I grew up in a small town in Ohio, attended a small high school, and got married soon after I graduated. Very soon thereafter, my husband went to fight in Viet Nam, and I had our first child while he was gone.
When he returned, we had a rough time. It was as if we were strangers to each other, and we were trying to deal with our new baby who had colic for nine months.
My husband started a job at Whirlpool Corporation in Findlay, Ohio. We enjoyed partying, and our marriage began to suffer because of it. We decided to quit partying, lest we ruin our marriage. During that time we wanted to have another baby. It took a while, but later we found out I was expecting.
When I was about 7-8 months along, I remember getting on my knees on my kitchen floor and saying, “If you're real, God, you had better show me.” Depressed that day, I got up and never thought about it again for a long time.
After my husband had worked for Whirlpool for several years, a man started to tell him about God. When he would come home and tell me what this man said, I would say, “Why don't you stay away from that Jesus freak?
Four years later, God called my husband to preach. We moved to Massillon, Ohio, for him to attend Massillon Baptist College. At the end of four years, we answered God's call to go to Pottstown, Pennsylvania, to start a church.
We were able to start the church, and, after a time, I started having some health problems. I would get very ill about once a month and would be ill about eight days. I did not visit a doctor until it started to happen the third time. He gave me Tylenol with codeine and said I would just have to “ride it out”.
I talked with the woman doctor that gave me my physicals, and she told me to get on a good vitamin. I did, and it worked. She also said I had degenerative arthritis. We lived in a big stone house, which (because of the dampness and mold) is very bad for arthritis. A few years later, we were able to buy a house and move, and this helped me tremendously.
As time went on, my toenails acquired a fungus that turned them black. The doctor prescribed medicine to which I became allergic. His answer: “Just take it three days per week, not every day.” I did that and felt terrible.
Having been warned that this particular medicine could harm my liver, I started taking some herbs to protect my liver. Every liver test came back fine - so they said.
After nine months of feeling terrible, being depressed and getting worse each day, I stopped taking the medicine. I decided that if I were to die from the fungus, then that would be far better than the way I had been living.
I started searching for a way to treat myself naturally. I had no way of knowing that for the next eighteen months I would catch every illness that went around. I also started having sinus problems.
I took huge doses of vitamin C and many herbs helpful to the immune system. I also started taking biotin and Pau d' Arco to treat the fungus. My body and feet did recover, but to this day, my health has never been the same.
During that time I decided to take a couple of courses on herbs and homeopathy. As I studied that first course, I was so thrilled by it all, that I studied another course. After taking three courses and enjoying ever minute of it, I decided, with encouragement from my husband and my church, to take the whole naturopathic doctor course. A little over three years later, I graduated! What a thrill that was, because I had almost quit at one point!
God has given me a special love for natural medicine. I believe there is much help available in natural remedies. I have seen the results in my own life and in the life of my husband, who is still alive today because of it.
As a Christian, I've read many verses about herbs, homeopathy, food, etc., that God has put in the Bible. The answers are there, if we will look for them. With this ministry, I hope to glorify my Saviour Jesus Christ and to help others to see that God's way is the best way.
Bible Believers Baptist Church - 660 Constitution Ave. Stowe, PA (610) 323-1410 - church@bbbcpottstown.com
My name is Kathy Collingwood, the wife of Dr. Michael K.Collingwood, pastor of Bible Believers Baptist Church. I am a naturopathic doctor, having received my degree from Herbal Healer Academy.
It is a real privilege to be a born-again Christian and to help other people with their spiritual and physical needs. I have studied herbology, nutrition, reflexology, acupressure, homeopathy, massage therapy, Bach flower remedies, and many other subjects. I also work with hair analyses.
I have worked with people from all over the United States (including my own church family) and with people in many foreign countries. My personal testimony will be included to explain why I studied natural medicine and how it has helped me in my own life. It is much easier to serve the Lord when you feel WELL. It is my hope that this information on health will be a blessing to many people.
Psalm 42:11 "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."
