Testimony of Joyce Lees

I am 1 of 4 children and I have 2 sisters and 1 brother and I was born in Nether Whitacre. I am the youngest and there is 8 years between me and my next sister and she and my other sister were born very close together.

My Mom died when I was 20 she was always a very poorly lady BUT worked when she could to keep us children, as my father was a miner who was always drinking and smoking and Mom had to go to work when she was able or bartered to keep her children clothed and fed but I can never really remember going without, as my siblings were older and were working whilst I was still at school and they, my sisters, helped to buy things that I needed to help Mom out and they contributed to help me stay on at school as the Headmaster wanted me to, as I was good at some things, so I have always been so grateful to them. Of course we have had words over the years, mainly because of the age difference but as I matured, then all 3 of us became very close and have remained so.

However, until the age of 54 I was always told that I wasn’t wanted and had been told that the Local Dr and also a friend of the family wanted to adopt me, this did not happen but it remained in my mind that I wasn’t wanted but of course I was, then in 2002 I was on a power boat and their was a “freak wave” when coming out of Portsmouth Harbour and unfortunately I ended up with 2 fractured vertebrae, although we didn’t know this at the time. As a result of this accident, I had to give up work and my sisters took it in turns to stay with me all day and night, leaving their husbands for 3 weeks and after that period they just came during the day. It was during one of these days, when I was in such a lot of pain and on lots of medication, I said to my sister Josie “I am going to jump out of the window”, she couldn’t say anything for laughing, when she had calmed down she said “I don’t know how you are going to do that , you can’t even get out of bed” which was true and we both laughed and it was at this time that I said “why wasn’t I wanted as a baby, she said I was and I said but I was always told I wasn’t, she said I was stupid, I was always wanted but it was too much for Mom, as she was always poorly. I said but you have all let me believe I wasn’t wanted all these years, she said she didn’t realize it had affected me all this time and so I started to look at things differently.

In my time at home,as a result of this accident, my Dr.( Keith Pascoe) kept asking me go to Church, it wasn’t that I didn’t believe, as my Mom had brought us all up to believe and I regularly went to Church as a youngster, however, I felt that I couldn’t go but he convinced me that whatever I felt, God would always forgive me and love me, so in May 2003 I ventured to Coton Green, taken by Keith for many months, as I couldn’t drive. I had had to put my house on the market as I couldn’t afford the mortgage for more than 12 months and it was during this time that I had shingles in my ear and eye and this is why I am still totally deaf today in one ear, I also had bells palsy BUT I was prayed with by Bruce and Judith Ackers and the very next day the bells palsy had disappeared, what a miracle. I still have health problems today but I have tried to overcome them and I do enjoy life as much as I possibly can.

I had not been at Church long, when I received the Holy Spirit and wanted to be baptized but, as with a lot of things I didn’t realise I wasn’t ready and it has taken me a long time to get to this stage and the Lord has been so wonderful to me and now I have been really blessed and when Pastor David told me I could be baptized, HALLELUJAH, so today is going to be the start of my new life, where I repent all my sins and am blessed with the Holy Spirit and baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

I have lived by myself for about 23 years and along the way have had a lot of ups and downs but have always survived but didn’t realize at the time that it was God who always knew when I needed help of any kind and he always provided and pointed me in the right direction.

Just a short(ish) story but people who don’t know me personally will now have a better idea of who I am. I can only thank Coton Green Church for being such a welcoming Church and I am grateful for my Church brothers and sisters.