The Testimony of Sis. Annette Murray
My name is Annette T. Murray and I currently reside in
the state of Texas. I was born and raised in the state of Pennsylvania.
I married Minister John Murray in July 1990 and we are still counting
the years. At the age of 18 I was diagnosed with a very nasty disease
called "Endometriosis (scar tissue)". At that time I had my very first
surgery where the doctors stated that they weren't sure if I could ever
have children. As the years passed by I suffered tremendously every
month and started to have surgery to remove scar tissue. I started
having laser laparoscopy's every 6-12 months. We tried to get pregnant
and it didn't work. We then tried artificial insemination and Invitro
fertilization which the embryo did attach itself to the uterus but
aborted after 10 weeks. During this time I had become very weary and
tired because the enemy kept saying you're not a complete woman because
I could not bare a child.
I then developed fibroid tumors and was informed that I needed to have
surgery again which I already had 8 laser laparoscopy's and now this
would be my 2nd major surgery to have a myomectomy (removal of
fibroids). I recall a moment when my husband and I began to pray and
converse about this disease that was trying to traumatize our marriage.
John said "honey, if we never have children together as long as you and
I are together that I'm alright". John became a great source of
strength by encouraging me and helping me to believe that whatever Gods
will was that it would be done. I had to undergo another major surgery
to remove fibroids because the pain began to be unbearable. At this
point in my life I was so upset and confused as to why I had to go
through all of this. I work in maternity and I talk to pregnant people
everyday why me? I asked God to forgive me but I just couldn't
understand.
January 2003 my mother was very sick in the hospital and she said Annie
(my nick name) "why keep something in you that is broke which can cause
harm to your body. I replied "mom I still believe God to perform a
miracle". She said okay baby. In May we received a call to take in a
new born baby girl because of issues that the parents were going
through. I said okay John what do you think and he said let's do it
this maybe our blessing we've been waiting for. In October I became
very sick and the doctor said we have to go in and do a hysterectomy.
This was very upsetting to me and now this is my 12th surgery. I cried
and cried and cried and we said okay God you gave us our baby so we are
gonna trust you. After the surgery the Lord said he wanted me to teach
me how to love unconditionally. Even though life was ending for me
according to the doctors for having children I said to God "I'm still
holding onto the promise". If He did it for Sarah and Abraham he can do
it for me. Due to complications during surgery I was given a partial
hysterectomy instead of a complete one. So, we kept on praying and
believing God for the promise.
After raising the little girl for 17 months the birth mother decided that she did not want to proceed with the adoption and we were informed that we had 24 hours to return her to her birth mother. At that point I had a nervous break down. God had to really deal with at this time. He said remember the promise. I went through my healing process of holding onto the promise. I stopped focusing on what couldn't be done and deal with what could be done in my life. The Lord blessed me with a wonderful husband and good job and things started changing for me and I began to travel for my job from Pennsylvania to Texas for 3 months every other week. My husband received a call to interview for Praise & Worship Director at the Potter's House of Dallas, TX. Not long after his interview we were packing and moving to Texas.
In April we moved to our new home and 2 days later I became ill. I went to one hospital that just didn't want to deal with my illness and they sent me home. I called my physician back in Pennsylvania and he recommended someone in Dallas, TX. The physician he recommended wasn't accepting new patients and would only see patients diagnosed with cancer. He referred me to another associate in the practice who stated for me to go to the ER and they would follow me from there. I went to the ER and had x-rays done and then was informed I needed to have a cat scan. While having the scan I heard the technician say "oh boy, this does not look good". Immediately I got upset and then I said don't let that get you worked up, they could be talking about something else. I got back to the room with my husband and I told him what I had heard and he said don't be negative think positive honey. The doctor came in the room and said you have to see a cancer doctor right away you have a 14 cm mass attached to your main arteries, bowels, bladder and kidneys. The mass is so huge and it "appears" to be cancerous. We saw the specialist on that Friday and as she began to repeat what the other physician stated we began to cry. I was afraid because now this was my 13th surgery. The doctor wiped the tears from my face and stated behind those tears I see a strong woman. We called my family and friends back in PA to come right away as the doctor informed us that I had to have surgery right away. My sister, aunts and Pastor from Pennsylvania flew to Texas to be a support to my husband and I.
She said your going to undergo 2 operations at the same time and your surgery will be any where from 5-10 hours long. You'll be in ICU for 3 days in the hospital for several weeks for treatment. The family, saints and friends began to pray. Tuesday AM the doctor walks in the room and states Mr. Murray was that you singing in church on Sunday? He replied yes. She said you sang that song for your wife. I said you attend the Potter's House and she said yes. And the message that Bishop Jakes preached helped me to map out how to do your surgery today. I began to start praising God and kept thanking him as I went under anesthesia. As each doctor came in to speak with me before the surgery my Pastor from Philadelphia, PA District Elder Brenda Cuthbertson anointed her hands with blessed oil and shook each physicians hand praying that God would anoint them for the surgery. The Lord touched the physicians and they were able to remove everything without causing anymore harm to my body. The doctor told my husband and family that I was a miracle because the adhesions and scar tissue with the mass was like a bowl of chitterlings with cement poured into it. She said I don't know how Mrs. Murray was even walking with this mass inside of her. She stated we only did 1 surgery, no cancer was found!!! Your wife will go to a hospital room. No ICU, no chemotherapy or any other treatment is needed for her. God anointed this physician for me and it was all orchestrated by God. He anointed her hands to remove everything that the other physician couldn't remove that was causing harm to my body. Even though we do not have any children physically, inspite of all that I've been through I'm still holding onto the promise.
No matter what it looks like you still have to trust and believe God. Sometimes others may not understand your pain or what you may be going through but just know God still sits on the throne and He is a miracle worker. I may not have what I want in my life but I'm pregnant with destiny. My relationship with God is what gets me through those rough times. I worship Him for who He is and what He's done. I'm thanking and praising God because I'm still here and able to tell my testimony. If you're experiencing this disease in your life I say to you hold on and don't give up because God will see you through and take good care of you. I'm walking in victory, no more pain and agony.
Praise God I'm free from this disease.
It’s Only a Test
Tara D. Sydney
“Anointed Professor”
http://www.myspace.com/annointed_professor
“But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” - Psalm 3:3
You don’t know my story or the things that I’ve been through. You can’t feel my pain; what I had to go through to get here. You’ll never understand my praise. Don’t try to figure it out, because my worship is for real...
I have a testimony. One that I hope will breathe new life into someone else. In my twenty-nine years of life, I have experienced hell on Earth. I have been serving a life sentence, bound by the chains of the devil himself, but I am here to let you know that many of those chains have been broken and I am being set free from many others right now.
At the age of four, I was physically abused by my mother’s ex-husband. He used to make me strip down to nothing, and would beat me with thorny switches for no reason. Anytime I would sit in his presence, I would have to smile. When I stopped smiling, he would beat me. At each meal, I would be forced to eat everything on my plate, even if I was full. I can remember trying stuffing each morsel down, feeling so full that I could bust. I knew that if I didn’t finish everything, a beating was waiting for me. On another occasion, I was asleep in my bed and I woke up to having a pot of hot water being poured on top of me. I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
At the age of eleven, my mother’s ex-boyfriend used to be extra friendly with me. He was very touchy feely and enjoyed getting on top of me to wrestle and hiding out with me in closets. He made me very uncomfortable, but if I told my mother, I was afraid that he might retaliate, so I kept quite. One night while my mother was asleep, I was looking out the window. I was in my nightgown and her ex-boyfriend stood behind me. He reached his hands into my panties and fondled me. Afterwards, he laughed at me because I was crying. He smugly asked, “Whatcha cryin’ for?” I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
From the ages of nine to sixteen, my peers teased, bullied, and alienated me. From “Miss Piggy” to “Big Mama,” I was ridiculed because I was overweight, shy, and a good student. I was alienated because I was nothing like my peers. I spent most of my school years as an outcast and without friends. I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
At the age of thirteen, I began my battle with depression and anxiety. Over the past fourteen years, I have bounced between psychiatrists and therapists, telling my life story over an over again, trying to break free from mental illness. I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
At the age of sixteen, I lost a significant amount of weight and became popular. However, popularity has a price. I was naïve and lonely, letting boys feel me up because I thought they loved me. My so-called friends were in reality my enemies. I became bulimic because I feared that if I gained weight, I would return to the loner I had always been. I also tried to commit suicide because I felt that I would be better off dead than to live with the pain I had inside. Thankfully, God had an angel by my side that night. I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
As a result, I have lived a very sheltered life. For many years, I would walk with my head down, avoiding eye contact with people. I only spoke to people when I was spoken to and feared all settings that forced me to make human contact. Depression and fear got the best of me, capturing the best years of my life, and robbing me of my independence. I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
Once I became an adult, life did not get any easier God was preparing me for better things to come. In 2002, my husband and I were going through many difficulties. We were struggling newlyweds with a young baby. I was also going to school. For about a year my husband and I would argue almost daily and there came a time when he became physically abusive. For a period of about a year, I experienced verbal torment, being kicked in the jaw, and being pushed around; many times in front of our child. I’ve been through too much not to worship him...
Other than the mental scars and a jaw that pops out of place every now and then, I was never injured. God’s grace and mercy...
I became so depressed that I would forget to go to school and I had difficulty completing my coursework. Because of one fight my husband and I had, I missed taking a final exam in one of my classes. I was so afraid because I was an A student. But let me tell you how the Lord works. I attended classes during that semester rarely and turned in few homework assignments. I explained to my professors the situation I was dealing with at home. When I received my report card in fall of 2002, I had received straight A’s. God’s grace and mercy...
During my last year of college, my husband was out of work for six months. He lost his job then shortly after found out that he has a tumor near his heart. He had to have emergency surgery a month before I graduated. I was attending school full-time and only worked ten hours a week on campus. We did not qualify for assistance or unemployment benefits. In those six months rent was paid, food was in the refrigerator, and no utilities were shut off. Who paid for it all? God. I was only bringing home one hundred dollars every other week. God’s grace and mercy...
By 2005, I had two little girls who needed a positive role model and one little boy on the way. I was so emotionally damaged that it was affecting every aspect of my life, even motherhood. With God, I started to make a change in my life. First, I let Him into my life completely. He showed me who He was and allowed me to develop a personal relationship with Him. Once that was sealed, windows and doors started to fly open! God’s grace and mercy...
He loosed the chains of fear and anxiety allowing me the independence to finally drive after 28 years of seclusion. God’s grace and mercy...
He gave me a meaningful career as a college instructor although I only have a bachelor’s degree (and I never had to interview for the position). God’s grace and mercy...
He’s allowed me to feel comfortable around others. Once shy and quiet, I now speak to crowds of professionals year after year on the dangers of childhood bullying. I am now making a difference in the world. God’s grace and mercy...
In my current pursuit for success, He has made it possible for me to attend graduate school. God’s grace and mercy...
And, the best blessing of all: He has given me three beautiful, healthy children. God’s grace and mercy...
When bad things happen in your life, you can choose to take one of two paths. You can be bitter and hateful all of your life or you can use your pain and turn it into something good. I took the latter road. My pain has given me determination and strength. It has also given me the ability to touch the lives of others in a special way. God has allowed me to see myself in a new light. Because of that, I no longer feel the need to close myself off from the world.
I have spent my life hidden away and afraid of experiencing all that life has to offer me. I have spent years feeling inferior, never comfortable in my own skin. I have spent a lifetime as a spectator, being unable to ask for the things that I needed and being content with settling on mediocrity. My mind has been an inescapable torture chamber. I am here only through the grace of God and I know I am here for a purpose. I could be dead right now, but God said it wasn’t time yet.
There is something that God is calling me to do and I am going to wait on Him to show me what that is. You can’t let bad things in your life stop you from reaching your goals. Each day I come across people who are a reflection of everything that I have gone through. Because of my struggle, I am able to witness to them, letting them know that I made it through and so can they. My quality of life is so much more fulfilled since I have let God take me over because I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made! I still struggle with some demons, but the difference now is that I know God for myself and I can go in my secret closet and talk with my Father about it all. Windows and doors are flying open for me and I am going walk, run, jump, hop, or do whatever I need to do to get through them.
I have learned over the years that even though it seems that some situations in my life are more than I can bear I am not the only one with a struggle. There is someone who is always going through something more complicated than me. I don`t sweat the small stuff because life is too short. Struggles and successes equal a testimony, and most importantly, I know that God will not give me more than I can bear. He`s always watching out for me and listening to every prayer, every complaint, every plea, and every cry I send his way. God will ALWAYS answers my prayers. It may not be in the way or form I think it may come in, but God will NEVER let me down!
During my life, I have experienced pain and suffering, but also joy and jubilation. Just as the Lord blessed the later days of Job’s life, I believe that he is doing the same for me. Isaiah 40:28-31 says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary? He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” He gives me power and strength everyday and he will do the same for you. All you have to do is wait on him... I did!
Beautiful Brown Girl originated in (2005) the heart and home of Sonja Smith Jones. Her desire to see her brother healed from his cracked and bleeding eczema led to a God-answered prayer. She researched the ingredients God noted in the prayer, Jones realized that each ingredient naturally counters the symptoms and effect of eczema. After finding that her products completely healed her brother's eczema, while some more popular commercialized medications were linked to causing skin cancer, she realized that God has provided everything on this earth that we need for healing. What originally started as one bar of soap and one bottle of lotion for her brother has now blossomed (and continues to grow) into a full hand-crafted bath and body product line, specially formulated to relieve painful symptoms of eczema.
In recognizing the overwhelming problem of low self-esteem and self-confidence in women, Jones seeks to remind all women regardless of their skin tone, physical stature, hair texture, financial status, past circumstances or present obstacles that they are beautiful and priceless simply because God made them (Eccl. 3:11). It was this premise that led Jones to create the idea of designing custom cigar box purses with the likeness of the owner. She initially designed a purse with her own likeness, and many took notice. Since then, there have been several celebrities to brag of owning one of Jones' original designs, such as Kim Fields, Regan Gomez-Preston, Eva Pigford, Jaqueline Ross, Cee Cee Michaela, Emayatzy, Keisha Knight Pulliam, CJ Simpson, Jackee Harry, Shirley Murdock, Anessa Hardnett, Angie Stone, Victoria Rowell, Rashan Ali, Kelly Rowland, Pastor Taffi L. Dollar and Judge Glenda Hatchett.
All products are available online at www.BeautifulBrownGirl.com 
“My Waste Became My Worth”
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Whereas in him we live, we move and have our being. I want to start off by saying these words: “Where I am today, is not where I planned to be” and this testimony is totally about God’s Agenda and not mine.
I was born and raised in a Baptist Church, my ministry started at five years old singing sermonically and in the children’s choir. Even being a small child I always knew that it was something different and strange about me. I was filled with the Holy Ghost at 11 years old and thru that, many young people were inspired to be filled as I was. Even at that age God was coaching me to be a leader. Though I had a strong anointing upon my life, and how many people that were inspired by my lifestyle and God’s anointing, I was #battling with a real bad case of “Low Self-Esteem” and Mental Malignancy. My mind was dying to depression. Many people thought that I was crazy and in need of a psychiatrist but, all I needed was someone to help me understand that it was demons trying to destroy the anointing that was placed upon me in my early age. I battled with this in my twenties until I lost my Mother who was always the backbone and the dependency of my faith. Once she died the faith of God became fertilized in me because God was all I had to depend on. I’ve sat under good leadership but even with that I was still misunderstood because of the ministry that God was trying to manifest. I was reaching out for help and I needed someone to explain what God was doing inside of me. I was hearing things and I thought it was something wrong with me but later God heard me and sent a real prophet to tell me that I was God’s Prophetess, His mouthpiece. I had been through so much rejection and disappointment when God choose me to Pastor a church. He gave me the name “Predestined Word Ministries”. I couldn’t get support from a lot of leaders. I was rejected, degraded and judged. I was laughed at, mocked, unsupported, misunderstood and was told that I wouldn’t last.
Let me say this, before I started my church I was so connected with a lot of Pastors and had a lot of favor with them. They always complimented me on the anointing that was on my life and had assured me that God was going to do something awesome through me. But when I stepped out on raw faith and did what God told me to do, without any money (all I had was one dollar to get started), but because of my stretched faith God stretched the one dollar and allowed me to start the church. When I started the church, those same Pastors that patted me on my back, and told me I was awesome, when I needed their support and their help, they turned their backs on me. They even laughed at me and said it wasn’t God and that I didn’t know what I was doing. So I started out without any support from Pastors, but God said to go out and do what I tell you and I will make a way for you in the wilderness. I want you all to know that I experienced the Worth in the Wilderness. See, when you do things that are beyond man’s comprehension they are so quick to say it isn’t God, but as long as you are doing things the way that is known to man then that’s when people think it’s of God. God is an unusual God! He said His thoughts are not like our thoughts and His ways are not like our ways. If you do things according to man’s image then guess what, it doesn’t reflect the Image of God, but when you can do the unfamiliar, the unknown, the uncommon, now you’re talking about the Image of God.
Regardless of all the hurts, the pains, the criticism, the judging, all of the obscurity and persecution that I faced and it wasn’t easy, especially being a female pastor, I was willing to stand up against all for the sake of Christ and doing His will. Even through all of the opposition, the pain, the devastation and the heartache that I endured, I never stopped doing what God told me. I stood through the stomps, praised through the pressure, worshipped through the wounds and found strength through the strains. God spoke to me and I told the church that God said “because you stood for me through the stomps, now I will stand for you and I shall take you and I shall take your name out of the grave into greatness, I am going to connect you with your own kind, you shall stand with great men and people of fame.”
Well ,God is doing what he promised. That’s why you must praise God for the people that are jealous, people who have rejected you and turned their backs on you, and embarrassed you. That’s what God means when He says “and the humble shall be exalted!” God opened the door for me. An email was sent to the famous actress Tasha Smith (Why Did I Get Married) about me. She said the Lord touched her heart to call me and to be divinely connected. God said “Now it’s time for Me to set you above and to exalt you because of your Humbleness, your Endurance and your Labor. You will no longer be last, but first, you will no longer suffer Embarrassment but Exhortation.”
I want to encourage every woman, no longer will you just serve, but you shall be served. your time of sitting is Expired!! And your standing shall be Employed!!
1. Your Embarrassment shall be your Establishment!!
2. Your Valleys shall be your Values!!
3. Your Failures shall be your Favor!!
4. Your Grief shall be your Greatness!!
5. Your Rejections shall be your Reward!!
6. Your Lack shall be your Luxury!!
7. Your Brokenness shall be your Bridge!!
8. Your Shame shall be your Shine!!
I want to give you these words of wisdom, “Don’t let your Problem become your Person” never let the situation dominate you because if you allow it to dominate you, then you will no longer be Destined but Destitute (needy, impoverished, lacking). In other words, you will never know what its like to experience the real blessings and the real deliverance. You will always be in a situation of not knowing, and not receiving, because the situation has stagnated your faith, your joy, your peace, your focus, your determination, your confidence and your standard. Don’t make your decisions based on the pleasing of Man, but base your decision on the Pleasing of God because in the end your decision in God will become your development in God!!!
May God Bless You All Abundantly,
Apostle Kimberly C. Johnson
PREDESTINED WORD MINISTRIES
“WHERE THE WORD IS DECREED BEFOREHAND”
4320 Maine Street
Dallas, TX
http://www.myspace.com/predestinedwordministries
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