Paolo and Damaris on the day they took their wedding-vows in 2023

Jesus was my great Healer!!

By Paolo Fornicale, 26^th April 2024

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

Following Jesus is not a religion but an experience, an encounter with someone real.

I was born in Sicily into a Christian family, I went to church every Sunday and I was raised by parents who spoke to me about this great God who performs miracles and powerful wonders in the church and in our family. However, I often found going to church boring, the meetings too long and the thought I had of God was that he existed, but I thought he was detached and far from me.

At the age of 8 I began to have a strong allergy to dust; as soon as I entered a room I began to turn all red, my nose closed making it difficult to breathe and my eyes swelled.

It was embarrassing to be around others. The kids at my school made fun of me and I had difficulty relating to everyone. And what’s sadder, there was no cure, just the medicines that helped calm the allergy when it came.

At the age of 10 I had another problem with my right eye, the opticians had noticed that I had a gland in my eye that needed to be removed. So there was a first, and then a second and a third surgery… but nothing, the opticians said that there was no cure and probably in later years it would be dangerous, and there was the option that I could lose my right eye.

A few months later, another problem, my chest slightly moved a few centimetres to the left. This was visible outside and inside, and this created a lot of problems for my body and vital organs to function properly.

And all these physical problems led to further confirmation that God did not care about me, he did not see my suffering and my pain.

At the age of 16 I stopped coming to church as regularly as before, I started going out with guys who drank and smoked and this initially made me feel good.

But after a while I really started to feel lost, without a purpose, without a meaning.

One evening my mother said to me: “Come to church this evening, there is a powerful missionary who comes from Africa.”

I said, “Ok , I’ll let you know…”

That evening for the first time I “prayed” and felt God with me in my room, the question could be: what incredible prayer did you make?

My prayer was just a simple cry of suffering to God, where I presented to him my feelings, I poured out my heart without holding back, as I had never done with anyone before, and went on: “I know that you have done great things in my family, I want you to do them in my life too.”

That evening I went to church and the missionary began to preach; at the end of the sermon I felt touched. I remember him preaching of this Jesus who performed miracles in the city of Capernaum, and he made an appeal saying Jesus is visiting this city this evening as he visited Capernaum. If you need a powerful miracle come forward and he will heal you.

At that moment I felt a faith grow in my heart and I went forward.

As I went forward I felt a fire above my head, I began to tremble and speak in other tongues and as if someone was surrounding my body and healing my chest, my eye and every part of me.

If this wasn’t enough, immediately after the meeting I started to feel better, then I started booking appointments with the doctors.

And one after another they began to be amazed by the analyses. Saying it’s a miracle. One of the doctors even asked me if I had a twin and they were wrong. My chest and organs were back in the right place, my allergy was gone and the gland in my eyes was gone.

This is to testify that the same Jesus who had visited Capernaum had visited me in person that evening. I could feel it, not a religion but a powerful encounter with the person of Him. And if you believe it, He is able to do the same in your life.

When I was 18 years old, I came to England and attended the International Bible Training Institute (IBTI) in Burgess Hill, to study for the ministry. There I met my lovely bride, Damaris, who comes from Naples. We knew little English and it was not easy, but the Lord helped us and we graduated successfully.

We are now on the leadership team of New Horizon Christian Centre in Eastwood, Nottingham and in charge of the Youth Work. That is another story how God led us here and provided for all our needs, and we praise and thank Him for His faithfulness and help to us!

Paolo Fornicale