Mandy shared her remarkable story on her page within our online community and we thought you’d love to read it too. We’ve included a video at the end of the blog so keep reading to the end. We pray that you encounter God’s love and power in your own life through this blog…

Mandy:

“Even as a little girl I had the strongest of feelings that the world was not my home. I felt different, like an alien in the world, who was watching on from a distance trying to make sense of humanity! I sensed that I was searching for something more, yet had no idea what it was or how I could find it. My teachers would called me a dreamer, as my goals were never about ambition and worldly success but always about healing hurt and pain in the world!

Challenging Times

My childhood was challenging and as a teenager I lost my dad, brother and grandparents as a result of an accident, so my dreams became buried under a mud slide of sadness. Then as a 21 year old, I met an elderly lady in a cafe who for some unknown reason at the time (it became clear later) gathered me under her wing and showed me such compassion and love that she turned my world upside down. After 6 months of friendship, she suggested that I should work with children, found me work, and after a year of volunteering I knew that I’d found my mission.

Six months after our first meeting Consillio invited me to her house in London for tea and suddenly everything made sense. She lived in a convent and that unconditional love and compassion that she had so freely shared with me did not come from her. That was the day I realised why I felt so lost and what was missing in my life. I belonged to Jesus and had been searching for Him all my life. Sister Consillio also taught me a very powerful life lesson. If you want to draw people to Christ then you must first show them what it means to be like Him so you can fill them with a hunger to know more about His unconditional love so freely offered. I’d heard about Him before and even tried out church, but had never experienced such love as I had from Sister Consillio – all I had learnt was what I was supposed to wear in church and what I had done wrong.

Longing for Peace

I trained to become a teacher and found my niche working with special needs children and abused children. Yet deep down I know that something was still not quite right in my life. I still messed up big at times, still couldn’t feel the peace that I longed for, even through I knew that I belonged to Him. I still felt deep within my soul that something else needed to change. I had a son and felt blessed by his love, even when the relationship with his father failed. Yet despite my new found happiness I remained dogged by that feeling. I had times when I still struggled and prayed hard for more understanding.

Then I had a very serious accident and was left in a wheelchair with catastrophic injuries that meant I lost my teaching career, income and role as active mum. Our lives changed overnight. It seemed that all my hard work had come to nothing. My son could no longer follow his dreams of playing county tennis or becoming a vet as he became a young carer by default. I was physically helpless, and over the next ten years we remained dependent on carers. We were poor, mostly house bound and life was hard. ‘Where are you God?’ I would scream when a year later my son became ill and was hospitalised. That’s when we discovered that he had a genetic disorder called EDS that had caused my injury too. ‘Why? Why? Why God?’

Yet during that time of intense suffering my life slowly began to change. I could no longer hide behind my busy teaching job, my sons busy needs, and had to face my relationship with Jesus head on. I had belonged to a local church before the accident but now as a disabled woman found both access hard and my offers to get involved questioned because of my struggles. There was nowhere left to hide.

Forgiveness

Then after twelve years of struggle it all became clear to me. I needed to forgive my father, the man who had terrorised my childhood and abused me. I had carried that anger throughout my life like a heavy backpack and it had weighted me down all my life. How could I ask my Father to forgive me when I hung on to so much bitterness, both for my father and mum as I felt she had not protected me. Up to that point it felt an impossible ask but now, amidst my suffering, it didn’t seem much to ask anymore. And when I did forgive him, everything changed. I suddenly saw my father through different eyes, felt compassion for the man who had never experienced the joy of loving his children or of being loved without fear by them. My mother had been a victim too so how could I feel any anger towards her? I had carried that fury and rejection with me for over 40 years so it was no wonder I had never found peace!

A God-incidence

Later that year, quite by chance (what I would call a God-incidence) I stumbled across Aliss and Rob Cresswell’s website and decided to go to their Spirit Lifestyle event in London in 2019 as I remained tormented by daily nerve pain. My son drove me up from the South, along with my disability dog. And at the event my eyes were finally opened as to the power of God’s mighty Word and the extent of His unconditional love. I could not deny what I saw unfolding in front of my very eyes through Aliss and Rob’s teaching! I saw so many healings that weekend and was used as a channel myself. Best of all the chronic debilitating nerve pain that had tormented me for twelve years was healed. I was finally ready to accept His unconditional Love and live full time for Him, no longer weighted down by all that anger and bitterness from my past. I was also used as a channel for healing – a woman I prayed for with deafness receive her hearing and another was able to walk unaided for the first time in years. Absolute proof that He uses even the least among us!

After that time I returned home a new woman in more ways than one. I joined an organisation called the Healing rooms. My church did not embrace my experience but I know now that as Christians we must expect rejection and even accept that we may be seen as fools for Christ as Paul once said.

Caring for others

Being a Christian does not preclude us from suffering. This past year I became a full time carer to my mum, then 94 who suffered a catalogue of health issues, as well as my son as he had become so unwell with EDS and depression. Mum died in January 2020 just as my son was about to be hospitalised before the lockdown. Thankfully we could have a funeral and say goodbye, as so many people have not able to during Covid.

Earlier this month I attended another Spirit Lifestyle event (which was supposed to take place in Manchester, but Rob & Aliss ran it online instead on zoom because of covid). I’d been expecting a miracle ever since I knew I was attending. Mum passed away in January and it has been really hard as we miss her so much. Such a godly lovely lady. Her probate was for some reason inaccessible to us and it was so stressful  ringing week after week for months and months.

Time for Breakthrough!

The day the online event began, after 5 months of  distress and frustration with the bank we got an email from them! The money had suddenly been released! It was no coincidence that I was attending the event and that situation was unblocked. I want to set up my home as a house of prayer but it needs fixing up. Something mum was very keen to help us with. What a miracle!

Also at the event, something else happened. As expected it was a profoundly supernatural event. Aliss gave a word of knowledge which was about my son and it was spot on! My son lives with me. He was not a believer and was poorly with genetic issues that caused joint pain, gastric issues, chronic tiredness and depression. He needed healing from a very traumatic incident a few years ago, which I had always felt had both triggered his debilitating depression and the start of his genetic condition as he was well before then. He had a body rash that had been unresponsive to treatment and was very nasty (already been sent to hospital once). Aliss prayed for healing and two hours later when my son came downstairs I asked him to lift up his teeshirt. GONE! JUST PINK NEW SKIN WOW! Why am I always surprised? The Word of God is so powerful and the gifts of the Spirit available when we ask in faith and want to witness for Him.

Nothing is Impossible

Last year was a very challenging time for us and then with Covid i knew that I needed a reminder of who I am and what I can do through Him. As Christians we are one body of Christ and we really need each other to function. Also my legs had remained sore and weak as I’d not specifically asked for healing for weak legs so decided to reach out for more healing too. I want to say God does not cause suffering but if we trust in Him he will turn it round and use it for our good as He has for me. To say Aliss and Rob changed my life would be a huge understatement! They have showed me that truly nothing is impossible through Christ! They also showed me who I am in Christ and what I have been called to do for Him.

So many churches seem to have diluted the message, almost seeming fearful to stand up in boldness and embrace their authority and power through the Holy Spirit. Many still seem to suggest that such gifts should only be offered in church by the experienced churchgoer or the more “important” among us. Thus prayer and healing groups become an exclusive domain for experienced and valued church members. Yet it seems to me that the weaker and more insignificant the person is, the more powerful the message will be that the power does not come from us, but as a gift through the Holy Spirit! It’s as if they seemed to have forgotten where the power is coming from and that its there for everyone.

It’s for you too!

I’m a really good example. I’m nobody in the world. In fact I have spent much of the last decade either in hospital, or tucked away at the back of the church in the disabled area with my Canine Partner. Hardly a power house of faith or inspiration! Just a middle aged sinner who once had so much baggage. Yet He used me, just as He will anyone who comes to Him with faith and a willingness to forgive others.

Aliss and Rob showed me that we don’t need to beg and plead, we just need to stand firm on His Word and follow through his directives with faith to reflect Him. I want to become a healer for Him now, set up my home as a house of prayer and healing. I’ve got a way to go as it needs a lot of work after 12 years of neglect but I know now that nothing is impossible for Christ! I also know that it doesn’t matter how unimportant or insignificant you feel in the world, to Him you are so valuable and you can do whatever you are called to do as long as you stand firm in faith. 1 John 14;12 ‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing, and they will do ever greater things than these, because I am going to be with the Father.'”

Watch the video below of the healing in London and then scroll down to find out how to attend one of our live events…