Nearly a year ago I started hearing that a friend of mine (Richard, whose story is also on this website), who had been really sick with ME/CFS for 15 years, had been helped by the Lightning Process. The first time I heard about it I didn’t actually know it was Richard they were talking about and when I had a look at the Lightning Process on the internet I just dismissed it because I thought it sounded too weird. Being a Christian I thought it sounded a bit new age and it mentioned something called self-hypnosis which definitely sounded strange! Then I heard about it from another friend who had been at Bible College with both Richard and I back in 1992. She told me Richard was out of bed and doing well. I got in touch with him and asked him about the LP. He was saying he didn’t have ME any more! He was able to keep going for 12 hours straight and still be feeling fine. This is someone who was so sick he was stuck in bed and unable to read or talk on the phone! So I asked him some questions about it, particularly the “hypnosis”. He explained to me that he didn’t know why they call it that because it is definitely not hypnotism and you are fully conscious and totally in control the whole time. He said it was more about being relaxed and confident. And after learning to do the LP myself, I would say it’s more about remembering how you felt when you were healthy and reminding yourself of that!
Another thing that Richard told me was that the LP seminar costs $1500 Australian dollars. I knew that it would take me a few months to save up that kind of money. I thought this would be a good thing because it meant I would have to wait a while. I wanted to have time to pray about it and to make sure it was something God wanted me to be doing and I also wanted to wait to see how Richard was doing a few months down the track! Having now learned the LP for myself I can see that once you start using it you are well and it would only be if you stopped using it that you could go back to being sick again. There wasn’t much chance of that with Richard. He was very determined not to go back!
By the time I put in my application in August I was sure it was what God was leading me to do. He had given me some very clear scripture verses about healing. The most prominent one was from Malachi 4:2 which says “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.” And Richard was going from strength to strength and making huge progress.
Ian phoned me for my phone interview and accepted me straight away. This meant I had a bit of a wait until the dates for the seminar were finally confirmed for February. But he did phone me again closer to the time and it was encouraging to have that contact with him while I was waiting.
So in February I travelled up to Auckland, using a wheelchair to save my energy at the airports, to attend the seminar. I flew up on the Tuesday and the seminar began at 9am the next day. It was one of the hottest days on record for Auckland and it was a long day. We didn’t finish until after 5pm. There were 5 of us ladies at the seminar, all with similar conditions. On the first day we were taught an abridged version of the process and sent home with a goal to achieve something that we wouldn’t normally do. My goal was to go for a 10 minute walk along the street and back. The most walking I usually did was around the supermarket! The house where I was staying had a short, but very steep driveway and stairs in it and the seminar was also up a flight of stairs. After the seminar finished I stood at the bus stop for over half an hour in the sun and heat waiting for the bus to arrive to take me home. It was a huge day for me! I got home about 6pm and by the time we had dinner it was 7pm. I headed down to my bedroom to memorise the steps of the process and then put on my new walking shoes and went for my walk. When I got back I did my “homework” like a good girl – hehe – and sent an email to all the people who were praying for me. I still hadn’t noticed any change from using the process and was a bit disappointed because I had read success stories of people having success with the LP on the first day! Anyway, I headed to bed and was feeling quite anxious. The anxiety had kicked in the minute I left home because I was away from my comfort zone. So I tried doing the process again, this time saying I wanted to be calm. The only thing I can say is Wow! There I was just lying in bed, just doing what we had been taught to do which was basically just talking to myself (something I do all the time anyway! hehe) and I realised my whole body was feeling relaxed. I started getting excited and was thinking “I think it’s working!”
I woke up in the middle of the night with some abdominal pain that had been a problem for years and my whole body was screaming at me because of all I’d been doing over the last few days, especially the first day of the seminar! I did the LP and the pain all disappeared and the abdominal pain hasn’t come back since! I went back to sleep and woke up feeling ok the next day. I waited until I was on the bus and texted some of my family saying “I think it’s working!”
On the second day of the seminar we were taught the full version of the process. Ian took us through it one by one and after I had had my turn and was sitting down while the next lady was being taken through it, I noticed that my hands were really relaxed. I was sitting there playing with them because it felt so funny! That day we finished at 4pm and one of the ladies gave me a ride home to where I was staying. That evening I went for a walk with the lady I was staying with along to the shops to get ice-creams. It was about a 15-20 minute walk. That night when I sent out my email it was a very excited one to say that the LP was working!
On the third day we were asked to get up one by one and talk about the successes we had had with the LP in the last 24 hours (we had done this on the second day too). While I was talking I got really excited when I realised how much I had been doing and how good I was feeling. When I had finished Ian said “Who is this imposter? What have you done with Debbie? You’re all bubbly and excited!” I just told him that that was me! It was the same for all 5 of us at the seminar. We all had huge success with the LP and we could see it on each other’s faces. I have had someone say to me that the LP has changed my whole personality! But those who knew me before I became ill 15.5 years ago know that that is the real me. The LP has just given me my life back!
After the seminar finished on the Friday at 3pm, I walked down the road to Newmarket and met up with a friend who I hadn’t seen for 20 years. Then the next day another friend came and took me out for brunch down at Mission Bay. It was a lovely day and I felt like we could have talked for hours! That afternoon I met up with another friend at the airport before flying back to Christchurch (without the wheelchair this time!). That was Saturday evening. On the Sunday afternoon I went for a walk around the block in the hot sun with my sister and her dog and then went to church with her that night. I have been staying seated during the worship times at my own church on the few occasions that I could get there and I was standing and singing and clapping and moving to the music for the first time in I don’t know how long!
The next day I woke up feeling fantastic and headed into Christchurch to pick up some card-making supplies and to go clothes shopping. I figured that I needed more clothes if I’m going to be going out more! Clothes shopping has been something I have kept to a minimum over the last 15 years because of how tiring it was trying clothes on. I tried on heaps of things and it was easy! And I got some very good bargains. I headed back to my sister’s place for a quick lunch before driving home that afternoon.
The next morning I woke up feeling good again and walked (10 minutes each way) around to my Mum’s place. She has had ME for 26 years and was really pleased that it had worked for me. I think we were both surprised by how major and sudden the change was. I am suddenly well and the huge thing for me is that I can now do anything I want to, without paying for it later.
I visited my Dad the next day and he is really pleased for me too, saying it’s like having the old Debbie back again! Since coming home I have been walking or exercising most days and I can go out at any time I like. I have seen my doctor who was just really excited for me and who gave me a prescription so that I can start coming off some of the medication I’m on. I went into the church one day and sat down with my pastor and explained the LP to him and answered all his questions. He wants to be ready for questions from people at church! I immediately increased the hours that I’m working when I got home and am now working twice as many hours. I have cancelled my “home help” lady and am now doing all my housework myself.
I have been to church the last 2 Sundays at my own church, standing for the whole of the worship time (about 30 minutes) and the only thing hurting was my feet! They will just have to get used to it! A couple of weeks ago I stayed for a lunch after church and was wandering around socialising with people and standing talking to people too!
And it is only 3 weeks since the seminar!
For those of you who are Christians and who are considering the Lightning Process I want to say that there is nothing “spiritual” about it. It is purely a mind-body technique. I was totally comfortable with everything we were taught at the seminar and everything we were asked to do. There was never a time when I felt uncomfortable.
I also want to say that Ian was nothing but totally professional, supportive and encouraging and committed to us getting the success we wanted and still is! He is only an email away if I have any questions. And he was really easy to listen to at the seminar. I am amazed that I was able to concentrate for 3 days straight!
I am so grateful to God that He has given Phil Parker and others the understanding of how the Lightning Process works and that He is using it to heal people and give them back their lives.
Debbie,
New Zealand.