A Very Special Praise Report

Spring 2000

Healing of Environmental Illness

God, in his great mercy, healed me of a medically incurable disease.

For seven long years, I struggled with Environmental Illness, also known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I had pesticide poisoning, and my immune system rapidly declined. Eventually, I became allergic to nearly everything, including cigarette smoke, perfume, cleansers, detergents, lotions, car exhaust, pesticides and anything new. I developed dust, mold and food allergies.

My allergies were so severe it was hard to leave my home. I could not attend church, movies or other events. I could not go into shopping malls, theaters, office buildings, grocery stores or even most people's homes. We had portable air filtering machines in our home, where I was a prisoner. The fear, pain and isolation were unbearable.

Eventually, we sold our beautiful home because we added new insulation and the chemicals emitted from the attic made me sick. We bought another home and I was never able to move in because the previous owners had saturated every nook and cranny with mothballs, and we were never able to get the chemicals or smell out. We had no choice but to sell this house also.

I finally got my hopes up when I discovered a doctor who specialized in environmental medicine. He felt he could help me and started new treatments. To our horror, this good, caring man's treatments made my allergies even worse. I was desperate. I had no place to live now, so I had to move to my car. My husband took the back seats out of our van so I could at least lie down to sleep at night.

I spent many hours searching for answers. I went to many doctors and experts across the country. Each time I tried something new I would be filled with hope. I always believed I had at last found the answer and could get well, but it never happened. I was in despair. I was preparing to die.

I went to an environmental health center in Texas, and returned home in even worse condition. I am 5'9" and was down to 99 pounds because my food allergies were so severe. My esophagus closed when I ate. I had an oxygen tank. My circulation would shut down.

I heard about how God could heal illnesses, but I totally rejected it. Then a woman I barely knew gave me a Merlin Carothers' book on the power of praising God and how He heals when you turn to Him. I had never read anything about this. I felt some faith stirring in me and I wondered if it was true. I realized I had been trying to do this myself. So I had a talk with God: "Okay, God, I'm yours. I'm either going to die or I'm going to get well. I'm in your hands. I am through seeking for answers. I'm through worrying about it, struggling and fearing. I just can't do it anymore. I'm putting my life in your hands and turning everything over to you."

I felt a burden lift from me. I actually felt some hope and joy. I realized that although I had been a church–going Christian all my life, I did not really have a personal relationship with God. I was a cradle Catholic, as is my whole family. We are many generations Catholic. I had no teachings about the gifts of the Spirit or how God heals today. I had to step outside my religion to get my healing.

A friend of mine called and insisted that I call a non–denominational healing ministry in Georgia, Pleasant Valley Church and Ministry. The Pastor, Henry Wright, is an expert on environmental illness and many other diseases. He teaches that there are spiritual roots to many diseases and that there are also many blocks to healing. He feels people are not healed when prayed for because often they have not dealt with the spiritual roots and removed the blocks.

I called. One of the things they told me was to read the Bible everyday. I spent many hours each day reading the Word of God, and it filled me with hope and faith to receive my healing. There is healing power in God's Word, like medicine, and I made sure I took my medicine morning, noon and night. The Bible, the Holy Word of God, was the most powerful instrument in my healing.

I also prayed for my healing everyday. I prayed healing scriptures and God's promises back to Him daily. I thanked God daily for healing me, even though, in the beginning, there was no strong evidence that He was. Repentance is also a key to healing. I went through my life and repented for anything that I might have done, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

My sister, Rita, held a family gathering one evening, where nine people prayed for me. We got the idea from Francis MacNutt's book The Power to Heal. That evening, I had some dramatic healing and improvement in my back. Christian Healing Ministries then put me on their Intercessory Prayer List. I read all of MacNutt's books on healing, plus many others on the subject. Rita came by daily for many months, laying hands on me and praying for my healing.

MacNutt's book Healing is what really gave me the faith to seek a complete healing. I was so excited as Rita and I learned how to pray for healing. But as years went by and I only got worse, I lost all belief — but God's time is not our time.

In the summer of 1997, I spent a month at the Pleasant Valley Ministry. I received wonderful teachings on the Word of God and met a number of people whom God had healed and many in the process of healing. They counseled me on the spiritual roots of my illness and on the blocks to healing. Upon returning home, I was finally able to move into a house.

It took over a year from that time to completely heal from this incurable illness, but my allergies are gone. I now go wherever I want, do what I want, eat what I want. I shop at my neighborhood supermarket without worrying if the food is pesticide–free. I have gained my weight back and more. I have flown on an airplane, driven across country, eaten in restaurants and stayed in many motels. I can go anywhere now, no matter how foul or polluted the environment is. More incredible than all of this: last summer I helped my husband paint our house!

I now belong to a wonderful non–denominational charismatic church that believes in all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They also believe strongly that God heals today and have an active healing ministry.

No doctor or alternative medicine or any 12–step program or other works of man could accomplish my healing. But God can do anything. God is our Healer, our Physician, our Deliverer. Praise God!

Mary T. Gracey,
Overland Park, Kansas