Whether you’re PCNAK’s toughest critic or most avid supporter, one thing we all can agree on is the joy that we feel in learning of God working through this ministry to bless lives and save souls—which is just what Liju Titus’ testimony is about.

Until the age of nine, Liju lived in Dubai with her mom and sister. As the primary financial provider, her dad worked and lived in the U.S. while sending money home. In 1997, the family moved to the U.S. to join her dad. For Liju, this was the first time that she experienced living with a father. Sadly, her dad had become an alcoholic which was extremely tough on the family. Liju recalls times where her father would just be missing for days or weeks at a time—leaving the family financially and emotionally stressed. Having an absent father also affected Liju spiritually. Because of her painful childhood, she couldn’t really see the hand of God or sense His presence in her life. In many ways, it seemed that her heavenly Father was as absent as her earthly one.

When her high school graduation arrived, Liju felt more than relieved at the chance of moving out, attending college, and starting fresh. But the excitement would be short-lived. Two weeks after the ceremony, she noticed mysterious lumps on her body. For four days, doctors ran tests. Then, finally, they broke the news: Liju had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system which has a major role in the body’s immune system. Cancer increases in stages—the fourth stage being the most severe; in Liju’s case, her body was already in the fourth stage.

When she heard the news, Liju describes her emotional state as one that shifted between anger and numbness. Three days after she began chemotherapy, as she was putting on shampoo, a large clump of hair came loose in her hand. It was the first time she broke down and cried. She asked God why He was doing this to her.

Undergoing chemo means a severe degree of pain and nausea for your body. Also, it means that your body is at a greater risk for infection which it will now take longer to fight. At one point, Liju’s lungs collapsed due to infection, and she couldn’t breathe. At the hospital, doctors felt that Liju wouldn’t make it; her relatives began to prepare for the worst, and Liju, herself, felt that that day would be her last. She remembers praying, “God, I didn’t plan for this, but I don’t want things to end like this. Please don’t let my life end like this.” Normally, if your lungs collapse due to infection, you usually undergo surgery or take high dozes of antibiotics for a long time. Within two days, however, doctors noted that Liju’s lungs began to heal on their own. For Liju’s condition, it was a highly abnormal and unexpected event, and she was able to go home quickly.

During this time, her relationship with her dad remained strained. Two weeks after the hospital visit, her dad was arrested for drunk driving. With her sister away at college, Liju had to muster up enough stamina to drive her mom to the jail to bail her father out. Two months later, he was arrested again for the same offense. Dealing with chemo, cancer, financial pressure, and her father, Liju felt more forgotten by God than ever.

Six months later, doctors gave Liju and her family surprising news. Her blood was beginning to get healthy again. She could end the chemo, avoid radiation treatment, and actually turn out to survive cancer! Oddly, Liju notes that it was at this moment that depression really hit her life. Though she no longer faced impending death, she couldn’t find a reason to live. She often thought about suicide and sometimes even mentally laid out plans, but she could never bring herself to follow through with it.

At this time, her mom became a Pentecostal Christian. Until then, the family attended a CSI church. Growing up, Liju had never really understood Pentecostals, nor did she care to. Mostly, she treated her mom’s conversion with indifferent tolerance. Sometimes, Liju’s mom would walk around the house, praying loudly, speaking out scriptures, and pleading the blood of Jesus over Liju. Liju recalls how she would yell at her mom to stop—at which point, her mom would reply something like, “One day, Liju, you will pray like I am.”

June 2006—PCNAK comes to Dallas. One of Liju’s Pente cousins, Jaice Itty, attends. She books a room at the Crowne Plaza. Though she knows Liju’s feelings about PCNAK, she goes ahead and registers her for the conference. Liju skips the Thursday night meeting, and comes to visit her family as she had planned. It’s around 1 am when Liju gets to the hotel. She learns that her cousins are all at a “meeting” where a young man, named Alex James, is sharing his testimony. Grudgingly, Liju goes too, and is surprised to find the hotel room packed with other youth. During the meeting, Liju can’t help notice the smile that Alex has as he shares how God brought him out of addictions and became his best friend. She remembers how Alex said that sometimes he would go as far as opening the passenger side door to “let Jesus in” when he drove his car. Liju had never heard someone speak of God that way—as a friend.

She began to pray—asking God to let her have what it was that made it possible for Alex to smile as he did; but, as she was praying, she felt a kind of heaviness in her heart that wouldn’t lift. At one point, Alex prays over her saying, “Lord, help her to let go of her past.” Throughout that meeting, Liju prays for a touch from God, but nothing happens. The next night, she attends the Friday night meeting; when they open the altar, she runs to the front. Surrounded by people filled with the Holy Spirit, she prays that if all her past was forgivable, would God please give her what she saw in the people around her. Liju prays and prays, but feels nothing (other than that same heaviness) as the night before.

Saturday night—again, Liju attends the meeting and answers the altar call. She prays to just receive something from the Lord to know that He is with her--and again, nothing. As she walks back and people begin emptying out of the hall, she feels a tap on her shoulder. A young woman, that Liju never met before (and has since not met), introduces herself.

“Did you ask God for something,” she asks Liju.

“Yes,” Liju replies.

“Did you receive it?”

When Liju reveals that she didn’t, the young woman takes her to the altar, places hands over her, and begins praying. During the prayer, Liju shares how eighteen years of pain held back just broke from within her. At one point, she feels as though something literally pushes her to the ground—laying her flat on the floor. Throughout this, the young woman continues to pray saying, “In Jesus’ name, speak.” When Liju opens her mouth to keep praying, she feels a fire go through her. She gets filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks in tongues for the first time.

Liju shares how Ephesians 3:20—that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think—has come true in her life. That Saturday night, she had just asked for a touch from God to know He was with her, but God came through in ways she couldn’t even imagine since then. Most people think her testimony is about the healing she received or getting filled with the Holy Spirit. While she is grateful for both, Liju feels that her true testimony lies in how Jesus has become her best friend. Last May, Liju took the opportunity to go on a missionary trip to India and tell others of her new-found relationship with God—a blessing she feels truly honored to have received.