A man grew up without a father figure and became heavily involved in drug use at an early age, which led to the destruction of his first two marriages. His third wife eventually gave him an ultimatum: pursue treatment or face divorce.
An elder responded, “Wait a second, this isn’t anything Jesus can’t handle.” He anointed the man’s forehead with oil and began to pray. The man was taken through deliverance, after which he experienced peace. During this time, the Holy Spirit revealed a traumatic event from when he was seven years old. He forgave his abusers in that moment, although he was not yet able to see Jesus in the memory of that event.
Later, he and his wife attended Love After Marriage (LAM) in Redding. By this time, he had undergone major open-heart surgery, including an aortic valve replacement and the insertion of a new aorta. He had previously suffered from a 7.2 cm aortic aneurysm at the entrance to his heart. His sternum had been wired shut in six places using surgical wire, and the top wire began causing severe pain and swelling. He was prescribed Percocet to manage the pain. By the third month, his surgeon indicated that another surgery would be necessary to remove the problematic wire, as his body was forming cartilage around it in an attempt to protect itself.
During this period, he began to feel the early signs of addiction to Percocet, which left him feeling hopeless. While attending couples coaching at LAM, he asked for prayer for both pain relief and what he recognized as a developing addiction. During a Sozo session, he was led back to the childhood trauma. The facilitator, Barry Byrne, gently and persistently guided him through the memory until he was able to see Jesus holding him tenderly. The encounter was intense, involving imagery of demonic activity, but as he released forgiveness—both toward others and himself—he saw a cross, and peace was restored to his soul.
The following day, he flushed his bottle of Percocet. He then went to the Healing Rooms at Bethel, where he experienced what he described as a miraculous healing: the wire causing the pain seemed to be dissolved, and the pain began to subside.
Subsequent chest X-rays confirmed that the problematic wire had disappeared. The swelling significantly reduced, nearly returning to normal, and the pain completely vanished without the need for medication. Although he experienced some spiritual battles at night, these subsided after about a month.
He later shared that the couples coaching, Sozo session was the breakthrough that propelled him into a new level of freedom and spiritual awakening—something he had never experienced before. His marriage continues to grow stronger, and he now lives in the personal, loving relationship with Jesus that he had long desired. He recognizes forgiveness as a powerful and essential step that enabled him to step into a life of purpose in God’s kingdom.