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Jewish Synagogue in Budapest

While we were missionaries in Eastern Europe for four and a half years, based in Budapest, Hungary, I had the opportunity to post a number of testimonies of the great things the Lord did in people's lives.  Some of them were the testimonies of people I met, which I wanted to publish for the glory of God.  Others were testimonies of what the Lord did in my own life while we were there.  And now that we are in the States again, I continue to post testimonies of what God is doing, so that He can receive the praise.

I've tried to organize them in some sort of order, beginning with my own testimony of salvation and the salvation of others I know in the left column.  In the middle column you will find testimonies of healing, deliverance and protection.  In the right hand column, I have posted testimonies of miracles, signs, and wonders, as well as other subjects that did not fit elsewhere.

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth." (Ps 115:1)

The Truth Set Me Free!	Testimonies from Voila, Romania	Pastor Raised from the Dead
The Lord Healed My Backsliding	Healed from a Breathing Obstruction	Gems from Heaven
My Life Was Built on the Wrong Foundation	Healed of Chronic Leg Pain	Escaped Having a Possibly Fatal Accident
Delivered from Cigarettes and Saved	Delivered from Voices and Dizziness	Like a Man Finding a Pearl of Great Price
The Joy I've Come to Know	The Voice That Changed Everything -- the Testimony of Dr. Stenhouse	Letting Go of Someone You Love
Testimonies from Kozloduj, Bulgaria	Amazing Healing and Deliverance in Uganda	Seeing Dad Alive for the Last Time
My Journey from Buddhism to New Life in Christ	Nasty Flu Miraculously Cured	He Forgave Those Who Threw Gasoline in His Eyes
Saved By a Vision of Second Coming - O. Moses Alabi	Woman Healed of Blood Clot	You Give and Take Away
Prodigal Restored to God	Woman Healed from Breathing Difficulty	Outpouring of the Spirit
The Night the Lord Came into My Hut	Miraculously Healed from Auto Accident Injuries	Supernatural Encounter While Striving to Draw Closer to God
The Spiritual Awakening of Richmond King	Notable Miracles in Uganda	The Body Parts Storehouse in Heaven
Muslim Woman Now Follows Jesus	Notable Miracles in South Sudan	A Message from our Lord by Sister Catherine
Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit		Boy Raised from the Dead After One Day
Given a new Heart with Sweet Peace		Angelic Encounter Testimonies
My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus		Angel Rescues Children from Doomed Flight Before Crash
Former Child Soldier Delivered from Alcohol		Angel Helps Man to Board Airplane Without Ticket
A Spirit Led Strategy for Evangelism		Uganda End Time Evangelistic Outreach
Hundreds Saved in Uganda through Jesus Film		Nigeria End Time Evangelistic Outreach
How I Came to Know Jesus		South Sudan End Time Evangelistic Outreach
Delivered from Bondage and New Age Deception		Pastor Shocked Upon Receiving Baptism with Holy Fire
Jesus Appeared to Me When I was a Toddler		Conserving the Harvest in Uganda
I Found New Life in Christ		Conserving the Harvest in South Sudan
		Conserving the Harvest in Nigeria
		Completing the Great Commission in Uganda
		Completing the Great Commission in South Sudan
		Completing the Great Commission in Nigeria
		Boy Raised from the Dead
		Persecution of Christians in Uganda

“Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (2Co 13:1b)

"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." (Rev 12:11)

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Delivered from Bondage and New Age Deception

I would like to share with you the testimony of one of the Kenyan students in our discipleship training school called Doulos Training School. She recently came back to the Lord following nine years of backsliding in sin after she initially came to the Lord in 2002. Here is the testimony in her own words:

The Testimony of Mwendwa
Born in the early 80s, my childhood was traumatic -- riddled with chaos, sadness, torment, and despair occasioned by living with an abusive alcoholic father. My father committed suicide when I was 17, while my own first suicide attempt was at the age of 15. I struggled with severe clinical depression, low self-esteem, rejection, self-hate, OCD, social anxiety, fear, suicidal attempts and ideations, and sexual bondage from my early teen years to my late twenties. 

I first got born again at age 20 alone at home, in 2002 after an abortion which left me guilty and filled with torment. I backslid two years later however without a foundation of the truth of God and always feeling not good enough and rejected even in church. I got pregnant at age 22. At age 29 after years of severe sexual sin, depression and constant suicidal ideations, I cried out to God in repentance in my bedroom as I could not go on any longer as I had been and he set free instantly from all my sin. I got active in a local church in worship team and teaching Sunday school, and also had my own ministry to the poor slum women and feeding street boys.

Sadly, five years in 2014 later following a series of bad experiences with cults and false churches with false teachings, and being dismissed from the church I served as a leader in for questioning some of the things being done, I was tired and disillusioned and kissed formal religion goodbye opting to follow Jesus away from organized Christianity. However, isolated, wounded, and alone I found myself an easy prey to the devil. I got sexually manipulated by an apostle who took advantage of my vulnerable state, and this filled me with deep self-condemnation and I stopped reading the bible and praying, and eventually found myself back to the sins of my past worse than before, effectively opening the door to Satan's deceptions.

I began accepting and embracing new-age spiritual beliefs which seemed to offer me some semblance of a relationship with God since I no longer identified as a Christian. Over the next 9 years, these new age beliefs had taken deep hold of me and I became a 'spiritual' teacher in the metaphysical, law of attraction, and new thought community. I published 3 books and had clients and a growing following on social media. My new beliefs were a mixture of Gnosticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, eastern philosophy, and mystical Christianity. I had embraced beliefs such as non-dualism, reincarnation, Christ-consciousness, and oneness, and believed all paths led to God. I thought I had found the ultimate truth but was deeply deceived.

As a ‘spiritual’ teacher I had also gradually developed a drinking problem and by 2022 was a full-blown alcoholic unable to save myself despite years of trying everything I could. My spiritual beliefs could not save me. I knew only Jesus could help me, and I cried out to him for help over and over. Finally at my lowest point when I felt I would surely die and gave up on all self-help, the Lord Jesus set me free instantly and miraculously in rehab. In rehab I began to study the teachings of Jesus in the bible daily, desiring the truth. The spiritual deception took longer to be free from because I still believed I was on the right path. However, Jesus was slowly opening my blinded eyes.

By April 2023 the word of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus had done their work and opened my eyes it seemed almost overnight to see how greatly deceived I had been. Through a convicting work only the Holy Spirit can perform, I was shown the depth of my deception for those 9 years and how I had turned to other gods. It felt like I had woken up from a deep sleep. I truly was the prodigal son. I had wasted all I had in prodigal living. Jesus said that the prodigal son "came to himself", and said, "I will arise and go to my father." Jesus opened my eyes, set me free from years of sin and deception, and revived my first love for him which had been lost. (Revelations 2:4)

Through godly sorrow and repentance, I knew I had to leave my old life behind completely. It was clear I could not maintain my old life and a walk with Jesus. In obedience, I left it all behind to follow Jesus (Luke 5:11). This included pulling down my books from Amazon, my old social media accounts, and all my articles on my website. I also made a public confession to my followers on social media and to my clients making it clear I could no longer teach what I had been.

It was not easy and there were many consequences to this change-financially, socially, and emotionally. Sin and rebellion always have consequences. But Jesus promised to be with me always if I obeyed him and he has.

Jesus has changed my life. I now truly understand the Grace of God. The old self-righteousness and works-based Christian life that always led to condemnation, frustration, and backsliding was been exposed. I finally realized that I cannot please God through my own efforts, and my efforts cannot save me. It is all by the Grace of God, and only by looking to Jesus Christ am I sustained. My salvation is the work of God. It is he and he alone who opened my eyes when I was greatly deceived, it was all him and none of me. I am grateful for his mercy, long-suffering, and kindness. He did not allow me to die and perish in my pitiful state. I was dead and now am alive again, was blind but now I see. All my life I felt not good enough and had adopted a performance mindset even with my relationship with Jesus, but now for the first time I feel truly accepted in the beloved without the need to DO things to be loved by the Father, but instead overflowing with good works as a response to his love, and not to gain his love.

END OF MWENDWA'S TESTIMONY

Closing Words

I trust that this testimony has blessed you by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you have been in a similar situation to hers, I strongly encourage you to repent and ask the Lord to forgive you and set you free, trusting Him to do so in a very powerful way.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Truth Set Me Free, My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus, and Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit, which are the testimonies of myself and two of my other children. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

Given a New Heart and Sweet Peace

I'd like to share with you the testimony of my daughter Hope, who is now twenty-three years old (in 2024). This is her own personal account of how she came to know the Lord, and how He gave her a new heart with sweet peace.  

Hope's Testimony

I grew up as the second oldest of five children in a strong Christian household, where we studied the Bible and prayed together and were brought up in the ways of the Lord from a very young age. We were also encouraged to pray and to have a personal relationship with the Lord. From a very young age it was evident that I had already come to know the Lord. When I was just barely two, I liked to pray for people. I also went around our house saying, "We don't worship idols.  We worship Jesus." When I was a tender three years of age, I said, "I love Jesus" and He put "a new heart inside my heart.” At this same age, my dad saw a lot of good things growing out of my heart. During the day, I talked about Jesus, expressing my love for him, and had a joyful spirit about me. One time when I was four, I said, "The blood of Jesus is on the door of our hearts." 

Not only did I have a personal knowledge of the Lord, but when I was almost five, I suddenly asked my mom without any prompting, "Mommy? Can we go tell the neighbors about God?  I'll tell the neighbors, 'You don't want to love the devil, because he wears black and there's fire in hell.'" I don’t think we actually went to talk to them, but there was that desire in me to evangelize to our neighbors. There were several times as a little girl when my father prayed with me to receive Jesus into my heart. One of those times was on August 3, 2006, when I was five years old. In addition to praying to receive Jesus, my dad laid his hands on me and prayed that I would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. When he did so, I told him that I felt happy. 

Almost a year later, on July 15, 2007, my family and I visited a church were my dad preached. During the message, he asked if there was anyone there who had not yet given his life to Jesus. Although I raised my hand, my dad I didn't see it. When my mom brought it up after we had returned home, I acknowledged that I had raised my hand.  My answer when my parents asked me the reason why was, "Because I wanted to give my life to Jesus." My parents then prayed with me to invite Jesus into my heart and give my life to Him. A week later, I was baptized in Jesus’ name in the presence of friends and family. That moment marked the most significant change that had happened up until that point in my life.

Faith (L) and Hope (R)

A couple months later, my sister already noticed a difference in me after our dad had taught us on praise, and I lifted my hands in worship. She related to my dad later, “I saw right through her hands and her arms that the Holy Spirit was all over her.  For the first time I saw that Hope had freedom to lift her hands and praise God that I had never seen before she knew the Lord.  But now she has that freedom.” The following year, my family and I watched a program which highlighted a revival in which young people were being set on fire for God. My sisters and I were inspired by this to hold our own revival meeting in our living room, which I led. As we played on drums we sang, “Baptize us in the Holy Spirit, baptize us in fire!" During this session, we also were praying for each other. 

Three and a half years later, when I was eleven, my family and I watched a video about two young ladies, one who had gone to hell and another who had seen Jesus.  This video brought conviction to us, and we all repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness for our sins. We also asked the Lord to fill us with His Holy Spirit, and He did so. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues. This experience was the beginning of the Lord burning away the dross in my life. A week later, on New Year’s Eve, my family and I listened to a book by a South Korean pastor called “Baptized by Blazing Fire.”  Through this book we all were encouraged to seek the Lord in prayer. My dad then prayed for me and both of my sisters. I repented of the darkness I had allowed in my heart and was set free. I also received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. My family and I knelt down and prayed earnestly for quite some time. During this time that we spent seeking the Lord, I felt that God had set me free!  

After this time we spent in prayer, my family could all see the evidence of this new freedom on my face and in my eyes.  They could see a peace in my countenance, and there was a gentleness they could see on me that they had not seen before. My face was aglow with a light upon it.  It looked as though scales had been taken from my eyes, and they were now clear and glowing with light. In the period of my life leading up to that point, I had allowed a lot of demons into my life. I had a lot of self-hatred and even entertained suicidal thoughts. But the Lord had begun a work in my life to bring me out of that darkness into the Light. I was still far from perfect, but the Lord was working to purify me from the things in my life that were not of Him. One morning, six months later, my older sister heard me awaken speaking in tongues. I had no idea that just a while before, my younger sister had also awoken speaking in tongues.

In the years that followed, I still had sins in my life that I needed to deal with, and there were times when I wondered if I was even saved. During this time, one of my sisters went through a process of thinking for herself about God, and recommitting her life to Him. When she was going through that experience, my dad had told us that sometimes it is a good idea for young people, even if they have already given their lives to Jesus when they were little children, to renew that commitment to Him when they are older and have gone through a process where they have really thought for themselves about God, and independently made that decision to serve Him. Sometime after that, when I was almost fifteen years old, I decided that now was the time for me to recommit my life to the Lord. On October 10, 2015, I surrendered my life anew to Christ during my personal prayer time. 

Just a few weeks later, on November first, my mother had a word of prophecy for me during our family church meeting, which she spoke over me with tears. The word was, “This coming year of your life, the Lord wants to open your mind to greater understanding, greater revelation, greater knowledge of God, greater love for God, and for others. He wants to unfold your spirit like a flower bud opening up to the light of God.” She then prayed for these words to be fulfilled in my life. 

In the weeks that followed, I forgot about this word for me that the Lord had given through my mother. However, just months later, early the following year, the Lord began to bring these words to pass. I believe it started with the Lord bringing to my remembrance past sins in my life that I had not repented for. As I repented of those sins, the Lord kept bringing more to the surface. I also began to take even the small sins I committed in my everyday life seriously, crying and repenting for them. I was so aware of my sin that, there were times that I spent basically my entire personal prayer time repenting, sometimes crying from the depths of my heart over my sin. However, I needed to learn to accept God’s forgiveness and grace and not keep on beating myself up even after I had repented. During this time of refining, my dad told me that he had been noticing a change in me, which He believed the Lord was bringing me through so that I could have a breakthrough in the end. 

However, even though the Lord was bringing about this work in my life, the devil was also working to bring doubts into my mind. I started to wonder if God really existed and if Jesus had really come to earth and died for me on the Cross and risen again. There also were times when I didn’t feel that God heard me when I prayed. I went through days where I felt down, and didn’t feel like praying at times because of these doubts in my heart. I wanted to believe, and I kept on repenting of my unbelief. There were moments when I was alone when I cried my heart out in total despair because of these thoughts.

During this time, my parents encouraged and counseled me. I remember one particular night where I had been praying alone, and I started to enter into this despair and to cry uncontrollably because of these doubts. My mom heard me, and came into the room where I was. Among other things she told me something like, as the hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” says, darkness sometimes hides the Lord’s face, but we just need to trust that He is still there, even when we don’t feel His nearness. My dad came in at some point, and they told me to go lie down and rest, and just “be still and know that He is God.” As I was lying there and resting in the fact that He is God, I felt the Lord’s peace, and I believe it felt as if there was literally a supernatural peace in my chest.

During this period of struggling with doubt, there was one time when I was listening to a replay of a Christian radio program, which had been from the previous Resurrection Sunday weekend. The focus of the program was about Thomas doubting when Jesus rose again from the dead. One of the passages quoted during the program was John 20:27 where Jesus said “Stop doubting and believe.” I felt that God was speaking to me through this to stop doubting. 

A little over a week later, during my personal prayer time I asked God to strengthen me and my family’s feeble hands and to strengthen our feeble knees that give way. After I had finished my regular Bible reading, I felt led to read an extra chapter in the Bible. I ended up reading Isaiah 35. Unbeknownst to me before I started reading, verse three of that passage says, “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way.” I had “coincidentally” stumbled upon the very verse I had just prayed! I don’t believe I had ever prayed this verse before so it was definitely the Lord’s doing that I chose to read this passage. I felt that through this divine coincidence that God may have been trying to show me that He hears my prayers, since I had been having doubts that He did. 

During this time of struggling with unbelief, my dad also gave me articles of his to read to help strengthen my faith, such as one about Muslims who had been saved after Jesus appeared to them. Those were indeed faith-building. God eventually gave me victory and helped me to overcome these doubts. I give God all the glory for what He has brought about in me. Even though I am still far from perfect, I’m not the same person I used to be, and I believe that He Who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

Each and every one of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, no matter how good we may consider ourselves, even if we were raised in a Christian family and never went the way of the world. We all deserve eternal hellfire and torment. However, God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ into this dark world to die on the cross and take the punishment we deserve. Jesus rose again from the grave, victorious over death, and now reigns at God’s right hand. Jesus is longing for you to forsake your sins, and come follow Him for the rest of your days. If you have never made this decision, I invite you to do so today. Now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). No matter how young you may be, none of us is promised tomorrow, so this may be your last chance. 

Repent of every sin you’ve ever committed, and ask Jesus to forgive you and cleanse your heart as white as snow with His blood. Believe in your heart that Jesus took the penalty for your sins on the cross, and that He rose again. Surrender your whole life to Him, and make Him your Lord and Savior. If you are having doubts about God, I challenge you to cry out sincerely to Him and ask Him to reveal himself to you and help you overcome your unbelief, and He will surely do just that. He will bring you from darkness in his glorious light. I pray I will one day meet you at the throne of God when we reach heaven someday. 

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Truth Set Me Free, My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus, and Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit, which are the testimonies of myself and two of my other children. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

The Lord Healed My Backsliding

I’d like to share with you about the unlimited grace and mercy of Jesus Christ in the life of my nephew, Denis.  I had the privilege of leading him to the Lord twenty-six years ago, and was so blessed to see him recommit his life to Christ not too long ago.  He states in his testimony below:





How I Came to Know Christ Initially
I was raised a Catholic, so I knew some information about the Lord Jesus, but I didn’t know Him personally.  I had never heard the gospel message of salvation or how to be saved. I was a typical youth in high school, into the party scene and living for myself.  I was not seeking the Lord at all.

Then in May of 1986, my uncle Len, who was serving in the military, returned home to NH on leave for 30 days before being deployed overseas.  He had recently given his life to Jesus, and as he began to share his newfound faith with me, I could easily see he was a changed person. You can read his testimony on “The Truth Set Me Free.”

The Lord convicted me of my sin, and my need for Jesus, so I repented and gave my life to Him.  During Len’s 30-day leave period, I spent a lot of time in the Word with him, learning about the Lord and what He expects of us. I joined a local church, where I attended regularly for worship.  I was baptized in water, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and I began to attend the youth group, where I eventually became a leader.  At first, I was full of joy and willing to lay it all down for the Lord. After graduating from high school, I even got married to a young lady from the church, and we went to Bible school, where I began preparing myself for full time ministry as a youth pastor.

I Had No Roots
But things fell apart there in Bible school.  My wife had different goals and the marriage didn’t work out.  I was crushed when she left me.  The hurt from that experience was overwhelming to me. 

Jesus described the seeds of the gospel being cast upon four different kinds of soil.  And you could say I was like the seed planted on rocky soil.  Jesus said, "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” (Mat 13:5-6).  That may be the best way to describe me.  I was full of joy and quickly sprang right up, running ahead with my plans to serve God.  But I had no roots, and the trials I encountered in life were more than I could handle. 

Drifting Away from the Lord
That’s when I began on a long journey that would take me away from the Lord for over two decades.  In fact, for me it was a period of significant rebellion against the Lord and backsliding. After a while, I didn’t want to hear anything about the Lord.  I lived for myself and did whatever I wanted. 

I won’t go into the ugly details of all that I did during that time.  But I stopped praying and reading my Bible.  I caved in to all media temptations excessively  (secular music, television, and Internet), and had absolutely no regard for financial spending.  I stopped attending church and tithing.  With no more joy or peace in my life, I turned to heavy drinking and drug use (prescription and illegal). I became more of a sinner than I had been before I ever knew the Lord!

I then attempted marriage again, this time to a non-believer, and that didn’t work out.  It only caused more hurt and bitterness inside of me.  I didn’t realize that the problem I was running from was inside of me, not primarily with someone else. 

I began living together with another non-believer, whom I later married, and she is still my wife today.  Needless to say, all of this sowing of bad seed in my life began to bring in quite a harvest.  I really began to reap what I’d sown all those years.  As the Scripture says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7-8)

How the Lord Got Me Back

Denis Lacroix

I thank the Lord that He didn’t give up on me.  Like the good shepherd who left the ninety-nine sheep to seek after the one lost sheep, I can see clearly now how He was seeking me out in so many ways that simply cannot be dismissed as mere coincidences.  For example, He provided me with a job as a dispatcher at a small trucking company, which was owned and operated by an older, married couple. They were very precious, born again believers, who cared for me and prayed for me.  And so did Len, who always treated me with love, even when I was away from the Lord.  I may not have liked it when he tried to tell me that I needed to return to the Lord, but I knew it was true. 

There were a few times when the Lord allowed me to “coincidentally” run into Len at Walmart, and we would stop to chat briefly together.  On another occasion, when I decided to go to church one Sunday, Len just happened to be led to visit that same church that morning with his family, rather than attending his home church as usual.  I recall how he and his family sat right behind us in church that day.  He would also phone me from time to time, and remind me that the Lord still loved me, and that He was waiting for me to return to Him. 

Looking back, I can see God’s grace in my life.  Even while I was away from Him, in my state of rebellion, He delivered me from an unplanned suicide attempt I made while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.  Had I succeeded in killing myself, I would have perished eternally. And then after He rescued me from death, He healed me from my injuries. What a loving Savior! He was calling out to me, as the Scripture says, “Return, you backsliding children, And I will heal your backslidings.” (Jer 3:22a)

I guess I just felt like I had fallen so far away that even if God was willing to forgive me, I couldn’t forgive myself.  I knew I deserved hell for my rebellion against the Lord. I was just waiting to die and face my certain judgment.  I came to understand first-hand what the verse to the Hebrews means that says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” (Heb 10:26-27).  Let me assure you that you don’t ever want to experience that like I did. 

There were a couple times over the years, when I did attempt to return to the Lord.  Aside from that time I attended church one Sunday, I also repented and prayed to give my life back to the Lord. I was finally crying out, “Indeed we do come to You, For You are the Lord our God." (Jer 3:22b). But the strongholds were so entrenched in my life that I was never able to follow through on my commitment.

Len recommended a couple churches for me, and I said I would check them out.  But for years I kept putting that off for another day, until recently.  Finally in 2011, on Easter Sunday, I finally decided to attend a church, where Len was preaching.  I asked the Lord to cleanse me by the blood of Jesus Christ, and forgive me from the darkness and sin that I allowed to bind me in chains.

He's Healed My Backsliding
Since then I have continued to serve in a local church, and watched the Lord heal my backslidings.  As the prophet Hosea says, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him." (Hos 14:4).  He has loved me freely and turned away His anger from me.  I am so grateful for His love and mercy toward me.

Just to show you how He has healed my backsliding, here are some of the areas that God has delivered me from, and continues to work in my life through the Holy Spirit. I have joined a home group through the church. He’s also been using the weekly Bible studies and Sunday morning services to restore all that the worms have eaten in my life.  He has restored my communion with Him, and I once again enjoy an active, daily prayer life, as well as daily time spent in His living Word. He has set me free from alcohol and illegal drugs completely!  He has broken my addiction to video games, which once consumed over fifteen hours of my time each week. He also set me free from my addiction to Facebook games, although I continue to pray for complete deliverance from this as well. He has delivered me from two of the prescription meds I have taken for over 10 yrs.

He has also healed me of the anger and bitterness inside my heart, as a result of all the evil in my past.  The change in my behavior has been like night and day.  Though I still fall sometimes, He has really been faithful in this area of my life. He has helped me to put Him first in my finances. He has given me spiritual boldness to share the Gospel of Christ with my immediate family, and given me a burden to pray for my unsaved extended family and friends.  And He has put within me a desire to do more, in terms of sharing Jesus with those I don’t know. 

Sharing Jesus with My Loved Ones
As a way of helping my friends and family to focus on the real meaning of Easter, and to invite the un-churched ones to worship with me at my home church for Easter services, I sent out a shortened version of this testimony back in the spring of 2012. I sent it as an email, which I believe went to nearly all 250 people on my distribution list. Though I probably lost a few people on the list, who didn’t appreciate it, there were a few who thanked me for being so open about my life as it was both before and after I was saved. And of course, as a result of the Holy Spirit moving through what I shared, my mother, two sisters, and brother-in-law, as well as my nephew and niece attended the services. The Lord has been working in their lives since then, drawing them to himself.

My mother got water baptized at my church, and so did my younger sister, along with her significant other, who have since just recently been married.   My other sister shows an interest in the Lord and openness to the gospel.

The Lord has allowed other changes to occur in my life that I may not have listed here. And I also realize that these changes are not because of who I am or what I have done, but because of who Jesus is, and what He has done for me. I truly believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and if it were not for His birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and intercession on my behalf before God, I would be damned to Hell for my sins. I repent daily for any darkness that I have allowed into my heart through my eyes or ears. I ask God that He would allow the Holy Spirit to purge me from the things that He detests and hates, so that I too would detest and hate them as well. I know that I am nothing but dust that the Lord has chosen to breath life into, and all I have comes from Him.  I pray this testimony will be a blessing to you, and those who may be facing the same deceptions and evil traps from the enemy.

Denis Lacroix

[END OF DENIS'S TESTIMONY]

Praise the Lord for making Denis to be a testimony of the saving power of Jesus Christ!

My Personal Invitation to You
In closing, please let me say that if you are backslidden -- you were once saved, but are now away from Jesus Christ,  He is calling to you today to return to Him.  He leaves the ninety-nine other sheep in the flock to pursue you -- that one lost sheep.  Return to Him with repentance and weeping.  "Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.'" (Hos 14:2) He will forgive you, and heal you.  But don't ever go back that way again!

There is nobody on earth more miserable than a backslidden Christian.  It's a terrible place to be. You might fool yourself into believing that your having fun, but the truth is that deep down inside your soul is aching. You have no peace.  The only answer is to cry out to the Lord for mercy and turn your back on sin.  Separate yourself from the world and consecrate yourself to the Lord once again. Pour out your heart to God in a covenant prayer something like this one.

And if you know a Christian, who is backslidden, don't give up on them.  Keep praying and loving them.  Keep telling them, "You will not miss your destiny. You will be a mighty man (or woman) of God. You will be a testimony of the saving power of Jesus Christ." Keep telling them that they need to return to the Lord.  The Lord will hear your prayers, and send His angels to move them out of that dangerous place into a place of safety where they can find a door to God.

Lastly, if you are contemplating suicide, I need to warn you that it's a trap of the devil.  Suicide will not solve any of your problems.  I don't know any other way to say this more kindly, except to say that suicide will only assure you an eternity in hell.  Your life is valuable to God, who made you, and you do not have permission to kill yourself. What you need right now is to cry out to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to save you.  If you're desperate enough to consider taking your life, then you have nothing to lose.  And you can be sure that He will answer your sincere prayer. The new life He gives will be unimaginably better than the one you're now seeking to end.  He has a purpose for your life! And when He's finished fulfilling His purpose for you, then He'll take you up into glory to be with Him forever in heaven.

It all begins with giving your life to Him. Won't you do that today?

Len Lacroix

The Shepherd loves His sheep

He’s sad when they get lost

At times they choose to stray

Once saved at such a cost

He takes the time to train them

To listen to His voice

To follow His commands

But still, they have a choice

-- excerpt from "Good Shepherd"
by Charity V. Lacroix