Mary's Journey
Before Jesus
Although I ticked the ‘Christian box’ on a form, I never knew Jesus as my Lord and Saviour until I truly encountered Him on 23 February 2023 when I cried out for help one night; and the God who hears, Psalm 18:6, met me there and lit a fire in my heart to love and serve Him. The next Sunday I was in church and the start of a rollercoaster spiritual journey began. Two and a half years later, with the guidance of Flame, the Lord has brought emotional, spiritual and physical healing. It has opened my eyes to the dangers of giving the devil a foothold; whether intentionally or not. What is more, by the Lord’s grace I experienced the love, provision and sovereignty of God and ‘that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him’ with repercussions that are reaching others across continents.
Since committing my life to Jesus, it hasn’t been an easy ride. We have completed three international military moves with a young family. The initial jubilation I experienced after encountering the Lord wavered as I started suffering floods of anxiety and panic attacks whenever it came to anything to do with church. Yet the Lord kept leading me to step out in faith. A number of months later, I had a fall which led to a severe flare up of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), causing excruciating neuropathic pain limiting my movement and setting me back using crutches, unable to walk more than a few metres, with severe light sensitivity and tinnitus. I say ‘setting me back’ as this all started in my early twenties after a sporting injury, which confined me to a wheelchair and took seven agonising years to learn to walk again. During this time, I resorted to all sorts of treatment, such as acupuncture, Reiki and intensive Yoga; anything to manage the pain, oblivious to the doors it may be opening.
In August 2023, having had adequate improvement in my condition we moved out to Germany for my husband’s posting, though within a couple of months of our arrival things went from bad to worse after a mix up with my medication led to severe psychosis and a hospital stay. The CRPS escalated and I found myself bedbound for three months, unable to cope with light or noise at all, spending long hours in the dark. I gradually emerged over the months that followed; my faith in the LORD more profoundly affirmed.
The clean-up begins
After a ‘chance’ meeting with Liesel & Rhett Parkinson from the Armed Forces’ Christian Union (AFCU) in Germany in June 2025, Liesel kindly offered to organise some prayer ministry with Val Hall, another AFCU member who also ministers with Flame. I willingly agreed but had no idea what to expect. In July I returned to the UK for my best friend’s wedding, with the help of a wheelchair because of the pain. During my short stay my health deteriorated so much I was unable to travel back to Germany. Stranded in the UK, away from my family, I completed three initial online sessions with Val and Liesel between 9 and 22 July and a further two in August with Val and Sharon Borland, also an AFCU member and on the Flame staff team. The Holy Spirit set the agenda, leading to unexpected areas long buried that needed the Lord’s healing.
Val said later, “I duly dug out my Ellel notes on deliverance from the ramifications of doing Yoga ready for the first session and was all prepared for what seemed to be a fairly cut-and-dried case. I really should have learnt by now that the Holy Spirit has His own agenda and we must not try to second guess Him!” Each session brought out something new and different, often with a lot of repentance and tears but the Lord is so good and as His light shone into darkness, the healing and freedom came. In the second session, a spirit of divination left my right leg; it was revealed that it came from an encounter with an acupuncturist just before I developed CRPS in 2011. Concurrently, I worked through the Fireside online teachings, finding them so informative, relevant and enlightening; I recommend to all.
A new season
Leading into session five of prayer ministry I was still taking the pain medication, using crutches to walk and was bound by the fear of pain. My husband had brought the girls to join me for the summer holidays but had to return to Germany for a further couple of weeks for work. Whilst things had improved a little, they were still very challenging even the smallest daily tasks caused pain, and light was still a huge problem. By the Lord’s strength alone and provision through the help of people around me and local church club for the girls, I seemed to manage. I had felt prompted to share my testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness during my trials with my local church in Burgh, and for anyone who knows me, standing up and speaking to a crowd is and was incredibly daunting, but again with my eyes fixed on my Saviour I endeavoured to step out in obedience and faith.
The day before the last prayer session the Lord gave me the verse Luke 1:74, “That we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear”, although this seemed so far off. Finally, during the time of prayer ministry Val brought up the Yoga and my time in India when I travelled around visiting temples, oblivious to the spiritual world about me. In Goa, I spent a month doing an intensive Yoga course, 6-8 hours a day, meditating and unknowingly devoting myself to other gods through the Yoga poses, with the aim to open what yogis call the chakras and inner eye.
I now see this as the deception it is and opening of doors for the devil. Sharon and Val so gently led me through repentance, forgiveness, breaking ungodly ties and inviting the Lord in to shut what was open and bring restoration and healing.
I can thank and praise the Lord that I have had no need for the pain medication since that session. With Luke 1:74 reverberating in my mind and the Spirit empowering me, I walked pain free for the first time in over a year and a half! Within a week I had walked 5km and within two weeks ran a 5km with my girls on a family fun run! Memories of the girl’s excitement when they told daddy on the phone, “Mummy lifted us and has been dancing round the kitchen” still bring tears to my eyes. My husband actually said, “You even sound different”. What is more, the bombardment of anxiety and negative emotional assault died to a trickle. I can only raise my hands in awe and thank and praise the Lord!
Although I ticked the ‘Christian box’ on a form, I never knew Jesus as my Lord and Saviour until I truly encountered Him on 23 February 2023 when I cried out for help one night; and the God who hears, Psalm 18:6, met me there and lit a fire in my heart to love and serve Him. The next Sunday I was in church and the start of a rollercoaster spiritual journey began. Two and a half years later, with the guidance of Flame, the Lord has brought emotional, spiritual and physical healing. It has opened my eyes to the dangers of giving the devil a foothold; whether intentionally or not. What is more, by the Lord’s grace I experienced the love, provision and sovereignty of God and ‘that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him’ with repercussions that are reaching others across continents.
Since committing my life to Jesus, it hasn’t been an easy ride. We have completed three international military moves with a young family. The initial jubilation I experienced after encountering the Lord wavered as I started suffering floods of anxiety and panic attacks whenever it came to anything to do with church. Yet the Lord kept leading me to step out in faith. A number of months later, I had a fall which led to a severe flare up of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), causing excruciating neuropathic pain limiting my movement and setting me back using crutches, unable to walk more than a few metres, with severe light sensitivity and tinnitus. I say ‘setting me back’ as this all started in my early twenties after a sporting injury, which confined me to a wheelchair and took seven agonising years to learn to walk again. During this time, I resorted to all sorts of treatment, such as acupuncture, Reiki and intensive Yoga; anything to manage the pain, oblivious to the doors it may be opening.
In August 2023, having had adequate improvement in my condition we moved out to Germany for my husband’s posting, though within a couple of months of our arrival things went from bad to worse after a mix up with my medication led to severe psychosis and a hospital stay. The CRPS escalated and I found myself bedbound for three months, unable to cope with light or noise at all, spending long hours in the dark. I gradually emerged over the months that followed; my faith in the LORD more profoundly affirmed.
The clean-up begins
After a ‘chance’ meeting with Liesel & Rhett Parkinson from the Armed Forces’ Christian Union (AFCU) in Germany in June 2025, Liesel kindly offered to organise some prayer ministry with Val Hall, another AFCU member who also ministers with Flame. I willingly agreed but had no idea what to expect. In July I returned to the UK for my best friend’s wedding, with the help of a wheelchair because of the pain. During my short stay my health deteriorated so much I was unable to travel back to Germany. Stranded in the UK, away from my family, I completed three initial online sessions with Val and Liesel between 9 and 22 July and a further two in August with Val and Sharon Borland, also an AFCU member and on the Flame staff team. The Holy Spirit set the agenda, leading to unexpected areas long buried that needed the Lord’s healing.
Val said later, “I duly dug out my Ellel notes on deliverance from the ramifications of doing Yoga ready for the first session and was all prepared for what seemed to be a fairly cut-and-dried case. I really should have learnt by now that the Holy Spirit has His own agenda and we must not try to second guess Him!” Each session brought out something new and different, often with a lot of repentance and tears but the Lord is so good and as His light shone into darkness, the healing and freedom came. In the second session, a spirit of divination left my right leg; it was revealed that it came from an encounter with an acupuncturist just before I developed CRPS in 2011. Concurrently, I worked through the Fireside online teachings, finding them so informative, relevant and enlightening; I recommend to all.
A new season
Leading into session five of prayer ministry I was still taking the pain medication, using crutches to walk and was bound by the fear of pain. My husband had brought the girls to join me for the summer holidays but had to return to Germany for a further couple of weeks for work. Whilst things had improved a little, they were still very challenging even the smallest daily tasks caused pain, and light was still a huge problem. By the Lord’s strength alone and provision through the help of people around me and local church club for the girls, I seemed to manage. I had felt prompted to share my testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness during my trials with my local church in Burgh, and for anyone who knows me, standing up and speaking to a crowd is and was incredibly daunting, but again with my eyes fixed on my Saviour I endeavoured to step out in obedience and faith.
The day before the last prayer session the Lord gave me the verse Luke 1:74, “That we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear”, although this seemed so far off. Finally, during the time of prayer ministry Val brought up the Yoga and my time in India when I travelled around visiting temples, oblivious to the spiritual world about me. In Goa, I spent a month doing an intensive Yoga course, 6-8 hours a day, meditating and unknowingly devoting myself to other gods through the Yoga poses, with the aim to open what yogis call the chakras and inner eye.
I now see this as the deception it is and opening of doors for the devil. Sharon and Val so gently led me through repentance, forgiveness, breaking ungodly ties and inviting the Lord in to shut what was open and bring restoration and healing.
I can thank and praise the Lord that I have had no need for the pain medication since that session. With Luke 1:74 reverberating in my mind and the Spirit empowering me, I walked pain free for the first time in over a year and a half! Within a week I had walked 5km and within two weeks ran a 5km with my girls on a family fun run! Memories of the girl’s excitement when they told daddy on the phone, “Mummy lifted us and has been dancing round the kitchen” still bring tears to my eyes. My husband actually said, “You even sound different”. What is more, the bombardment of anxiety and negative emotional assault died to a trickle. I can only raise my hands in awe and thank and praise the Lord!
And on to Kenya
So…how does this get us to Kenya, I hear you ask…
Back in 2022, during a military posting to Nairobi, Kenya, my husband and I were driving down to the Masai Mara for a weekend game drive. Three hours into the drive on a long open stretch of road, unexpectedly the back wheel of our Toyota came flying off, overtaking us and landing feet away from a man on the back of a motorbike. ‘Miraculously’ we pulled over safely to a bellowing, ‘Praise the Lord’ from the man, who I now know is Justus’s father.
As we set in for a long wait whilst mechanics were sought, I was given the wonderful experience to meet and play with the children at the teeny one-classroom mud school on the hill directly outside where we had stopped. This ‘chance’ encounter started a blossoming relationship between Mama Florence (now Pastor Kishoyin) and Justus her son, a young man with a passion for teaching and empowering those with physical and learning disabilities to receive an education. The school and accompanying church provide a
hub serving the rural community outside Narok town.
Years later, just before I became engrossed in the Fireside teachings, Justus messaged asking if I would pray for them; the rains had failed again, and things were really bad. ‘Coincidently’, Val sent me a link to Flame’s Healing the Land teaching and, watching this, I felt prompted to share the 2 Chronicles 7:14 verse and checked with Val if I could share the teachings as well. She felt sure that Jan would agree, so I sent the link. Pastor Kishoyin and Justus started sharing the teachings throughout their community. On the 20 August 2025, we received a celebratory video of the community dancing and praising in worship that the first rains had come. Encouraged, Justus started translating the Flame teachings into Kiswahili and Masai to share with local church elders and his bible study group. By 8 October, 3 Bishops, 8 reverends and 17 pastors were coming together to pray!
On the 29 October Justus gave us a resumé of how the teaching had been received. On Generational Influences he said, “One of the most powerful teachings; many shared positive feedback as they discovered how to break negative cycles and embrace God’s blessings for their families. We can thank and praise the Lord that the rains have now come, and the crops are beginning to grow!”
Justus has since returned from a trip to Nairobi with the Kabirus Missionaries to share the teaching more widely. He says, “I am especially glad that the Kabirus missionaries have accepted the teachings and now they are spreading across two counties. This marks a great step in expanding the message of healing, restoration, and hope through Flame International teachings.”
I thank and praise the Lord for all those who work with Flame International and for their teachings, love and care in ministry. Through a ‘chance’ conversation and offer of prayer from Liesel, the Flame teachings are beginning to multiply around Kenya and, God willing, will come to be shared with some churches out here in Germany bringing God’s blessing to others - surely (the LORD) has done great things’, Joel 2:20, and ‘it is marvellous in our eyes’, Psalm 118:23. Please thank and praise the Lord with us for all that He has done and is doing and pray that the teachings can reach more people around the world, bringing freedom and blessing.
So…how does this get us to Kenya, I hear you ask…
Back in 2022, during a military posting to Nairobi, Kenya, my husband and I were driving down to the Masai Mara for a weekend game drive. Three hours into the drive on a long open stretch of road, unexpectedly the back wheel of our Toyota came flying off, overtaking us and landing feet away from a man on the back of a motorbike. ‘Miraculously’ we pulled over safely to a bellowing, ‘Praise the Lord’ from the man, who I now know is Justus’s father.
As we set in for a long wait whilst mechanics were sought, I was given the wonderful experience to meet and play with the children at the teeny one-classroom mud school on the hill directly outside where we had stopped. This ‘chance’ encounter started a blossoming relationship between Mama Florence (now Pastor Kishoyin) and Justus her son, a young man with a passion for teaching and empowering those with physical and learning disabilities to receive an education. The school and accompanying church provide a
hub serving the rural community outside Narok town.
Years later, just before I became engrossed in the Fireside teachings, Justus messaged asking if I would pray for them; the rains had failed again, and things were really bad. ‘Coincidently’, Val sent me a link to Flame’s Healing the Land teaching and, watching this, I felt prompted to share the 2 Chronicles 7:14 verse and checked with Val if I could share the teachings as well. She felt sure that Jan would agree, so I sent the link. Pastor Kishoyin and Justus started sharing the teachings throughout their community. On the 20 August 2025, we received a celebratory video of the community dancing and praising in worship that the first rains had come. Encouraged, Justus started translating the Flame teachings into Kiswahili and Masai to share with local church elders and his bible study group. By 8 October, 3 Bishops, 8 reverends and 17 pastors were coming together to pray!
On the 29 October Justus gave us a resumé of how the teaching had been received. On Generational Influences he said, “One of the most powerful teachings; many shared positive feedback as they discovered how to break negative cycles and embrace God’s blessings for their families. We can thank and praise the Lord that the rains have now come, and the crops are beginning to grow!”
Justus has since returned from a trip to Nairobi with the Kabirus Missionaries to share the teaching more widely. He says, “I am especially glad that the Kabirus missionaries have accepted the teachings and now they are spreading across two counties. This marks a great step in expanding the message of healing, restoration, and hope through Flame International teachings.”
I thank and praise the Lord for all those who work with Flame International and for their teachings, love and care in ministry. Through a ‘chance’ conversation and offer of prayer from Liesel, the Flame teachings are beginning to multiply around Kenya and, God willing, will come to be shared with some churches out here in Germany bringing God’s blessing to others - surely (the LORD) has done great things’, Joel 2:20, and ‘it is marvellous in our eyes’, Psalm 118:23. Please thank and praise the Lord with us for all that He has done and is doing and pray that the teachings can reach more people around the world, bringing freedom and blessing.
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