By Darlene Bishop
In September of 1985 an evangelist called me out of a crowd of about 300 people. She asked me, “Honey, are you a preacher?” and I said “Yes, Ma’am, I am.”
At this point in my life I had only preached to about 50-100 people, mostly women at Women’s Aglow meetings and things of that nature. She exclaimed, “My God! God just gave me a vision and I don’t even know how to describe it.”
Teetering at the edge of the platform, peering through tightly squinted eyes she continued, “I see you standing on the biggest platform I’ve ever seen in my life, I can’t imagine where this could be, but I see you standing there preaching to the largest crowd I’ve ever seen. All I can say is that it looks like an ocean of people. God told me to tell you to hold on to this and it will bring you through.”
Little did I know that in just a few months, in March of 1986, that the devil would attack my body.
I had been preaching on faith for six weeks, when one night while laying in the bed the devil said to me, “If you don’t stop preaching like this, I’ll kill you,” and without hesitation, I replied, “You’re not big enough, devil.”
He said, “Feel your right breast.”
When I felt my breast, I felt a lump the size of a silver dollar. Well, the faith that I had been preaching about for six weeks, took wings and left me. I mean, I couldn’t quote a scripture or pray a prayer; it just left me. I didn’t come out of my bedroom for three days. Concerned about me, my son came in and asked what was wrong. I refused to tell him but said that the devil had attacked my body and I wasn’t coming out of my room until God healed me.
He said, “Mom, you’ve been preaching on faith for six weeks. Do you believe what you’ve preached or was it just empty words?”
I said, “No honey, I believe it.”
He answered, “Well then, get up out of this room. Start practicing what you’ve been preaching! God’s not finished with you yet.”
After he rebuked me and left the room, I stood up and declared to the devil, “Satan! Get out your little black book and write this down. I’m going to show you that the same Word of God that I’ve been preaching is going to heal me and nothing else!”
Well, I thought for sure that I’d be healed in just a couple of days. But instead, I grew worse. Soon, the whole bottom half of my breast became a solid mass. The pain would be so bad some nights that I could only sleep a few minutes at a time. It was as if someone had put hot coals of fire in my breast. For pain medicine, I would write down scriptures on little pieces of paper and place them in my bra. The devil would torment me at night and say things like, “You’ll be dead by Christmas and somebody else is going to raise your children.”
When he would come to me with his lies, I would pull out one of those scriptures and say, “Oh, no you don’t devil! It is written, ‘I will not die, but I’ll live to declare the works of the Lord.’ There’s an ocean of people somewhere I’ve got to preach to and you can’t take me out until God’s done with me!”
This went on for nearly four months until eventually my breast began to hemorrhage. I had to put nursing pads in my bra to prevent the blood from coming through on my clothes. Some nights I would bleed all night and wake up with my gown and bed sheets covered in blood. Until one day, on July 21, 1986, I was in my bathroom washing the blood out of my gown where I had bled all night.
As I was hunched over the sink, my tears splashing into the bloody water, I said, “God, if this breast rots and falls off into this water, as long as there’s breath in my body, I’ll still preach you’re Jehovah Raphe.”
For the first time and only time in my life, I heard Him speak my name in an audible voice. He said, “Darlene!”
I rose up and cried, “Yes Lord?”
He said, “Because you’ve continued in my Word and not leaned on the arm of the flesh, as of this day you’re healed. Go! Proclaim it!”
That was 20 years ago, and I’ve done just that.
In 1998, I was invited by Bishop T.D. Jakes to speak at his “Woman Thou Art Loosed” conference. As Bishop Jakes was about to introduce me to the 89,000 women crammed into the Atlanta Dome, I looked over the crowd and whispered, “My Lord! God, how did you ever get me here?”
As I scanned the crowd, he brought back the words of that little evangelist to me. The only way I could describe the setting was to say that it looked like an ocean of people and God said, “Didn’t I tell you I was going to bring you here?”
You see, if God had told me, “You’re going to be attacked in your body for five months then I’m going to heal you so that you can pray for other women to be healed of breast cancer,” I would have said, “All right, come on!”
But that’s not how God does it. When God gives you a vision, he gives you just a little picture, like a preview of a movie, which is usually the best part. When God gave Joseph a vision of his brothers bowing down to him, He didn’t show him the pit or the prison.
And that’s the same way it is in our lives. God gives us just a little preview of what He’s going to do and we have to hold on to that until we get there. There will always be obstacles in our way to hinder us from fulfilling the purpose God has established for us. The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:12, Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you.
My test became a testimony that has taken me around the world and given me the opportunity to pray for thousands of women who have since been healed. God gave me another vision that the enemy tried to steal from me. A vision I had to hold on to before it would become a reality. Almost 30 years ago, God birthed in me a vision to build a home for teenage unwed mothers as an alternative to abortion. He birthed in me a compassion for girls in this type of crisis. The church has rightfully preached against abortion for many years but offered little or no viable alternatives.
I believe that God often gives us a vision of things bigger than ourselves; things that would be impossible for us to accomplish on our own. I think He does this in order for us to see His sovereignty and grace at work in our lives. When God gives us a vision, from God’s perspective it’s something we have already done through Him.
Just as the vision of preaching to an ocean of people did not become a reality without a fight, this home would require a fight as well. The first indication that I was going to have to fight to make this home a reality was the reaction of some people to the idea of a home of this caliber for unwed teenage mothers. Much to my surprise, some people felt this would be a reward for their sin.
This could not be further from the truth. The Darlene Bishop Home for Life allows girls to be in an environment with positive role models. It provides spiritual training and guidance. It also provides education and prenatal care. This home gives girls an alternative to abortion; an alternative they might not otherwise have. Satan would have loved to steal my vision away from me.
He would have loved for me to give up when opposition came my way. But all he did was make me press harder and be more determined to see what God had promised, come to pass. So many issues faced me as I pursued the vision God gave me. We faced zoning restrictions, legal issues, court hearings – you name it and it came our way. But I declare to you that God is faithful that what He promised, He is able to bring it to pass. Because I did not give up or give in to the trick of the enemy, the Darlene Bishop Home for Life has now seen almost 100 girls find a place of refuge. We have seen not only the lives of unborn babies saved, but we have witnessed salvations, healings, deliverance, and so much more in the lives of these young girls.
What I want you to realize today is that Satan wants to abort your vision. He wants to tear away from you the very thing that God has destined for your life. I could have never envisioned myself ministering to an ocean of people at the time that prophesy came forth.
I never dreamed that so many girls lives would be changed though the desire God birthed in me for the Home for Life, but look what the Lord has done! See, that is one way that you know your vision is from the Lord. He will always show you something that is bigger than what you are or what you can do. But then you can step back and watch Him bring it to pass.
And yes, there will be obstacles and challenges that you will face along the way, but know this, it didn’t come to stay, it came to pass. And the trials that Satan sent to destroy you, will only propel you into your destiny, if you just hold on.
Darlene Bishop made a commitment to Christ at 14 years of age. At that time she felt the call of God on her life. At 17 she married her sweetheart, Lawrence Bishop, and together they share pastoral duties at the dynamic, cross-cultural Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio. She is president and founder of the Darlene Bishop Home For Life, a residential home for teenage unwed mothers, which offers an alternative to abortion.
Darlene is a nationally known conference speaker with a powerful testimony. She was physically attacked with sickness in her body in March 1986, but she trusted completely in the Word of God and by July 21st of that same year, God completely healed her! Your faith will soar as you hear her life-changing preaching.
For more information on the Darlene Bishop Home for Life or if you know a young girl who is pregnant or orphaned, please visit www.dhbl.org for information and program guidelines.
