Another Special Life in Christ:
These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model! These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

Gary William Frazier:

His Life Before Jesus Came In:

Born in 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia, Gary suffered a health tragedy at age 10. But God would use Gary's life in impressive ways and astound medical doctors. I met Gary by way of his e-mail to me in May 2004, and I wanted his testimony.

"This testimony begins in June, 1971.  I was ten years old at the time, and I have very little memory of my life before that time. The reason for the loss of memory is the fact that I lived through a 2 1/2 month coma, brought on by Spinal Meningitis in May 1971; and, when I awakened, I realized I'd lost more than just my hearing. I'd also had brain surgery to put in the first shunt. When they told my mom what was wrong, they said I'd be dead in no more than two weeks.  Of course, we all know that prayer changes things. As far as I can tell, I became used to deafness while I was in the coma.  When I awakened, nobody had to tell me I couldn't hear.  I did, however, have to be told that I'd need to relearn many of the things people take for granted.  Amongst others, they included re-learning to walk and ride a bicycle.   Being the child of two Beta Club members had made me an educational giant.  I had been a straight A student in fourth grade.  

"By the end of the summer of '71, I was as close to normal as the doctors, who said I wouldn't live, could imagine.  I had to learn to live the rest of my life without hearing but the main problem I experienced was turning from a straight A student to a kid, who struggled to keep up in school. 

 "When I entered fifth grade,  I soon realized that I was no longer as fast or as smart as my classmates.  Because the school system didn't realize this, I was again placed in the upper half of the class, which was bad for me. After attending a public school through my fifth grade year, I was shipped off (literally) to The Georgia School for the Deaf, where I would stay until the end of my seventh grade year. It was during the two years I was in boarding school (this was in the days before the Departments of Education apparently decided to save money by mainstreaming Deaf children) that I realized I had an ability in ministry.  In July, 1976,  I felt a call to Deaf Ministry and I am still in that area of ministry, today, though Deaf Ministry isn't the only ministry of which I am capable."

His Life Since Jesus Came In:   

"In the summer after I completed seventh grade, I visited The Bill Rice Ranch; and, three or four years later (at the Ranch), I was called into the ministry.   Upon my graduation from high school, the Vocational Rehabilitation was poised to send me to Gallaudet University.  The Holy Spirit had other plans, so I moved back to middle Georgia; and then, two years later, I began my training at Christ for the Nations Institute. After I graduated from CFNI, I went into Deaf Missions work.  First, with The Tenth Coin Ministries and later, alone.  During my 3 1/2 years in The Tenth Coin, I learned the correct ways Deaf ministry needs to be done.  When I left, I moved back to the area near CFNI and re-pioneered a Deaf fellowship.   

"It was during that time that I learned that hearing people (at least those in the Southern-based Assembly of God churches) don't believe that the Deaf are capable of being used by the Holy Spirit.  What I did was what I always do....SERVE!!  When that project was completed, I was told I was no longer welcome in the A/G church; so I married and moved into the Nazarene denomination where they didn't yet realize a need for Deaf missions work. For the past 15 years, I've labored to help people realize this vast field that is white and ready for harvest.

"From the night I first felt His call, my whole life has revolved around doing anything I can for His Kingdom.  I had been told (rather erroneously, I might add) that He cannot use me because I am Deaf.  I've been told (by Pentecostalists) that I must be healed of deafness, etc.; but I continue to be available for His glory whenever and in any way shape or form I can be.   

"One of the things I had thought was completely gone, when I awakened Deaf, was music, which had been my life.  In 1977, the Holy Spirit began showing me that I have the ability to thrill hearing audiences just by standing and signing music.  This same system will bore the starch out of Deaf people (the Deaf need drama added into the message of the music). 

"But my ministry, at the present time is to simply bring people to the realization that the Holy Spirit is waiting for them...regardless of their need.   In March 1974 , I was in a coma 5 days when my body outgrew the first shunt; it was replaced with a second...I went right back to school. In 1997, it wore out & was replaced. After poor functioning (a vertigo-causing faulty valve), that 3rd shunt was replaced (this is brain surgery....I've required a shunt for the past 33 years; and, without it, I wouldn't be typing this).  The third surgery didn't work as it should; so, just before Easter in 1999, I needed a fourth, and that one caused a staph infection in my brain.  That led to a two-week period, when I was, once again, in a coma.  When I awoke, the whole church was overjoyed that prayer had, once again, raised me from what should definitely have been my deathbed.  In fact, two weeks later, I told the people, 'If I keep this (rising from deathbeds) up, I'll have to change my name to Lazarus.'

  "All in all, I am a walking miracle...they say few people had ever lived through a 108 degree temperature, in 1971 and that nobody had lived, after being found to have Spinal Meningitis, in the latter stages of the disease, but nobody seemed to have had as much  support  by praying Christians as I had. While I was still in the initial coma, my mom was told that IF I lived, I'd be a vegetable.  The doctors, of course, only had their textbooks to rely on.  WE, His children, have His power to rely on and I am now 43 years old, having graduated from high school and three colleges."

"From 1987, when I married, until 1997, when I began assisting a pastor, I worked in secular labor."

"As you may see, one of my skills is that of a wordsmith (writer).  I am the son of a newspaper columnist and the only one of her seven children who really shares her ability.  For me, writing has been a constant.  When I was having trouble in Math (I've been diagnosed with brain damage in mathematics), I could always write and spell, which is something most people cannot do. Another annointing the Holy Spirit has blessed me with is the ability to pray the Scriptures.  From 1998 until now, I've been totally disabled; and, during that time, I've collected prayer requests from people, who need prayer.  It's a joy - beyond words - to pray for things and then receive word that He has responded.   As it stands, every doctor who has treated me - from 1971 until now - is 'shocked' I am still here.  My goal is to continue doing what He was allowed me to do, these past 33 years until either He calls me Home or He comes and get me." 

"I often stop and wonder- ALL THIS FROM SOMEONE WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED IN 1971, 1974, 1997, and 1999. Allow me, if you will, to wrap this up by saying, PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!!"   

Rev. Gary Frazier

(posted 5 June 2004; updated 5 December 2005)