Introduction
I (Robert J. Sanders) recently went to a conference on Kingdom Economics. At one point in the conference a man got up and spoke about how the Lord Jesus could heal families. His name was Garmen Cyprian. He began by talking about African-American families as he was African-American. Although African-Americans make up 13% of the population, they comprise 37% of all abortions. In Louisiana, where Garmen lives, 76% of the prison population is black. Garmen had been called by God to do something about this, and it had to do with Jesus healing the family. For Garmen, it began with his own family. At the end of the conference, I asked him if I could hear more of his testimony. He said yes, and several days later we talked by telephone. He shared with me and I wrote as he spoke. Here is his testimony, essentially in his own words.
The Testimony
When I was five, my father died. It left me broken and with the spirit of fear. This caused me lots of problems every day, such as spiritual rejection and difficulty in getting along with others. I didn't know anything about spirituality, so as I grew up, these things bothered me. I was tormented by such things as fear, rejection, and anger. This lasted until my 20s. I had stomach problems for years, irritated bowel syndrome, and doctors couldn’t seem to help me. I went to five or six specialists and took the medication they recommended, but it didn't work. I decided to take the medicine and just suffer.
Finally, I heard about a ministry called, "Be in Health," located in Thomaston, Georgia. I went there for their teaching. For the first time in my life, I came to know who God really is, who Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Satan are, and who I am, and who the people around me are. As a result, I was able to interact in the world the way God wanted me to. I came to recognize that I was dominated by a spirit of fear. I was a Christian, but I didn't know about evil spirits. It took time to get rid of them. I had to walk it out day by day, walking out of Satan's kingdom and to God's kingdom by dealing with the issue on a daily basis. First, I had to recognize fear for what it is, a spirit, a spirit that commands you, controls you, and tells you what to do. For years, I have been listening to and obeying this spirit. I was a deacon in the Baptist Church, but no one there knew anything about this. But through the Ministry of "Be in Health," I learned about these things.
When I met my wife, I thought she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. We got married and then all sorts of problems arose. Although we came from different backgrounds, she came from a broken family as well, and we were both dealing with spiritual issues without knowing it. I was dedicated to the family and to staying together since the children didn't deserve to be without their parents. I thought I was responsible to keep the family together. Divorce was not an option. I suffered awfully every day. Between us, there was no trust, only anger, frustration, and all the negative emotions you can imagine. After our weekend in Thomaston, Georgia we came home and started to build a life together.
I decided that my responsibility was to do what God called me to do and not worry about what my wife did or did not do. God's Word showed me what God wanted me to do. He wanted me to obey him, and that meant he wanted me to love my wife. My eyes were opened and I saw that God was telling me to love her no matter what. I decided that no matter what she did, I would love her. After a few months of this, she asked me what was going on. I told her that God had commanded me to love her and that was what I was going to do. Then she decided that she didn't want to live the way she has lived in the past. She wanted to live as I was living, to live the way God commands. Then the relationship began to change, not overnight as it took time to work through the various issues and to cast out the evil spirits. We had been in strife for 20 years and had been in the habit of listening to strife, hatred and bitterness. We had to learn to listen to God, to go from the evil kingdom to the godly kingdom. Things got better as time went on. We stopped suffering in the marriage and started praying together. God was healing our marriage, teaching us to love each other. Our bodies were healed as well. The irritated bowel syndrome that had afflicted me for years went away as did my stomach problem. My wife was also healed. She was healed of lupus, TMJ, fibromyalgia, heart palpitations, and other things as well. Not everything has been healed, but most of it has left.
Some months later, my wife and I felt called by God to leave the church where we had been worshiping and to start a ministry together. We felt that Mark 16:15-20 was a calling on our lives. We began to minister to other people using materials from the Pleasant Valley Church. By that time, our children were practically grown and had left for college. We begin to help people get free of the evil spirits that were attacking them. We addressed their health issues and help bring restoration to their families. We showed people how they were being controlled by evil spirits and in bondage to Satan. We showed them how to walk out of Satan's kingdom into God's Kingdom. This is a daily walk. A great many people were helped and blessed. Broken marriages have been healed, and anger and bitterness have been overcome. Thyroid problems have been healed, gallbladder issues, and other things as well. Jesus is our peace if we would listen to him. Many people have come to us, and we do not ask them for money. Much of what we teach on marriage comes from Ephesians 5. Just as the Father loved Jesus perfectly, and Jesus loves us perfectly, we are called to love our wives perfectly. We need to forgive our earthly fathers for not loving us perfectly, and then receive the love of our heavenly Father. Then we are able to love our families. Restoring the family starts with the men. We can do these things because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ gave us everything we need on the cross, yet we often do not receive what he did for us. The local churches would not have anything to do with us, although we only taught what we could find in Scripture.
Five years ago I retired. Until then, I had worked for the electric company, working as a lineman. I am a regular guy. If I can do it, anybody can do it. It really begins by being obedient to Jesus.
They are two spirits out there today. John the Baptist was of the religious spirit. Jesus, however, did what the Father called him to do. He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, and cast out demons. John was not able to do these things. Jesus could not have done these things without the Holy Spirit leading him. That is the problem with the churches. They have not received the Holy Spirit, and therefore, they do not do the ministry of Jesus which is the will of the Father. Jesus said that he would send the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit would lead believers into all truth and knowledge. We cannot do what God is calling us to do without that leadership. We teach that God loves us perfectly, and that we should love in the same way, having full faith and trust in everything that Jesus said and did. It isn't about us, it's about him. God supplies everything we need to heal the mess around us. It all begins when we seek him diligently and are willing to do what he says.
My wife and I are willing to help anyone who needs help.
Garmen and Gloria Cyprian
116 Bluefield Drive
Slidell La. 70458
[email protected]
