P. Pires – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

At a time in my Christian walk when I was searching for help to remain spiritually strong and learn about spiritual warfare, I was blessed to have heard of the ministry of Rev. Simone Noel and God’s Military Boot Camp. I attended the week long sessions in the early nineties and had little thought, at the time, of how important these lessons would someday become. At Boot Camp, I had received “my declarations” and recited them faithfully during my prayer time for years afterward. So much so, in fact, that I had come to have them memorized and no longer needed to read them aloud. They became part of my everyday prayer life and were so ingrained in my spirit as to spring from my lips whenever I had need of extra strength to build up my faith in times of testing and trials. I remember using what I was taught at God’s Military Boot Camp many times in my position as a church administrator when I was called on to pray for others who had either called or come to the church for spiritual help.

But it was my own crisis in April of 1999, when my daughter and I were in a near fatal car accident, when my own faith and what I had been taught by Sister Simone, were truly put to the test. I had been involved in a head-on crash for which the “jaws of life” had to be used to extract me from the crumpled wreck. I had 14 broken bones including 8 compound fractures. I had lost 50% of my blood volume and had a collapsed lung. Almost from the instant the wreck had occurred my “spirit man” took over and despite being in unbelievable pain and shock I had begun to intercede in tongues. (In my mind I was repeating over and over “I will live and not die”) The emergency crew, who had worked for 40 minutes with a torch to cut away my car and pull me up through the roof, had heard me praying and were telling the ambulance personnel they might need an interpreter because I didn’t speak English!

Needless to say, with both ankles broken and both knees as well as a shattered thigh bone and both arms broken in multiple places my recovery would be long and painful. I knew immediately why God had spoken to me years earlier to attend God’s Military Boot Camp. Everything I learned there from praying the scriptures to standing your ground in faith and declaring the Word against all obstacles I used everyday of my recovery. I was in the hospital for 3 months and the first prognosis was not encouraging. Doctors were unsure if I would ever walk again. Every day was a battle. I had scriptures written out and placed all over my room. I remember once I was told that my left knee had a “range of motion” of only 38 degrees (normal range of motion for a knee is 120 degrees) – so I had to declare over and over “with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible” and “I am the healed of the Lord and I WALK in divine health”. I remember Rev. Simone teaching us that if someone would tear down your faith with negativity then they shouldn’t be allowed to stay around you – and believe me there were times I had to stop people from saying the most negative things to me – either believe with me for a miracle or leave!

Well, it took over 2 years of therapy, but I praise God that I did recover completely and am walking unassisted (just with a slight limp) and every day I thank the Lord for the ministry of Rev. Simone Noel and God’s Military Boot Camp which the Lord used to give me the strength and courage to walk through the darkest time in my life and live to declare His goodness and His faithfulness to everyone I meet.

P. Pires

Ft. Lauderdale, FL