Matthew McCall Testimony - Richland, Washington - August 2005 TESTIMONY OF ART MATHIAS, Ph.D. In February, 1997, I was injured in an accident. It took several months, and much agony, to understand what had happened to me. I had ruptured three discs in my neck. My right arm and shoulder atrophied to the point where I had little strength or use left in them. The doctors told me that I would never regain the former strength or full use of my arm. In January, 1998, after the doctors finally figured out what was wrong, I had surgery to fuse four vertebrae in my neck. After the surgery, the severe cramping in my arm and shoulder was gone but I found that almost everything that I touched or ate caused me to hurt. The tips of my fingers and toes were numb, and the numbness was progressing up my arms and legs. My nerves were dying in my toes and fingers, and I was now allergic to almost all foods and clothing. The Mayo Clinic diagnosed me with “small fiber neuropathy” and predicted that it would progress up my arms and legs until it reached a vital organ and then I would die. My sister sent me tapes from a seminar she had attended which taught about the connection between sin in our lives and disease. As I listened to the tapes and applied the Biblical principles to my own life. I was healed. I was raised in a Christian home, and graduated from a Christian college with a degree in Bible and psychology. I had never understood that I had unforgiveness and bitterness in my life, yet by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit, I was convicted that I did. I began to learn how my physical ailments were a consequence of those sins in my life. In my resentment and unforgiveness, my body had produced too much adrenaline which had weakened my immune system- thus allowing the allergies. The allergies were causing my nerve endings to die, to the point that the doctors believed the process would cause my death within a few years. After I forgave others and myself, God healed my nerve damage, restored my right arm and shoulder completely, and healed all my allergies. My health was restored! When people saw the dramatic changes in my life, they began to ask me what had happened. I began to share my story, and what God had done in my life. This led to the founding of Wellspring Ministries, as many other people wanted to learn to apply the Biblical principles of forgiveness in their own lives. "My father is a paranoid schizophrenic and was bi-polar when I was a child. My father’s behavior was brutal and crazy and my family and I live with the aftermath of his treatment. I have seen my mother beaten by my father. Since my father was paranoid there was always as sense of suspicion, distrust and secrecy in our home. Everything was kept in the house. I did know I was abused, born out of wedlock, and I now suffer from auto-immune diseases. I hated myself, I was ashamed of myself, and I especially hated the way I looked. I could see so much of my father in myself. There was just ugliness staring at me when I looked at a mirror. I never thought I was anything but homely. I really believed that. Art prayed breaking the authority of the bastard’s curse over us that one night and I felt this lifting in my spirit. I started to apply the Wellspring Prayer on the bookmark Art handed out. I chose to forgive myself and not blame myself for what happened in my childhood. I chose not to hate myself. I started to forgive the painful memories of my past. I tried to take to heart what God says about me: “I am the apple of His eye.” One day after that meeting I passed my mother’s little stand with the 8x10 picture of my two daughters and myself taken eighteen years ago. I dislike intensely how I look in pictures. I glanced at the picture and it went out of focus. I stopped and stared at it. It was all fuzzy and I had my glasses on! Suddenly everything cleared up and I was staring at a very pretty woman and her young children. I had never seen myself look like that before. Who am I to hate what God has created in His own image? I was in tears and awe. Bit by bit as I strive to work through each and every memory that crops up in my mind a little bit of bitterness goes. A little bit of anger dissipates. A little bit of resentment is lifted. A little bit or a lot of offense is dissipated. I get a little bit freer and a little more joyful. It’s all a process. It is often slow but there are those major ones like the one above that really shouts out to the world, “Hey, this stuff works!” It takes diligence and persistence. If you do the work, it works.” (Illinois) “I had liver disease and it was to the point of needing a transplant but God intervened through counseling at Wellspring. I have a new life and the liver disease is gone! After going to the doctor last Friday and seeing my surgeon from Emory, he said that all my blood work was normal and that I was not a candidate for a liver transplant at this time. Thanks be to our Lord and thank you.” (South Carolina) "Your ministry has kept me in prayer...Liver Results & HIV tests are back & Excellent! I have just heard from my Liver Specialist: my Hepatitis C viral level is undetectable! After only 3 months of the 1 yr. of treatment; plus no signs of anemia! And as an EXTRA Heavenly bonus---my HIV viral level is ALSO undetectable." (New York) "My PMS is gone, my eczema is healing. I no longer fear men and can look them in the eye. My fear of spiders is gone and much more! I have quit believing the lies the enemy has kept me in." (Oregon) "I was freed from a root of bitterness that had been buried deep inside of me for over 42 years and ruining my life and walk with the Lord. Now I am free to help others! Praise God!" (California) "It was like I was fighting blindfolded until I read Biblical Foundations of Freedom. It changed my life and now I understand how to pray and be free in Christ." (Washington) “For 19 years, my life resembled one of the skeletons in Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. Chronic fatigue and chemical sensitivities (which rendered me "allergic" to almost everything in my environment) isolated me and dried up most of my activities, relationships, and opportunities. I believed I was doomed to live permanently with this strange illness for which I had found no specific cause, no known cure, or even a reliable treatment. Unknown to me, fear, bitterness, self-bitterness, and hopelessness were sucking the life out of me. Then I heard of Wellspring's ministry through a woman’s healing from this same condition, I availed myself of the ministry's books, seminars, and prayer counseling. My health improved over a period of months as my body reflected the emotional and spiritual healing I was experiencing. My spiritual life soared as I learned how to be "more than a conqueror" through Jesus Christ. The abundant life and joy promised in the Scripture became mine! Two years later, by daily repenting, forgiving, and taking every thought captive, I continue to walk in freedom and joy. I eat what I want, wear what I want, and travel freely. I have reconnected with the world around me and have a future and a hope. Many thanks to all at Wellspring Ministries for sharing God’s truths which brought healing to my body, soul and spirit! God is so amazing and so gracious! He does more than we can ask or imagine! He deserves all the glory and praise!" (Oregon) "I have tears of joy and excitement for what the Lord has done for me! Looking for answers from anguish I took pills from a doctor and was very sick on them. The side effects were misdiagnosed and I was given more to cover up those symptoms. Then I was taken off of them in cold turkey withdrawal. I was tortured mentally and physically when my brain and nervous system tried to correct themselves. I tried to remedy things myself with therapists and organic diets, etc. I didn't realize the root of my problems were spiritual. All the organic carrot juice in the world couldn't cure what was happening to me. It was time to pull out the armor of God. Through counseling at Wellspring my faith continues to grow. I am able to do things I haven't been able to do in years! I have peace and scriptures are alive to me now. Doctors said it would be 4-6 years for the central nervous system to heal it self—and I am healed in months!" (Indiana) "I would like to thank Dr. Mathias for his excellent book, Biblical Foundations of Freedom. It provided me such freedom from a lifetime of difficult issues. After working through these prayers, I received a miracle that eventually healed me from a 20 year ulcerative colitis problem. The doctors couldn't explain my healing--no scar tissue, nothing! This was five years ago, and I have been without drugs or symptoms since." (Ohio) In Acts 10:34, scripture says, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons...” We are each precious in His sight. What He has done for me, and for our ministry clients, He can and will do for you! "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases." (Psalm 103:2-3) A non-profit ministry dedicated to healing the body, mind and soul through application of Biblical principles. See: Psalms 103:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:24-26 Web Site by Sundog Media & Alaska Internet Services