WS Chronicle

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected thousands of people in the state of North Carolina. As the numbers continue to rise, the virus seems to hit closer to home for many people in the state and right here in Winston-Salem.

Pastor Gloria Samuels is one of those individuals who has had a battle with COVID-19 and has lived to share her story. Samuels hopes her journey can inspire others and give faith to those who are still dealing with the virus, whether it is themselves or someone they know and love.

IT BEGAN WITH A FAMILY EVENT

Samuels contracted the virus in late July. She thinks she came in contact with the virus while attending her aunt’s funeral.

“Someone felt like they needed to come around the family to give their condolences and they had COVID and I am not sure if they knew they had COVID or what, but they had COVID and 14 of my family members ended up getting COVID, and that included my 84-year-old father and my 80-year-old mother,” Samuels said.

According to Samuels, doctors initially thought she had a sinus infection prior to being tested for COVID-19. She continued to feel under the weather and actually lost consciousness after her blood pressure dropped. After being admitted to the hospital, she was tested for the virus and was confirmed that she was infected.

‘MY BODY WAS UNDER ATTACK’

“My spirit was very well alert and on guard and I just knew that I have never been that sick,” Samuels said.  “Physically I had never been that sick and when I heard COVID, I wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God I’m going to die;’ that didn’t come. I didn’t feel like I was going to die, but I knew that my body was under attack.

“I think what bothered me the most is that you’re isolated when you are in the hospital and nobody that really cares about you can be there with you, because they don’t allow family to be there with you. It does something to your aura and your soul and the people who are assigned to care for you, you can tell that there is fear on their faces in taking care of you.”

Samuels spent two days in the hospital the first time and was released. She was soon back in the hospital due to the virus causing her to develop pneumonia. She says when they admitted her back into the hospital, her daughter sent out a call for prayer warriors and people from 25 different countries were praying for Samuels by the end of the day.

“I felt people praying for me because I felt the spirit of death,” she said. “I felt death and at one point with the pneumonia, I smelled like death. When I heard my daughter praying to God and begging God to not have to bury another parent, I knew she could see death on me.

“I had to speak what I knew and not what I was feeling. My spirit that is connected to the spirit of God took over, because at one point I didn’t even know I was in the world.”

‘MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME’

Samuels felt compelled to post a video testimony of how she overcame the virus. Her hope was to show people that the virus is real and dangerous. It took nearly a month for Samuels to start feeling better after first contracting COVID-19. She says the virus came and went, but the pneumonia persisted for weeks. After being nursed back to health by her daughter, Samuels said she will never be the same.

“My life will never be the same and anyone who knows me, knows how much I love God, and anybody who knows me, knows how much God loves me,” she said. “You are never the same and everybody who has heard me preach even says my preaching is different. You are never the same when you see death and know death has an assignment, but God won’t let it take you, because it wasn’t my time to go.”

‘NOT MY TIME TO GO’

“And that was one of the conversations I had with God while I was recovering. I said, you have given me so much that I need to do, is it time for me to go?  I knew it wasn’t time for me to go.”

Samuels celebrated her 65th birthday last week and after her battle with COVID-19, she says she has a different perspective and wants to help others find their mission from God.

“I just have a different vigor when it comes to ministry. I have a different perspective when it comes to ministering to people,” she said.