While at Encounter 2020 our dear son reported that he knew God loved him. It was after the Eucharistic Procession held at Kid’s Track. I asked him if he felt anything when he touched Jesus in the monstrance as many other children were doing. He lit up and said, “I could feel heat running through my whole body, Mom. I know God loves me.” I asked him which of the four times he felt this and he said each time he touched the monstrance. “I felt the most the last time.” He experienced a powerful healing at Encounter 2020 and claimed a couple weeks after our return, “Mom, Jesus healed me of an evil spirit.” To which I responded, “Really? How do you know that?” “It used to be bigger than me and now it’s smaller than me,” he reported. “When did it happen?” “When I closed my eyes [during an activation at Kid’s Track] and I saw a dancing, funny heart with arms and legs come out of my body and it went up to my head.” This report came about a week after the Conference right after having listened to the account of the boy demoniac (Mt 17: 14-21) on audio through Tan Books’ The Story of the Bible: Vol II, New Testament on CD in the car.
We adopted our youngest, knowing that he came from a significant experience of trauma prior to his arrival in our arms and home. We carefully discerned this decision and felt the Lord asking us “to get messy” with this leap of faith. We had no idea how messy things would get. In his earliest history with us, there were not many incidences causing us to notice how significantly his development and behavior would be once he was a little over 3 yrs old. Having reared two other children through the early years, we expected that 3-4yrs old would be more challenging. We had NO idea of how much suffering the next couple of years would hold for our family due to his episodes of rage and out of control behavior that increasingly inhibited our family’s ability to grow both individually and as a whole. We thought, hoped and prayed that perhaps his development was delayed and that maybe he’d have a shift as he got closer to 4 ½ which didn’t happen. It took a recognition that our ability to assure the personal safety of particularly our other children was being further compromised with each passing day that we began a diligent search for help when he was about 5 years old in the Spring of 2019.
Through Divine Providence we were led by referrals to a social worker, psychiatrist and occupational therapist by the fall of 2019 after having had his needs assessed a few times by other professionals. At about the same time of these initial assessments (June) we came into knowledge and awe of the Church’s new ministry called Encounter Ministries. As the fall unfolded we learned more and more about how to better adapt to our son’s pronounced challenges of self-regulation and began him on medication that was increased incrementally till year-end. We also made the decision to attend Encounter 2020 as a family in hopes of our relentless prayer being answered, “Jesus, please heal our son.” Prior to the Conference we discussed searching out the diocesan exorcist if we didn’t notice marked improvement after having gone to the Encounter Conference. Praise God!!!! We have witnessed a noticeable healing, which continues. He seems to have a greater capacity for attachment in his relationships within our family, particularly his parents. His social worker and occupational therapist also noted the increased calmness in his disposition upon our return. We were able to slightly decrease his dosage of medicine and delay his incremental increase. His psychiatrist referred to his amount as a “dinky dose”. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of Your Spirit very much alive in Encounter Ministries. Our family glorifies You, Father, in the powerful healing you continue to work in our son and family. Count on our eternal gratitude for the yeses being said in the service of the Encounter Ministries Team. Jesus is alive, and we’ve seen his glory! Alleluia!”