On Friday, March 13, 2009, I left my ill husband with his aunt and headed out to attend the Kairos Outside (KO) weekend retreat. (I sincerely believe that God is calling me into ministry, and since I have experienced a life that dealt heavily with the streets and prisons, what a better way to give back!!) We had been struggling for over a month with my husband’s impacted tooth and it turned into an abscess. He had been vomiting constantly because of the poison and lost 30 pounds. I was very skeptical about leaving him; however, I had such a strong unction to go to this retreat. On Saturday, I continued to check in on my husband. His condition was rapidly deteriorating. I wanted to leave and be with him, but I knew that I had not received the fullness of what I had come to receive. That night in one of the "acts of faith" that one goes through for a healing, I was able to release a bitter root that was about 14 years old. For the first time in my life I realized how powerfully God was working on me.

My husband was supposed to attend the closing ceremonies on Sunday. Unfortunately, he did not make it. His aunt said that he had been asleep all day. I continued with the retreat, and after I gave my testimony of the healing that I received, a call came in from my husband’s aunt. She frantically explained that my husband was non-responsive and would not wake up. I ran out of the closing ceremonies because I knew that I was racing against time. My husband had been ill for a while, and on Sunday we found out that his illness was more serious than we thought.

I called anyone I could reach to begin praying for his life. I had no idea what I was about to face. When I arrived, his eyes were in the back of his head, he was ice cold, and he was barely breathing. I called 911, and began to cry out to God to save my husband. I held his lifeless hand as he lay there, and stroked his face, telling him not to leave me. It was not until the paramedics arrived that I discovered his condition was related to diabetes; it was not from the abscess as we initially thought.

By the time we arrived at the emergency room, there was grave concern for his rapidly worsening condition. The paramedics could not get a reading on his blood sugar levels and neither could the ER. About 20 minutes passed and the doctor rushed in and explained that a normal sugar level should be between 100 and 110. His readings were registering at 1916. They did not know how he was still alive. But I did. The ER doctor told me that in his entire career he had never seen those levels in someone who was alive. Unfortunately, he was slipping and they needed to aggressively treat him.

Then an angel from God showed up. My husband laid there dying, because he was in a diabetic coma of the worst kind. At that moment, Eddie and Connie McNeill arrived at the ER. Eddie went into the room and prayed for my husband. He spoke life back into my husband and commanded his body to line up with the word of God. I sincerely believe that God used Eddie as the hand that walked my husband back from death.

My husband was admitted into the intensive care unit around midnight, where he remained until late Tuesday afternoon. He was moved into a private room and was released Thursday night. All of his tests came back normal. He has no damage to any of his organs, and has responded to all of the treatments. Even the nursing director for the hospital came to meet with him to see how he was doing.

During the second night, I was sitting in the ICU waiting room. I was all alone. It was so quiet, and I began to break down. I was talking to God, telling him that I knew he was going to receive the glory for my husband’s survival. I just wanted the Lord to comfort me. Then, he showed me three things.

The first was a map of the United States. There were all these dots that glimmered all over the map, and a bouncing line that was connecting them. God told me that was all of the prayers that were coming to him on behalf of my husband. I knew that at that moment everything happened exactly the way that it was supposed to according to God’s plan for us.

Then, I saw a piece of coal and a small but strong chisel. It was gently chiseling away all of the coal. As the coal was disappearing, I saw the brilliance of the diamond shimmering through. God told me that he will not go too fast nor will he go to slow. He told me that he will gently chisel through until he has completed his transformation in my life. He also allowed me to see the beginning of the finished product, because my light was beginning to shine.

The Lord showed me a third thing. This situation began because we fell into a financial rut and were unable to afford the doctor's visits and medication. After I saw all of these things that God was showing me, I had a thought that I needed to check our bank account. I felt like that impression was kind of weird, considering I was in the waiting room of the ICU, that it was 5am, and that I knew our balance was about $200.00 negative. I had the same thought again, so I checked. As the recording played out my available balance, my heart raced with an excitement. There was a deposit of an amount that not only covered the bills we were behind in, but also my husband’s medication. I had no idea where it came from... yeah, I did!!!

I have been beside myself because of the miracles that God has worked on our behalf and because of the amount of prayer that we have received.

GOD is good all the time. I now understand the importance of obedience. Had I not attended KO #21, I don’t know where I would be. I have not only endured this test of faith with my husband, but also all the darts which the enemy has thrown at us during this time as well. KO #21 gave me the strength to believe, to stand strong, and to know that HE is GOD!

Chariti A. Placide

Scheduling Coordinator
VSI, Inc.

Matthew 24:27 "For as lightning comes from the East and flashes to the West, so will the coming of the Son of man be."