At the end of August churches that are part of ChristCentral met together for a weekend jam packed full of worship, growth and connection with other Christians, otherwise known as Devoted! It was an amazing time for us to meet together and enjoy God’s presence. During the weekend we asked people to fill out ‘Be Part of the Story’ cards, so that we could hear about and share some of the stories and testimonies from the weekend. We had so many responses, sharing miraculous testimonies and healings and how God had touched different people across the site. If you want to hear more about these incredible stories, we shared them on our news feed last month.

Just one of the many testimonies from the week was from Lucy Le Roux of Kings Church Cockermouth who suffered with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as M.E.) and depression. She shared her daily struggles and testimonies on her blog Praise through Trials  which encouraged many who were facing difficulties. However, Lucy’s life was radically changed in an amazing way at Devoted 2018. This is her story:

What were you healed from at Devoted 2018?

"For nearly 4 years I had chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as M.E.) and depression. I became ill in November 2015, I got flu and I never recovered from the post-viral fatigue. It was a stressful time in my life; there was a lot going on; including cancer in my immediate family and huge pressure at work. The shock and reality of sudden onset chronic illness caused my mental health to deteriorate and I developed depression."

How did this affect you day to day?

"I led a highly structured and restricted life where I was very dependent on my husband and parents. The severity of the condition fluctuated but the overall trend has been that it has got gradually better over time, albeit by Devoted 2018 I was still a way off having normal capacity.

I was often so weak physically that I found it hard to cross a room or climb stairs. I struggled to be in noisy or highly stimulating environments or be involved in social activities. When I did do an activity, I had to be wary of how I felt. After activities it took several hours for me to recover. Moreover, I was an emotional mess, overwhelmed easily and had depression.

I required full time care; my husband David and I lived with my parents so they could help us -

By Devoted 2018 I could manage day-to-day household activities in short 5-minute bursts over the whole day. I could also manage one/two activities in a day for example: meeting a friend for coffee, going to church, volunteering on the Jubilee+ research team or doing the social media for my church.

I could stand for about 5 minutes in one go and walk for about 20 minutes once/twice a day. I would know I had to stop standing or walking because I would start to feel light headed and dizzy, I needed to sit down for about 15 minutes to recover."

When did you start your blog and why? Did it help you in any moments?

God first spoke to me about writing a blog in January 2018. He prompted me to write about how I engaged with him whilst battling chronic illness. My initial reaction was one of fear. I was scared about interacting with others who had chronic fatigue syndrome as it was hard for me to hear about people who had battled with it for many years.

I hesitantly started writing material and I was surprised that the process of writing about what had happened to me was a form of therapy; it helped me work through what had happened to me. I’m grateful for God prompting me to do it, he really did know what I needed better than I did at that time!

I started by writing practical ways that I had managed to engage with God with limited capacity, I explored purpose and identity as a Christian with chronic illness. I realised that this was something I had wrestled with and I know that many others with chronic illness do as well. I was overwhelmed by the response! Christians going through tough situations including bereavement and illness found it helpful and uplifting. I also personally found it encouraging not discouraging to interact with others with chronic illness.

My blog is one of the many ways that God has shown me how he has worked through the suffering I have been through. I would have never chosen this period of illness, it really has been horrendous at points but I am very grateful for all that God has done both in me and through me.

Can you explain the moment at Devoted that you were healed?

I was healed during the evening meeting on the Saturday at Devoted but the story starts more than a year before when someone prophesied I would be well at that time. This was the first of many prophetic words about when I would be healed indicating it was very much in God’s timing.

At the beginning of the meeting, a lady stood up and testified about how at Devoted 2016 she had been healed from very severe chronic fatigue syndrome and many other serious health conditions. Then, during the worship there was a prophecy about the Lord rousing himself in anger over the oppression of his people and declaring ‘no more’. Also, a prophetic song commanding sicknesses and oppression to go in Jesus name.

The sermon ‘Being Part of the Story’ was delivered by Jeremy Simpkins and it used the story of David and Goliath and emphasised how it was God’s job to get rid of the Goliath’s in our lives.

After the sermon there was a ministry time where people with Goliath’s in their lives were invited to come forward for prayer. My husband David and I went forward and a gentleman prayed for us. The Holy Spirit gave me peace and I thought that God was giving me his strength to keep facing the illness, as he had done on many other occasions. However, we stayed at the front and someone else came to pray for us, I was filled powerfully with the Holy Spirit for about 45 minutes. By the end of my encounter with God, I just knew the sickness was completely over as did those praying for me!

At Devoted 2018 my husband David was also healed in the same meeting as me. He had become burnt out with the burden of caring for me and developed severe depression. He has been living with a milder fatigue than me since I became ill. Before Devoted it was a good day when he managed work, came home, cooked and cleared up from dinner. As a result of this he had anxiety about making sure he had plenty of time to rest. His depression has gradually got better thanks to medication and counselling but by Devoted he still had mild symptoms. God healed him from the depression, anxiety and the fatigue. Since Devoted he has led a life with a normal capacity. Praise God!

How did your healing effect the rest of your weekend at Devoted?

Dramatically! Before I was healed I had to carefully plan when I left my tent to minimise walking. In the meetings I sat for the majority of the time, I stood sometimes for about half a song but leant against David the whole time. I wore ear plugs in meetings; as I did in other noisy and stimulating environments to make them less exhausting. I also could not concentrate for the whole of a seminar/talk and I needed someone to fill me in afterwards. After meetings David had to push me back to the tent because I was so weak that I could barely walk.

After I was healed I ran around the campsite for more than an hour and we went and told my church. They said I looked completely different; it looked like a huge weight had been lifted from me. The following day I was walking around the site as I wanted to, I stood for the whole worship time and I managed to engage fully with the content of talks/seminars. I was also able to help at the Jubilee+ information stand. At the end of Devoted I helped pack away our tent and then I drove for several hours on the motorway; an impossibility before!

 
How did your healing effect life after you came home and your current walk with God?

My life is totally different now; it is like night and day. I am climbing fells in the Lake District and I got a job in a café where I am on my feet for more than 8 hours at a time. I have started the ChristCentral School of Leadership and an associated diploma with Moorlands Bible College. I still do 8 hrs a week for the Jubilee+  Research Team but all in one day rather than spread throughout the week. My depression is also totally gone. In short I have commitments for the entire working week and I am very active!

In terms of my walk with God, it has been amazing to be much less restricted in the way I interact with him and to really be able to press into God in a way I couldn’t do so before. I can spend much longer in prayer and reading the Bible both on my own and with others. I am enjoying getting to my church prayer meetings and being able to fully engage in church life and during the meetings, rather than not taking much in. I’m also getting a huge amount out of the studying that I’m doing.

At the same time I have also had to wrestle with God about why so many people I know still face the daily battle of chronic illness, it is hard not to feel ‘survivors’ guilt’.

Recently Lucy shared her testimony at Kings Church Cockermouth and they recorded the following video:

What an amazing story! It is so encouraging to hear about all that God has done in different people’s lives. We are so excited to meet together once more at Devoted 2019, so if you want to book up to this life changing event click here!

(If you have a story you would like to share please get in touch at stories@christcentralchurches.org or click here)