“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8.
This Bible text is one that our beloved prophet Brother Branham often referred to in his sermons and I am grateful to say that we live by it day by day, thanks to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
I would like to share the following testimony with you, as I hope it will encourage your faith in Christ and in the Message brought to us by His prophet, Brother William Branham. It is quite lengthy, but I believe your patience will be rewarded as you read the full story. God bless you.
I live in Lelystad, The Netherlands, with my husband and our two children, our son Simeon and our daughter, Zipporah. We attend the Message church in Wildervank.
My husband and I are both carriers (not sufferers) of the hereditary blood disorder, sickle-cell anemia, a disease of the red blood cells that can cause life-threatening complications as the sickle-formed red blood cells get stuck in veins, arteries or organs, causing malfunctions or failure. This can cause crises where a patient can be in such immense pain that the regular painkillers do not help and they have to go to the hospital for much stronger medicine and treatments, like, in many cases, blood transfusions.
My husband and I do not suffer from it, because we only carry it in our blood and have the disordered chromosomes, but there is a chance of passing it on to our children, if they get the “sick” chromosomes from the both of us. Thankfully our son was born completely healthy and is neither sufferer nor carrier of this disease, Thanks be to God!
Unfortunately, our daughter did get the “sick” chromosomes from the both of us and therefore has this horrible disease. It was about two weeks after she was born, when our doctor came to our house to tell us that she was tested positive during the regular blood test procedure. Even though we knew there was a chance that one of our children could get it, we didn’t worry about it, since we knew that the Lord had already spared our son from it. We had prayed that the Lord would also spare our daughter, but sometimes the Lord has His own will and ways that we have to surrender to.
We were devastated to hear that our daughter had the disease and the doctor said that her life would be difficult and much more complicated than other children, because of this. I cried so many tears about it and asked the Lord why this had to happen. I read about the symptoms and everything this disease might cause on the internet and this made things even worse, for I couldn’t imagine seeing my child go through all those horrible things I was reading at that time.
One evening, totally frustrated, I called one of our sisters in Wildervank and asked her to keep our daughter in their prayers. It was on a Wednesday evening when they usually have prayer meetings. She said that she would ask her husband to pray for Zipporah that evening. (We live quite far away from them, so we cannot attend those meetings regularly). After I hung up the phone, my husband and I decided to have a prayer meeting for our daughter as well. I prayed in my heart that the Lord would make my husband choose the right sermon for us to listen to before prayer, one that would help my faith and take away my frustrations. He chose the sermon called “Perfect Faith” (63-0825E).
We listened to about half the sermon and then prayed for our daughter. (At this time she was not ill or anything, but the fear of what all might happen to her, as she did have the disease, was killing us inside). After prayer, my husband went to bed and I decided to continue listening to the sermon. Almost at the end of the sermon there was a prayer line and Brother Branham prayed for the sick people. Suddenly there came an exhortation (in unknown tongues) from out of the audience and this was the translation that followed it after a few seconds:
Is not My Word real in the hearts of those to whom I will reveal It, saieth the Lord thy God. Yea and is not My Word sharp even as I've spoken this night-night, yea sharper than a two-edged sword?
Yea I say unto thee, My arm is not shortened that I cannot hea-heal, and yea My ear is not dull that I cannot hear thy prayers, saieth the Lord thy God. Yea look ye unto Me and know that shall be performed which I have promised unto thee, sayeth the Lord thy God; Yea, know ye yea this truth that was spoken unto thee this night, yea, and the miracles that I have promised thee, yea are already taking place, yea they're coming to pass, saieth the Lord thy God. Know ye and let this Word be confirmed in thine heart that I have dealt with thee and I shall be with thee, saieth the Lord.
After hearing these words, I cried and thanked the Lord for His mercy, for I received them as a clear-cut answer to me, directly from the Throne of Heaven! From that moment on I put everything in God’s hands and I trusted Him to make sure that my daughter would have a normal life and that the disease would not harm her and that He had already performed her miracle, which would be vindicated by the doctors soon.
In the months after that, we enjoyed our daughter as she grew older. After she was about 6 months old, however, they tested her again (regular procedure) and the tests showed a high percentage of the sickle-formed red blood cells in her blood. We received medication for her, an antibiotic that she had to swallow daily and another pill to help her blood building process. It was hard for us to accept that our Zipporah had to take this medicine for the rest of her life, so I held on to the promise I got from the sermon and said, the Lord has already healed my daughter. I did give her the medicine though, for Brother Branham also teaches us not to disobey the doctors, so I was just waiting for their confirmation, while giving her the medication.
A few weeks after that, her medicine finished and I could not find the prescription for the next bottle anywhere. I thought to myself, maybe the Lord is trying to show me to just trust Him and quit giving her the medicine? I thought, no problem, I’ll just ask for another prescription when Zipporah has to go on her next check-up. This was in February 2012 and her next check-up would be in May of that year.
At the end of April 2012, Zipporah got ill with high fever. It was in a weekend and the local doctor thought it was just the flu and sent us home, saying that it would be OK in a couple of days. However, the fever came and went and came again. I gave her the regular pills that we used against pain and fever, but they didn’t seem to help…
Zipporah didn’t want to eat nor drink and she was sleeping a lot. I went to take a shower, but since I wanted to keep an eye on her, I put her in her car seat right in the bathroom where I was. When I was done, I put on my clothes and went to do some laundering. After a while I thought I had to wake her up to eat something, because I felt she was sleeping too long. (She was about ten months old then) I tried to take her up out of the car seat to give her a bottle of porridge but her mouth wouldn’t open. Her jaws were stuck and I couldn’t get them to open up, no matter how hard I tried. I lifted her up and found that her hands and entire body were completely cramped and stiff. I lifted up her eyelid and saw only white.
I saw that something was dangerously wrong, so I took her and my son and drove to the local doctor’s office as soon as I could and had them examine her (its just 1-2 minutes from our house). He immediately put some medicine in her rectum which caused her to wake up for a few moments, but then, gone she was again. They called an ambulance and she was brought to the hospital immediately.
A whole group of medical personnel were standing beside her bed with all kinds of cords and devices they were using on her body, of which I had no idea what they were. At this time my husband had come from work and was standing beside me in the hospital room. We both knew that this was bad for we could see and feel it.
After taking some brain liquid from her spinal cord and very quick examination they found out that Zipporah had a brain infection, caused by a bacteria, and later after the scans it became clear that she had several strokes in her brain as well. She was taken to a bigger hospital in Amsterdam immediately and had to stay in the ICU where they treated her with antibiotics and other medicine. The doctor told us that the bacteria she was infected by was the very bacteria for which she had to take the antibiotics at home, which I hadn’t given her for a while.
Satan was trying to attack me right there, trying to make me believe that it was my fault that this had happened to my daughter, for not giving her the medicine. But somehow I didn’t feel guilty at all, because I felt that I had trusted the Lord and He knew that I was not purposely harming my daughter in any way. But of course, everything happens for a reason. The doctors also said that the strokes were probably caused by the sickle-formed red blood cells that got there, probably because of the infection that was already there. That night they pumped all of her blood out of her body and gave her other healthy blood while they put her to sleep. They said this was necessary to make sure the sickle cells wouldn’t cause any more harm in her brain.
On the second morning in the ICU the neurologists came to examine her body and they found out that her right arm and leg were paralyzed. They weren’t sure if it would ever get any better, we would have to wait and see. All this time my mother and the rest of our families were devastated and didn’t know what to do or expect (they are not Message believers, unfortunately, but they love us very much). Somehow my husband and I remained calm, even when the doctor told us that our daughter’s life was in danger. I asked the nurses to put the prayer cloth, that we had received from VGR with the replica of Brother Branham’s suitcase, on her bed. That night I sat beside her bed and I started talking to her. I prayed and proclaimed that the devil was a liar and just bluffing and that she would walk again and play and grow normally like every other child in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen. It was such a relief to know that our brothers and sisters in Christ were also offering serious prayer for her at this time.
The next morning she woke up again for the first time since we left home. She opened her eyes again for the first time and licked the towel I was wiping her face with, like she always used to do at home. This trilled my heart and I was so happy to see God’s hands working with her! She was released from the ICU and brought to another room where she stayed for further treatment for thirteen days. During these days, by the grace of God, her paralyzed arm and leg started to show life and movements again. She recovered slowly but surely! Hallelujah to the Lamb!
Then the next test came: The hematologist decided that Zipporah had to take blood transfusions every four weeks to prevent any harm the sickle cells might cause. She said that this would probably have to go on her entire life. I could not believe what I was hearing. I thought “what?! This cannot be true.” I could not accept that my daughter would have to take blood transfusions every month, all through her life, knowing that our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, had already died and given His Blood for her on the Cross! I was glad that the Lord had healed her so far, the paralysis was going away quite fast and she was recovering steadily by His grace, but the fact that she had to take blood for the rest of her life, was too much for me.
We again asked for prayer and the brothers and sisters here and at VGR did join us in prayer again. It was very hard for us, but the months after that, we had to take her to the hospital every four weeks for blood transfusions. We prayed and prayed, and cried a lot of tears and each and every time we were at the hospital I played the sermon of Perfect Faith on which the Lord had spoken to me through the exhortation. This sermon kept strengthening my faith and I kept testifying that the blood transfusions would stop someday. Meanwhile Zipporah’s blood test results were so good that one of the doctors said, they don’t know how come she’s doing so well… I looked at my husband and we laughed and said, “We do know how come, Hallelujah! It’s the Grace of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus!” Amen.
One day when we were at the hospital for another blood transfusion a lady was there with her son of 17 years old, who was also having a blood transfusion. The hematologist, who knew how hard it was for us to accept the monthly blood transfusions, introduced us to one another and said that that boy had been taking blood transfusions for years already and was therefore doing well. The lady said that the hospital had become their second home. I immediately rebuked the thought of it becoming our second home! I broke down in tears at that moment, but gained strength again as I thought of the words of Brother Branham on the sermon of Perfect Faith, where he says that when we ask for anything, we have to believe that we HAVE RECEIVED IT, then it shall come to pass.
I told the woman that we believe in a miracle-working God and that by His grace that hospital will not become our home. We believe that He has healed our daughter and someday the blood transfusions will stop. She looked at Zipporah, who was walking around happily and answered, “Well, maybe your God is already working for you because I have another son at home who had had the very same thing as your daughter. He got paralyzed as well and everything stayed paralyzed. He is now 27 and living in a home for disabled people because of all the damages caused by the brain strokes when he was younger.”
Though I felt sorry for her, I felt the joy of the Lord burning in my heart right that minute, realizing how blessed and privileged we are to know Him. If it was not for Him, our daughter could have been in a much worse condition, like this woman’s son, or she could even have died. Oh how I praised Him for His mercy and grace!
The blood transfusions went on for months and months, but I kept testifying, even at my job, that someday they would stop, even though I was often completely frustrated about it. I wrote a song where I thanked the Lord for healing our daughter, giving Him praise for what He had done for us. (“Danklied: Ik kan niet anders” in the album “The Lord is my Shepherd” by Alwina Vreden on youngfoundations.org’s music list).
Download audio "Danklied: Ik kan niet anders"
I felt that I had to do that, because I didn’t want us to ever forget what the Lord had done for us and even for her, so when she grew older she could know and be aware of what miracle the Lord had done for her. Yes, she was still getting blood transfusions and yes she was still on medication, but she was able to crawl and walk again, laugh and smile and be happy, after being paralyzed due to the brain strokes! The blood transfusions were hard to except and to deal with, but I based my song on the Bible text to which brother Branham also refers in the sermon of Perfect Faith, Mark 11:22-24, believing that the Lord would hear our prayers and make them stop someday.
In January 2013, after eight months of blood transfusions… I received a phone call from my daughter’s hematologist. She said that they looked at all the brain scans of Zipporah again together with the neurologists, and they have come to the conclusion that she DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE THE MONTHLY BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS ANYMORE FOR IT IS NOT NECESSARY ANY LONGER!
I don’t have to tell you how tremendously happy and relieved I was. I immediately called my husband, who was quiet on the other side of the phone… he couldn’t believe his ears! My mother was completely blown away, just like my skeptic colleagues at work! The Lord had heard our prayers and had answered accordingly, Hallelujah!
Zipporah will be 3 on 27-5-2014 (May 27) and by the grace of God she is doing wonderfully well. She does still take medication, and is still being treated for refining of the movements of her right arm and leg (She is able to walk, but has a little bit trouble with her coordination when running and some motoric movements are a bit hard for her, compared to other children of her age), but she’s doing great and is growing and developing herself just like every other child, by God’s grace, just as He had let me proclaim in the ICU hospital room, Hallelujah!
We are so thankful for our Miracle, words cannot describe our happiness. How grateful we are that Jesus Christ is indeed the same Yesterday, today and forever! Amen. And we believe that even the medication will stop someday, just like the blood transfusions, in God’s time, when He wants to fully prove and vindicate her Miracle! Amen.
God bless you all!
Hebrews 13:8
Sister Alwina Vreden and family,
The Netherlands