Mary & Robert Walters
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, and Lupus Healed
December 6, 2024 - Encounter Church
The Condition
Mary Walters had been suffering for years. What started as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus factors in 2015-2016 escalated into something far worse. By 2024, she was experiencing:
- Clusters of nonstop headaches so severe she wanted to die
- Swelling in her skull so pronounced there was no space between her ear and her skull
- Pain that felt like "someone was pounding my brains in or pulling them out"
- Her scalp could be moved around, detached from the skull beneath
- Pressing a finger into her head would leave an indentation for minutes
- Ice pick sensations stabbing her eye
- Her eyelid swollen and painful to touch
- Pain from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet
- Every bone, fiber, cell, joint, and muscle inflamed
She required a cane and walker to move. For longer distances, she needed a motorized scooter. Her husband Robert had to drive her everywhere and help her with basic hygiene. She kept a stool in her bathtub because she couldn't stand to shower, and would bang on the wall when she needed help.
The Medical Journey
Mary went through the normal medical route:
- Multiple emergency room visits
- Three different doctors
- Renowned neurologists at Houston Medical Center
- Multiple hospitalizations
No one could help her. Neurologists turned her away because "the problem wasn't inside my brain—it was on the outside." No medication worked. No doctor wanted to treat her.
Finally, a consulting neurologist at Methodist Downtown examined her for an hour and diagnosed a rare condition: a form of alopecia fighting against her immune system, combined with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and lupus factors.
But diagnosis didn't mean treatment. The doctors had no solution.
"I truly wanted to die. This pain was so bad... I had gotten to the place where I told them in the emergency room, 'Find me a neurologist. Have him schedule me for surgery. The next morning I want him to do surgery on me and remove my head because I can't stand this pain.'"
The Turning Point
That same day another neurologist turned her down, Mary saw a post on Facebook: "If you need healing..."
It was Encounter Church.
"I was desperate. I didn't have any other choice. I said, 'God, somebody's gotta help me. I gotta have healing.'"
She drove herself there, taking three attempts just to back out of her driveway. She arrived late and sat in the very back row—that's all the energy she had. She held onto her cane for dear life, eyes closed, focusing just on the strength to stand.
"I said, 'God, I need your healing. God, I need your healing. God.' Nobody else had done anything for me."
Then someone touched her shoulder: "Apostle would like to speak to you."
The Healing
Apostle Delmar asked what was going on. Mary told him everything—the headaches, the swelling, the doctors who wouldn't treat her. She showed him how her skull moved, how pressing her finger left indentations.
He said: "That's because you needed Dr. Jesus to heal you. He's the only one that can help you."
He laid hands on her and prayed. He asked if she still had headaches. She was honest: "Apostle, I'm not gonna lie. It still hurts."
He laid hands on her a second time. "Is it still hurting?"
"It has minimized. But I'm feeling relief. I'm feeling relief."
What she also felt was like boulders—like 18-wheelers—being lifted off her shoulders. Immediately.
The swelling in her head went down instantly. People in the congregation saw it happen in real-time. The transformation was visible.
Mary walked back to her seat holding her cane—but she didn't need it anymore.
The Confirmation
The next day, Mary and Robert attended a function for the 100 Ranchers organization. Their friends Daisy and Fred Steiner looked at her in shock:
"Mary, you don't have your cane!"
"No, I got healed last night. I don't need the cane."
"You look so different. Look at you!"
Her whole countenance had changed. She was illuminated with joy and thanksgiving.
Robert noticed the difference that first morning: "She didn't need the cane, she didn't need the walker."
Mary no longer needed the stool in her bathtub. She could shower standing up. She could drive herself. The woman who had wanted to die was fully alive.
Mary's Background
Mary grew up Catholic in Ames, Texas. On April 1, 1978, she had a life-changing experience. After attending a Pentecostal church service with a friend, she said she felt unfulfilled and needed something deeper.
"This lady that drove us, I'm sitting in the back seat. She said, 'Well, let's just pray about it.' So she put her head down and that's about it. I felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me from heaven. I began praising God and praising God and praising God."
She described it as electricity—being charged up. They took her to a storefront church where she praised God for two hours straight, dancing and singing songs no one had heard before, until she ran out of energy.
This experience never happened in her Catholic upbringing. "Never. Never. Never, never, never."
Robert's Story
Robert, 75, also grew up Catholic in the same small town. He spent years as a civilian contractor in Iraq (2004-2010), surviving multiple close calls:
- A 500-pound bomb destroyed the exact laundry facility and shift he had been transferred away from, killing a 20-year-old woman from Katy, Texas
- A missile landed 20 feet from him—three people were injured, but he didn't get a scratch
Before these events, Robert had two encounters with what he believes were angels. Twice, in nearly identical scenarios at truck stops, a man approached him and said: "God told me to tell you that everything's gonna be okay." Both times, the figure vanished impossibly fast.
Robert received his own healing at Encounter Church. His hands had been affected by arthritis—he couldn't close them properly. After prayer, the middle part of his hands regained function. He also received prayer for allergies and felt a tingly sensation afterward.
"I don't fall out, but I feel all this stuff. I kind of stagger a little bit when I get hit. But I know I'm receiving it because I feel it."
Other Miracles in Their Circle
Robert's Sister: Had stage 4 kidney disease. Her kidneys improved after receiving prayer at Encounter.
A Friend: Touched Apostle's garment—like the woman in the Bible—and a cyst disappeared. She didn't even tell Apostle directly; she just believed that if she could touch his coat, she would be healed.
Their Friend (deceased): Was too ill to travel to Encounter but received prayer over the phone from Apostle. He felt relief from pain each time, even though he couldn't make the journey in person.
The Generational Impact
The Walters' healing sparked a generational transformation:
- Robert gave his life to the Lord on April 23, 2024
- That same month, Robert, Mary, their daughter Rhonda, and their great-grandchildren were all baptized at Encounter Church
- Their great-grandchildren Jeremiah and Zoe now help with the dance ministry
- Four generations of their family now attend Encounter
In Their Own Words
On receiving miracles:
"I was so desperate. I didn't have any other choice... I'm ready for this."
On the importance of health:
"If your health is gone, you can't do anything. We have a farm, we have animals, we garden, we hay... My hands play a big part of what we need to do every day."
On their message to others:
"I want to give people hope for what I've gone through. That you can survive being severely abused, almost kidnapped—that God has a purpose for all of us. In our lives, just to encourage people. Being encouraged."
On denomination vs. relationship with God:
"A lot of people are so caught up in denomination rather than focusing on Jesus, His teaching and healing and restoration power. They're so focused on being in a box that they can't see outside the scope of what they've been taught. My message to Catholics is to be open to God's Holy Spirit and healing."
"I'll never forget that healing. As long as I live, I'll never forget that healing." — Mary Walters