How I Came to Follow God

I grew up in a Christian household, and accepted Christ at the very young age of 5 years old. Growing up in a conservative church, I felt from an early age that there had to be something more to Christianity than what I was seeing. In Junior High, and the beginning of High School, I found that I did not fit in anywhere. By my Junior year in High School I started to truly see the hypocrisy in the church and I was done trying to be accepted because I only ever got hurt by people; Especially people from the church. By the time I finished high school I was pretty jaded. I didn’t like going to church, and I was an emotional wreck.

As High School ended I met a man that would later become my husband. I heard God’s voice audibly tell me that he was my husband. At the time he was not a Christian, and in my mind that was not something I was willing to compromise on. Time went on. We were just friends, and I tried to get him to go to church with me. One day I went to God and said “Lord, if this man is my husband then you need to get him to accept you. Please have him say yes to going to church!!”. I went to Tom and asked him to go to church with me again. I told him that if he said no I would never ask again. He said YES!!!! ( I won’t get into too much because that has to deal with his testimony.)

After about 8 months of church and Tom still not accepting Christ, we heard through his family about a gentleman named Eli who was praying for people, and they were receiving their healing. This was a foreign concept to me. Even though I grew up in the church, I never saw anything miraculous. I barely saw people behaving well. Tom said that he was going to meet Eli on his own first and then take me after. I was so afraid I thought Tom was going to get taken away from me after all my hard work to bring him to church. Tom went and ended up accepting Christ that day. I was shocked and a little upset, because I wanted the “credit” for bringing him to Christ (So ridiculous!!).

It was a Friday when I went to meet Eli. When I got out of the car I felt like I was hit in the back of the head. I then heard the Lord out loud again saying “Today Deborah you have to give it all up!” We knocked on Eli’s door and he answered the door shook my hand and said, “Yes Deborah, you do have to give it up.” I was floored. I came in was prayed for and healed from anger issues and many physical problems on the spot.

Tom and I, shortly after that, began meeting with Eli on a weekly basis on Thursday nights while bringing others to meet Eli and be prayed for. Two years later Eli was there to see us get married. Over the total of 11 years of knowing Eli, our early on Thursday night meetings with him turned into our Thursday group meetings as the group grew year after year.

I have allowed myself to be led by the Holy Spirit, and over these 11 years, I am no longer lead by my emotions and the Lord has blessed Tom and I not only with lifelong friends in our group by our spiritual family. I have been healed so many times I cannot even count. I believe I am everything the Lord says I am in the Word. Because of that we are able to travel the world with Eli Arenas Ministries and along with Eli represent John 14:12.