us. No matter what the need is, the Lord is able to meet that need by the power of the Holy Spirit. Walk in generosity, patience, in obedience and be content in whatever state you find yourself, knowing that God is taking care of, labouring, bringing about the manifestation in the natural realm. “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Phil: 4:6,7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” 7
Tell me something about yourselves. Michelle – I grew up in a middle class family in South Africa, with two sisters and a brother. It was not really “Christian” though we were Methodists, but as a child I really didn’t know much about God. At about 14, I’d had enough of church life and I stopped going. Gerri – My dad was Italian, born in Naples, an aeroplane pilot who got shot down in Egypt. He became a Prisoner of War in SA where he met my mother. It was instant romance – I’m the result! I grew up in South Africa and went to an English school. At five, I had my own gang, we used to go around and biff all the children in the school.
How did you become Christians? Gerri – Partly through my daughter’s ill health, and the failure of my marriage. I cried out to God for help, He stepped in, thank God, because I was making a right mess of it! Michelle – A friend told me about Jesus, and the rapture. I did not want to miss it or be left behind - especially with Gerri! – we backslid after a year and our lives went from bad to worse. Tasha’s health got really bad. After her kidney transplant, Gerri came back to the Lord, but I didn’t want to know about him or the Lord. My sister had cancer and had been given a year to live. I went with my mum to fetch her belongings and we went to a little church. As I sat down for the service, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon me and it felt as if someone had poured hot oil over me and I just wept. All I wanted to do was go back to my husband and family and back to God and from then we went from strength to strength.
How did you know that Gerri was the right one, Michelle? Michelle – The minute I met him I knew this was the person I would spend the rest of my life with. We wrote to one another, as he was living in another country in South Africa and not long after that I proposed to him!
PASTOR GERRI AND
Gerri – When I was drunk and in no condition to refuse.
HIS WIFE MICHELLE
When did you first realise there was a call of God on your lives?
HAD A FEW PRECIOUS MINUTES TO SPARE BEFORE THERE TRIP TO S.AFRICA.
WE ASKED THEM A FEW QUESTIONS…
Michelle – In the first year of Bible School. We had a deep sense God was calling us into full time ministry. In our second year the Lord spoke and said this would happen towards the end of that year; we had absolutely no idea what we were going to do, where or how we were going to do it. Gerri – Michelle told me! She said you’ll go into ministry and – be a good boy from now on. I can’t say I was drunk at that time, but I did say yes again. I never thought I would be a teacher of the Word, that God would use me to teach the Word. It has never been my expertise or my strength, but Him all the time – His calling, His equipping and His plans and purposes.
What challenges have you encountered? Michelle – Many obstacles, challenges concerning Tash, trusting God for healing. Many challenges in ministry, things I’m sure most Christians go through. Not getting offended, staying fulfiled and committed to the things God has placed before us – sometimes the biggest challenge when things go wrong is to take the easy option and give up. For us it has always been a challenge of pushing through – I’d rather please God than man and one thing that I never want to do is disappoint my Heavenly Father. Gerri – My greatest challenge is to die to self, that Christ may be resurrected in me. That has been my biggest battle, that He may be glorified in my life. Dying to self, and selfish desires, and that I may know him and the power of his resurrection... Slowly, day by day, with his help, I’m getting there.
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interview
whereeaglesdare Why did you choose Bristol, England?
God has brought you this far – what’s the next step?
Gerri – We are here by revelation. God said He would take us into England and from there we would reach into Europe. In the second week in England, I said ‘Lord, You brought us here, I need to know where we are going’, and He said just one word, ‘Bristol’. We’ve been obedient to that instruction, we’ve seen the fruit of that obedience and we continually see the awesome work of God’s power in our lives and in the ministry where He has placed us.
Gerri – God gave us a twenty year plan, this is our seventh year. The next 13 will culminate in the independence of the Bible School, the Christian School a charity on its own, and many churches throughout the UK and into Europe networking together, all autonomous, independent, but functioning as one big family as I believe the Body of Christ is a big family of God. So the immediate next step is to continually push toward to see those plans being fulfiled, starting churches in a forty-five minute radius from the mother church, Carmel, and to see God do His awesome work. We know that we have something awesome to give and we know that God has brought us here for a purpose.
Michelle – The Lord told Gerri – but not me – we were to come to Bristol! He just said, “go and pray”. Then I heard God say “South West of England” and little did I know that was Bristol, I thought maybe it was around London ! God called us, God sent us and God appointed us to Bristol. We didn’t even know a place called Bristol existed.
How did you go about starting the church? Gerri – I was wrestling with starting the Bible School, because I really believed it was God’s plan but all the leaders I had spoken to about it did not stand with us. I said ‘Lord how am I going to do this?’ and He said, ‘Don’t worry, you will be starting a church and out of it you will subsidise and help the Bible School get established.” So I waited and the Lord told us to start on 6th of October in the South of the city. We followed instructions! Michelle – Once we knew God had called and appointed us to begin the church, we tried to stay sensitive to His voice, we really felt the Lord lead us to start in a community centre, so we looked for one. The Lord then led Gerri to advertise in the papers that the church was starting and on 6th of October 1996, Carmel Christian Centre started with 11 people in our first service.
Michelle – For me, the next step is a permanent home for Carmel, as we have outgrown Unit D. Also to remain faithful and committed to the vision. One of the biggest gifts we can give to the Body of Christ, be faithful to the call, not give up, not grow weary, while doing good, but stay focused upon what God has said, upon what He has called us to do, upon His ability that is at work in our lives, upon the vision that He’s placed in our hearts and the lives that need to be touched. I look forward to the future in Carmel and to seeing what God will do in our midst. It’s an exciting time, an exciting place to be. Precarious, but very exciting!
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GOD Merciful, Incredible, Amazing
By Yatasha and Richard Ford
The incredible story of baby MIA FORD’s journey into the world... At the age of six I contracted the disease called Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome that destroyed my kidneys. I nearly died but knew that I would live. My mom donated one of her kidneys to me, but it unfortunately failed. My second kidney transplant was a success and came by the grace of God as I was not even on the list to receive a transplant. The Lord gave my mom the scripture James 1v17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” I had to have radiation therapy before my second transplant and as a result I did not develop as a young woman. The doctors said that it would be difficult if not impossible for me to conceive. However it was a great desire of my heart to be a wife and a mother. God began to fulfil my dream when I met and married Richard in August 1999. My inability to conceive became apparent during the early years of our marriage. I visited gynaecologists under the NHS and also privately but they were unable to give me fertility treatment because the kidney doctors would not give consent to my becoming pregnant at all. My kidney consultants were adamant that I should not even attempt to have a child. Over the first 3 years of our marriage our dream of having our own family began to seem increasingly impossible. In July 2002 my husband and I gave in to the consultants’ pressure and I was booked in for long term contraception in September. The only thread of faith we had left was the fact that since the day
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we were married we had opened a kid’s fund and were monthly investing into our child’s future education. We had even decided that we had to put my health first and due to my irregular menstrual cycle and a lot of bleeding causing anaemia we felt I had to have this contraception for my own safety. We had almost given up any hope of having our own children. However at the very last minute in August 2002, a month before my appointment for this contraception, I became pregnant! By now it had become obvious that if I did become pregnant it would be a miracle and that God would sustain my kidney and baby’s life during the pregnancy. So when my pregnancy was confirmed by two home tests we weren’t worried at all because we knew it was a miracle and believed that what God had started He would finish. The miracle occurred at our weakest time when we felt there was no choice but to follow medical advice. God stepped in and did what He had to do to fulfil our dream. At this time God spoke to my Mom and sister that this baby would be a miracle baby. My husband and I knew that the path ahead wouldn’t be easy and would take courage. I was faced with breaking the news of my pregnancy to the kidney doctors, so Richard came with me to see the consultants and we explained that we wanted to allow the pregnancy to continue. Months earlier we had arranged to visit Paris for Richard’s 30th birthday on the 30th September. Before we even set foot in the hotel I started to bleed heavily. I was rushed to hospital and remained there for four days with a suspected miscarriage. Contrary to the French doctors’ beliefs our baby had survived! Back in England I was admitted on two separate occasions for a week at a time with severe anaemia needing blood transfusions. At 14 weeks my blood pressure went up and the doctors thought I had pre-eclampsia. We were about to face the greatest challenge so far when 2 consultants visited me on the ward and strongly advised an abortion. They felt that my pregnancy carried a very poor prognosis. The gynaecologist said she did not expect the pregnancy to go beyond 24 weeks and should we insist on progressing with the pregnancy there was a strong possibility that myself or the baby could die. They gave us two weeks to decide. My kidney consultant phoned my husband and said there was very little reason why the pregnancy could be successful. At the end of the two weeks we presented them with our faith in God and our experience of His healing power in our lives, and told them that we wanted to continue with the pregnancy. The doctors were gracious and said they would support us in our decision. We determined that we would keep the Word of God at the forefront of our lives and use His word to bring about the impossible. On a daily basis mine and my husband’s faith went from strength to strength.
testimonies Richard, Yatasha, and Baby Mia Hope Ford – A living testimony to how awesome our God is that our hope is forever anchored in him.
At 17 weeks I was again admitted to hospital for another week with suspected kidney failure associated with severe anaemia, and again the prognosis was poor. My husband and I knew in our spirits that this was a smokescreen and the diagnosis was not true. After many tests the doctors sent me home saying that there was nothing wrong with my kidney! My gynaecologist always said that if I reached 24 weeks she would be happy because my baby had a 50/50 chance of survival. So as soon as I passed this milestone I could see a smile on her face, and as the weeks progressed the smile turned to excitement. She even called our child “ a special baby”. At 36 weeks Mia was born successfully under caesarean section. The gynaecologist later said that her involvement in this pregnancy had been a privilege. My kidney doctors also confirmed what we had believed; they said that my kidney “did not even bat an eyelid throughout my pregnancy”. We realised the battle was the Lord’s. He promised us in Isaiah 41 “that those who war against us shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing”. He also promised us that He is the Alpha and Omega,the beginning and the end, therefore what He has started He shall complete.
We give all the glory to God! 11
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