Brawta is a Jamaican Creole word meaning ‘something thrown in for free, as a bonus’. After posting my 2021 Tests and Testimonies, Part 2, I received a call from someone who wanted to place an order for my Carrot Medley Loaves. That left me thinking, “How could you have omitted that juicy part of the 2021 testimony?” Then I realized I’d also omitted other juicy parts, so this post will be a ‘likkle brawta’ (a little bonus) to top up my testimony.

This past summer I rejoiced in the recovery of physical strength and flexibility – once more being able to lift simple household weights, bend and stretch for things in the kitchen, tire less easily doing chores, walk farther without pain, and so on. There was just one thing that really bugged me. I wanted to fast in concert with my intercession for various people, but was finding it difficult to do so, and I felt that the culprit was sugar. I’d been craving sugar and carbs, with little self-control.

When my own efforts at resistance failed, I consulted a spiritual sister about this, seeking prayer for victory over ‘sugarholism’. This sister was notably gifted with the discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10) and I thought perhaps she could help me with this problem through deliverance ministry. However, she discerned that there would be no quick fix for me, as mine was a physiological rather than simply a spiritual problem. I would have to (in her words) “fast out the sugar.” She had medical qualifications as well as being a reputable minister, so I took her recommendations seriously as she outlined the following strategy for a partial fast. I should get myself a juicer, shop frequently for certain organic vegetables and fruits based on a recipe she provided, extract and combine their juices, and use that as my only ‘food’ for an extended partial fast, to free myself of the cravings for processed sugar and thereby free myself to fast for intercession.

I diligently set out on this path, but it was no easy undertaking. The organic fruits and veggies were expensive and not always available at my favourite supermarket, so I had to go further. The juicing was messy and time-consuming, and the clean-up afterwards was tedious. Yet the health benefits were almost immediate – boosted energy, relief from cravings, and generally improved wellbeing. However, I realized right away that my juicer was leaving some amount of juice in the shredded by-product. With all the investment of time, effort and money, it didn’t seem right to simply throw all of that great juicy fibre into the garbage. After all, God had put fibre into those foods for a purpose, so I decided to get creative with this by-product. Separating the carrot, beet, apple and citrus fibre from the green veggie fibre, I used them to tweak a Jamaican Carrot Cake recipe, producing something new … a lower-sugar, higher fibre, many fruited loaf! Those of my family and inlaws who lived close by were the tasters and judges of this new product, and they helped to choose a name for it – the Carrot Medley Loaf!  

‘Proof of the pudding’ came in waves. First, it was judged very tasty – by the children, parents and seniors who first sampled it. They shared it with their wider circles and another wave of reports came in, some quite surprising. Persons who had to monitor their sugars said that my low sugar, high fibre product did not affect them at all. One weight-watcher excitedly reported that she felt as if it actually helped her. A couple of guys who had regular sports practice relished it as their after-practice treat. So I began to get orders for Carrot Medley Loaves, which I priced by comparison with ordinary Carrot Cakes available in the supermarkets. Some customers who had relatives in another city took them there as gifts and more orders came in. I was encouraged to try making a gluten-free version, and that also went well with further tweaking of the recipe. HalleluYah, my baking experiment was paying off!

All of this happened while I was still having various medical tests following the health crisis of earlier months. Due to illness in the spring, I hadn’t resumed my part-time contract work. I had told my agency I’d only be available once it was determined that a second surgery wasn’t necessary. That’s the reason why I had time during the summer to undertake this baking. The expectation was that a new contract would have to be found for me when I was ready to work again; but – lo and behold – God had worked in His mysterious ways while I was recuperating, and the contract in which I’d been employed had been unexpectedly extended to the end of the year! So in October the agency was able to get me right back into that contract.

Before that, however, God blessed me with yet another juicy benefit from all that free time. I had the opportunity to prepare and preach two very well-received messages at our Fellowship, where expectations of speakers are fairly high. You don’t just go to the podium and pontificate. To successfully deliver what I knew God wanted delivered (having presented topics to our pastor and received the go-ahead for two of them) I knew I’d have to package each message with engaging sights and sounds. Not being a PowerPoint or techy expert, that took appreciable preparation time. I hadn’t preached in years, and the opportunity to do so was almost as much a blessing as the congregation’s response.

Now I’m back to a regular diet and part-time employment, but I still do enough juicing to promote health and keep our freezer stocked with Carrot Medley ingredients to bake once or twice per week, and I’m still free of ‘sugarholism’.  How’s that for three ‘brawta’ testimonies to the awesome goodness of God in 2021?

When I first wrote about the trials and triumphs of faith that Mike and I experienced early this year, I reserved some of the account for a sequel because the season of testing wasn’t quite over.  Let me say now that none of what happened to us occurred in a vacuum of prayerlessness. We were praying and receiving all kinds of prayers, as taught in Ephesians 6:18, with fasting as suggested by Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:29. (Thank God that ‘fasting’ was not excluded by all manuscripts.)

Now that the continuing testimony from this testing season is more fully ‘baked’ I can share further, to the glory of God.

We had expected to return to Canada from Jamaica at the end of April. Under pre-pandemic conditions we may have tried to return earlier to secure Canadian health care for me. Under pre-pandemic conditions I would have been assured of timely diagnostics and treatment. However, the pandemic had changed all that. Addressing Covid-19 had relegated many other medical services to the back burner of the health care system. Waiting lists for intervention in non-covid illnesses had become indefinitely long, with some patients deteriorating beyond recovery and dying while waiting.

Jamaica, on the other hand, has both public and private health care systems. With most of the covid-related burden falling on the public system, private health care was readily available at a price. So although we missed the former ease of accessing our tax-financed health care in Canada, we were willing to pay the price in Jamaica for speedy access to primary care, referral appointments and diagnostic procedures. Although my diagnosis was elusive, the process of elimination proceeded almost uninterrupted. Only one test result was delayed for two weeks because (unknown to us) the specimen had been sent to a government lab inundated with covid-related work.

Now let’s pause for praise!  Given all of the above, we actually thanked God for allowing this illness to beset me while in Jamaica. Then, as our April departure date approached and the specialists confirmed a diagnosis of small bowel obstruction, God intervened through WestJet’s cancellations of our return flights due to covid travel restrictions. Our April flights were rescheduled to May, then rescheduled again to June, allowing time for my emergency surgery to be performed in Jamaica, and for me to be sufficiently healed to travel. HalleluYah!

Mike has always ensured we have savings for the proverbial rainy day, and from January to late April we were pelted with the harshest ‘rain’ we had ever weathered, so we dug into our pockets. Then, that storm was calmed when when God saved my life through surgical removal of 18 inches of my small intestine and having His skillful servant rescue me from a post-op blood pressure ‘crash’. Six days later God intervened again, showering us with finances to cover most of the surgery-related bills, thus showing me His love in a way that I had never experienced before, in fulfillment of a prophecy that I shared in Part 1.

While coming into a new level of intercession, Mike also gained some practical nursing experience. Our Jamaican home is in the Blue Mountains, a treacherous journey away from medical attention. At my discharge from hospital Mike was prompted to ask for wound care instructions, but the surgeon said that would be taken care of in post-op visits. As it happened, my incision did not heal as easily as expected, and Mike had to be coached on the phone by the doctor, through very technical wound-care procedures for about two weeks. He was a quick study!

Another testimony has to do with my wardrobe. From late January until recently, I couldn’t wear any waisted clothes – which ruled out most of my pants, shorts and skirts. Only God knew the reason why, back in November 2020, I had packed two loose, longish skirts which I’d had for a while but never worn before. Only God knew how these gifts from a sweet sister would become a staple among my wearable outfits, as their elastic waists could be pulled up to, or over my bust, under a loose blouse.

Other blessings revealed as God worked ‘all things together’ for my good were weight loss, blood sugar and blood pressure regulation. Weight loss just came with dietary restrictions, but the surgically removed neuroendocrine tumor had perhaps contributed to elevated blood pressure and glycemic swings for years.

Our last blessing in Jamaica was the doctor facilitating our double vaccination so that we could fly home in June. Once back in Canada, we experienced a miraculously speedy referral process initiated by our Canadian family doctor. Despite lingering Covid effects on hospitals, she secured follow-up appointments for me starting the very day after completing our mandatory isolation. The ensuing weeks proved God’s word in Psalm 34:4 to be unaffected by Covid. God delivered me from what I had feared – the hamstrung waiting list for medical care. Since then He has kept healing my abdomen, so that I can now enjoy more regular clothes and activities. He has also kept the referral ball rolling, so that everything ‘good to know’ about my remaining anatomy has been discovered, as He lined me up with expert oncology and surgical consultants, who in turned referred me for every possible kind of test and scan. Why? Because my diagnosis was so rare, and because – as God says in the Scriptures, “I would not have you ignorant.”

So now I can testify, with fully informed awareness, that  (1) the consultants have agreed that I do not need any further intervention at this time, and (2) Abba has given me faith to decline the offer of a precautionary treatment that would bind me to reliance on the medical arm of flesh for the rest of my life.  Thankfully, I know that it is God, not man, who determines the length of my earth-days; and it is God who will make me fruitful in all the remaining days He has appointed for me.

We are now in December and I am able to conclude this 2021 testimony of God’s wonderful work on my behalf – showering me and Mike with more prayer from His people than we ever received before, delivering me from untimely death (and Mike from untimely widowerhood), showing His love to us in other new ways, and piloting us through what had seemed a formidable obstacle course before He cleared the path in front of us. This has certainly been a most divinely eventful year. HalleluYah!

“Without a test we couldn’t have a testimony” is a true saying.  All we could share is that we’ve never been tested, which would be cold comfort to anyone facing severe trials. One of the most comforting things we know about Yeshua is that He too was tested – tempted in all the same ways that we are (Hebrews 4:15) yet He was victorious. He passed every test presented to Him as a Man living among men, and then His words to Peter were recorded for us, “Indeed, (the adversary) has demanded to sift you all like wheat. But I have prayed for you … that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back (when you have passed the test – even if you had to sit it three times) strengthen your brothers.”  Later, He had Sha’ul add, “God … will not allow you to be tempted (tested) beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (and make testimonies from the tests).

Before sharing some testimonies from testing, let me comment on three aspects from an academic testing perspective. First, some academic tests used to be set with a ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality. Examiners had no personal interest in whether students passed or failed. Secondly, it was assumed that teachers had done all their work before students sat the test. In the examination room no teacher dared intervene. Thirdly, students who failed the test may not have been able to re-sit.

However, there are huge differences with the tests that Yeshua allows His disciples to face. First, God has vetted every test set for us because He does care and want us to succeed; hence His promise about not allowing us to be tested beyond our ability. Secondly, in God’s examination room the atmosphere is permeated with “Behold, I am with you always…” which means these are Teacher-aided tests. Thirdly, our ‘passing’ of the test sooner or later is almost guaranteed – even if it means reviewing teacher-highlighted ‘course material’ and correcting mistakes right there, or taking a break for that review and re-sitting the test later. (John 14:26, Isaiah 41:10, Proverbs 3:1-4, Joshua 1:8)

That said, here’s my January-to-May-2021 story… tests and testimonies. Mike and I were in Jamaica to minister to family there, which we’d done for almost three months until the last week of January. Then we went to a resort for our 47^th anniversary, January 26. There we enjoyed witnessing to someone about God and His blessings on our marriage.  However, instead of leaving the hotel on cloud nine, I became ill there and left unwell.

The next three months were a nightmare of worsening pain and other symptoms; family doctor, ER and specialist visits; diagnostic tests and treatment procedures multiplied. Finally, two specialists reached the elusive diagnosis of partial small intestine blockage being the critical issue. By the end of April I’d had only liquids for weeks, and they determined that I needed surgery. However, they couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the problem, so I consented to a laparotomy– a large abdominal surgery- to repair a small hernia and address whatever else was found.

Meanwhile, our Teacher-Helper had already showed up in our ‘exam room’! First, He brought news of a totally unexpected (and still unexplained) check delivered to our mailbox in Canada, in the amount totaling our medical bills already paid out-of-pocket because we had insufficient health insurance in Jamaica. Then, as news of my suffering reached Canadian and Jamaican brethren, we received encouraging prayers of faith, supernatural relief at times of crisis, and prophetic words that ministered to my inner-woman. Also, Mike was propelled into a new level of intercession and I was propelled into a new level of readiness for possible departure. In that readiness I resolved to witness to some extended-family members for whom we’d continually prayed but never directly shared the Gospel with them. Being far away, I emailed them a ‘witnessing’ epistle to redeem lost time. Then, our final specialist referral reconnected Mike with an old school-mate, securing for me the best available surgeon while our Jamaican church connection secured the best anesthesiologist.

Two prophetic words I’d received stuck with me. An 80-year-old at Shalom Restoration Fellowship said in a Zoom prayer meeting that God was about to show me His love in a way that He’d never shown me before. Then a Spiritually gifted MD said in a Jamaican Zoom prayer meeting that I was suffering heartache over our son’s illness and another family tragedy, and needed healing for that heartache as it was contributing to my illness; but she also saw what seemed like ‘angels’ hands’ ministering to my back. The part about my emotional burden rang true, and I was grateful for the ensuing prayers, but I felt there was more to the illness than that could explain. The other part brought to mind Mike’s rubbing my back in his efforts to help my abdominal pain. Perhaps the ‘angels’ hands’ included his, for Mike had truly been angelic.

The April 27^th surgery revealed a hidden, immediately life-threatening tumor, and proved more complicated than previously thought. Then my blood pressure plummeted dangerously. The anticipated two days in hospital became seven, but my life had literally been saved through divinely orchestrated intervention.  All that remained was a huge bill, but by the day of discharge God had addressed that too! Our Jamaican and Canadian congregations had offered monetary gifts, and- wonder of wonders- when we got home, we received a call saying that the surgeon and anesthesiologist had both waived their fees! Taking to my knees in tearful amazement, I gushed thanksgiving to Abba for His great love shown in this million-dollar way that was so new to me! Further contributions from our own children reduced the medical bills to just what Abba knew we could manage from savings.   HalleluYah!  Now comes the healing…