I had just witnessed a miracle!
Kia ora,
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My name is Phillip Keelan. I am 39 this year (later in 2005), a New Zealand Maori of Ngati Porou decent. I grew up in the Ruatoria District which is on New Zealand's North Island East Coast. There I was brought up in a traditional church type background. I had some faith in God, but did not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and so nor did I follow Him.
Some things took place in my life that brought me to the place today of now knowing Jesus, and loving and following Him.
This is what happened:
In 1986 at 21 years of age I was admitted to Te Puia hospital with a pain in the side of my stomach. After being examined by the doctor there, I was told that I may have appendicitis. I was taken down to Gisborne Hospital and re-examined by specialists there and it was confirmed that I had appendicitus. They then operated on me and removed my appendix.
Afterwards a nurse told me that the operation had been a bit messy, and I gathered from what she said that my appendix had actually burst. Then I ended up being in hospital for longer than the normal recovery period, as the operation's wound was taking a lot longer than expected to heal.
After some weeks in Gisborne Hospital I was eventually allowed to return to Te Puia Hospital nearer my home which is about 130km north through hilly country from Gisborne.
The length of time that my operation cut area was taking to heal caused one of the nurses, who specialised in treating diabetic patients, to become suspicious that I may have that condition, as she knew that my mother had suffered from the illness. (One of the possible symptoms of diabetes is a wound that is slow to heal.) However a blood test was taken and the results showed that my blood sugar (glucose) level was normal.
I was eventually allowed to go home to our family farm a few kilometres out from Ruatoria towards the mountains. However I had to go in and visit the Public Health Nurse each day to have my operation wound dressed and changed. A gauze strip had to be packed into the wound at this point.
During this recovery time, I was offered an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic in my home town of Ruatoria. The position was held open for me while I convalesced, as I had to wait until I was fully recovered as the job involved heavy lifting.
Going to this colour therapist was to prove
to be a deadly backward step for me.
Members of my family had been visiting a 'colour therapist' for relief from various health problems. This other sort of doctor was not a real doctor at all. He didn't practice real physical medicine, but this thing called 'Colour Therapy'. I went along to the "Colour Ray Doctor" though because I wanted to be healed more quickly so that I could start my apprenticeship sooner. Going to the "Colour Ray Doctor" was to prove to be a deadly backward step for me.
The therapist used divining rods. These seemingly moved around by themselves as he held them over my hand. The therapist also used a colour chart to supposedly diagnose and heal. The "Colour Ray Doctor" told me that I did have a slight trace of diabetes, and that I would have to stop eating starchy and fatty foods. He even diagnosed another pain that I was suffering from. So I ended up believing what he told me and from that day on I put myself on a false diet and started jogging almost everyday so as to not let this (fictitious) condition put a damper on the quality of my life.
Even though I took these steps, I nonetheless began to worry about having diabetes. I would think about how some diabetic patients ended up having kidney troubles, leg amputations, and other associated problems. Some how this all started playing on my mind. Consequently I became depressed and started to think seriously that life was not worth living anymore with this problem. I remember saying to my parents that I wished that I was not 'here' any longer. I even though about suicide!
I was a nervous wreck and in a very dark pit of hopelessness and headed for self destruction.
In the middle of all this I was accepted in July 1987 to go and do a 21 day Outward Bound Course in the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand's South Island.
As the course involved some quite tense physical activity, I had to go to the hospital for a pretty thorough medical check-up as part of the preparations.
I went along feeling really nervous, scared, and worried about being confirmed as having diabetes.
After the tests, the doctor came up to me and said the she was really concerned at my blood pressure. It was too high. The doctor wanted to know what was wrong with me.
So I told her what I had been through.
She told me that my urine test for diabetes was clear. That only medical doctors and nurses using physical tests could determine whether you had diabetes or not, and that I was not to listen to Colour Therapists.
Even though this doctor reassured me that I did not have diabetes, due to the evil spiritual powers involved with Colour Therapy, I still couldn't get it out of my head that I had diabetes (and would have legs chopped off or whatever). So my depression went deeper. .
This stirred up faith in my heart towards God.
Then one day a month later in August 1987 I went into town (Ruatoria) and saw a notice on a shop window advertising a healing meeting coming to our town where the New Zealand evangelist Bill Subritzky would be speaking. I went along to the meeting as I hoped that I may find help there.
Held in the local college's assembly hall, the meeting was full of people seeking relief from different ailments like back problems, heart trouble and many other things. During the meeting Bill prayed for a lady who I knew. She suffered from high blood pressure which resulted in her losing the sense of smell in one nostril. After Bill had prayed to God for her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he sprayed a mint flavoured breath freshener near to her, and asked if she could smell things now. She said that yes she could, whereas before she could not at all! I had just witnessed a miracle which stirred up faith in my heart towards God.
Bill ended up preaching from the New Testament in the Bible, the story that Jesus told about the Prodigal Son. At the end of the meeting Bill gave a challenge for people to go forward and make a decision to follow Jesus Christ.
I went forward and made that decision to turn from my sins and receive God's forgiveness by faith in what Jesus did for me by dying on the cross for my sins.
Later that night, some of the Christians who were counselling those who had made personal decisions to follow Jesus Christ, ended up praying for me and a curse was broken over my life. I went on to be filled with the Holy Spirit afterwards.
I went home that night and knew that something had happened in my life. I knew that a change had taken place.
In obedience to Jesus command for those who would follow Him, I was baptised (total immersion not "sprinkling") in our local river. As time went by I ead in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 18, how God views Colour Therapy. It is a form of divination, and all divination is an abomination in God's sight! I then realised that I opened the door to Satan unknowingly by visiting this Colour Therapist. This had resulted in such turmoil and imminent devastation for me.
It is only by God's grace and mercy and love upon my life that I am even alive today.
God lifted me out of the 'miry clay' and hopelessness that I was in, to know Jesus as my Lord and to serve and be His follower today. Since making the decision to follow Jesus, He has become very real in my life. You can read about some of the things that he has done in the articles on my homepage.
Waiata
The words of the old hymn Amazing Grace ring so true to me:
"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see"
Praise God's Holy Name!
Phil KeelanPhil can be reached on:
Phone: ( NZ +64) (0) 274 542 185
Phil's Email phil@philkeelan.info
http://philkeelan.info
Ministry and Support Donations
Thanks to Norma Hamby mymusic2002@earthlink.net for the use of Amazing Grace music. (http://www.txrebel.com/index.html).