25 YEARS AND COUNTING

GEORGE HENRy, STAR Writer

The Deeside New Testament Church of God in Trelawny is blessed to have as its prayer warrior, Claudette Wright. She has been a child of God over the past 25 years and is happy that she started her Christian journey at the time she did.

"I started in the church from I was a very young girl; however, there was an interruption, but I returned to the Lord at the right time. My father was a minister and, at first, I got saved at the age of nine; and then somewhere along the line I broke off, but returned to what is best for me," said the prayer warrior.

Wright said she is more than convinced that God has been good to her over these years. She said God's care in her life makes her believe that the best thing that a man, woman, boy or girl could do with their life, is to give it to Him so that he can guide it.

"Had it not been for the Lord on my side, I do not know what would have happened. I do not think I would have been around, because He has done so many things for me and worked so many miracles in my life," said the churchwoman.

challenging situation

She shared that God healed her from cancer, and if she can be delivered by God from the dreaded disease, she should be able to fight any other challenging situation in her life and win, because the 'Miracle Worker' is always on her side.

Wright, a teacher by profession, pointed out that when she was appointed vice-principal at the Hastings Primary School in the parish, that, to her, was a miracle worked in her life by God.

"There was somebody else who could have got the job as vice-principal; but I believe I was favoured by the Lord for that position," said the praying woman.

She is sure that she is one of those persons who are highly favoured because, throughout her life, growing up in a middle-class family, she has not had any reason to struggle, because she has been fortunate to have the Lord on her side.

"I was brought up in a home where there was comfort. My father died and he left a home for me; and all along God has been blessing me like that. Apart from material blessings, I think I have received many spiritual blessings from God," said Wright, who is also a preacher, and who believes that she is growing more and more in that aspect of her ministry.

Now the leader of the prayer group at the Deeside New Testament Church, Wright said she was elevated to that position based on the fact that she has a passion for prayer. She shared that she loves the work she does currently as a prayer leader, because she gets a lot of support from the members of her team and the church membership in general.

"We are going places as a prayer group. I have seen persons come and testified about changes in their life since our prayer group has been around. We have even conducted seven Sunday morning home prayers, and this acts as a wake-up call for Sunday-morning service," noted Wright.

effectiveness of praying

She stressed that her group of praying members has been so effective in her church that there have been Sundays when no preaching takes place, because of the effectiveness of praying persons reaching God, on behalf of others, in a profound and spiritual manner.

"People are seeing success in the church at large and individuals are being blessed and delivered by the Lord, as the prayer team led by me continues it hard work for God and humanity," noted the former president for the Ladies Ministry at her church.

Wright, who like other Christians is faced with numerous challenges as she serves and walks with God, explained that whenever the challenges associated with her work arise she prays and fasts even more. She shared that she is not alone in the fight against sin, Satan and his angels because she is blessed with a good backup team who continues to pray earnestly with and for her.

"For example, if I go to my bed and I get a dream that something is going to happen, I just call a member of my prayer group who I can confide in, and I just say, 'Expect something', and we are going to storm the forces of darkness this morning. I just say, 'the blood of Jesus is against you', seven times, or 'Satan we have the victory'; and that has helped so much," said Wright.

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