For most of her life, Pastor Dulcie Ann-Marie Boxe believed that God had a special purpose for her life. Two experiences proved to her that this purpose could not die.
Born and raised in Rocky Hill District, St Elizabeth, about three miles from Santa Cruz, she was the youngest of six biological children for her parents. Growing up, however, was not easy. She was often ill and faced challenges that could easily have cut her life’s journey short.
“I was a very sick child,” she recalls. “But God’s mercy kept me.” God continued to keep her as she faced health scares in her life.
Sharing one such experience, she remembers suffering a heart attack and having follow-up care. It was disclosed that she would need a surgery to insert a pacemaker.
“I remember that Sunday when I went to church before the surgery; the altar call was made, and I went to the altar, and the church knew about the upcoming surgery. I remember the church said reject that in the name of Jesus. Prayer was made for me by the church along with my husband, Pastor Sylvester Boxe. He was leading the prayer at the time, and we do not walk by sight, but we walk by faith.”
The end result was that she did not need the surgery, as her heart was completely healed.
Another miracle took place in 2007 at the age of 34. What began as a persistent headache soon turned into a medical emergency. She had headaches every day, forcing her to go see the doctor.
The initial diagnosis was migraine headaches, and she was prescribed medication. After returning home and taking the medication, she lay down to rest.
That was when everything changed.
She fell into a deep sleep that she couldn’t come out of; she shared with Freedom Come Rain Newspaper.
She could hear everything around her, but she couldn’t respond.
Although fully aware of what was happening around her, Boxe was unable to move or speak. Her daughter, Nicolette, who was then attending Hampton High School, became alarmed when her mother did not come to meet her after school as she normally would.
When she entered the room, she immediately sensed something was wrong. Trying to wake her mother, Nicolette lifted one of her arms and realised it was completely lifeless.
Family members quickly sprang into action and rushed Boxe back to the doctor before she was transferred to Hargreaves Memorial Hospital in Mandeville.
Numerous tests confirmed that she had suffered a major stroke.
Unable to speak or move, Boxe remained trapped inside her own body while doctors and family members searched for answers.
“I heard every conversation,” she recalled. “I knew what was happening around me, but I could not respond.”
Her husband, along with her mother and siblings, remained constantly by her side.
While recovering in hospital, she shared a room with an elderly woman who had also suffered a stroke. One day, family members from overseas gathered around the woman’s bed to pray.
As Boxe listened from across the room, one of the visitors felt led to come over and pray for her as well.
After receiving permission from her husband, the woman approached her bedside.
What happened next remains one of the most unforgettable moments of her life.
The woman placed her hands on Boxe’s head and began praying earnestly, asking God for a miracle.
“I felt my entire body begin to vibrate,” Boxe recalls.
Then, to the amazement of everyone present, she sat upright in bed.
The woman who had been unable to move or speak suddenly began talking.
“The first words I said were, ‘Thank you, Jesus,'” she reminisced.
Family members burst into tears. Hospital staff rushed into the room. Someone called a doctor.
For Boxe, the experience felt like a divine intervention.
“I was crying because of the power of God that brought me back,” she said.
After examining her, medical staff were astonished by the improvement. She was able to talk, walk and function normally.
Shortly afterwards, she was discharged from hospital.
As her family prepared to leave with grateful hearts, another shock awaited them.
The family vehicle had been stolen from the hospital parking lot.
Everyone wondered how they would tell Boxe the news after everything she had been through.
Eventually, she was informed.
Not long afterwards, her bishop called with words she says she has never forgotten.
“Heaven made a decision,” he told her. “It was either you or the car, and heaven said let them go with the car.”
The stolen vehicle suddenly seemed insignificant compared to the gift of life she had received.
A year later, doctors still could not determine what had caused the stroke. However, after she suffered two additional minor strokes, more extensive testing revealed that she had inherited dangerously high cholesterol levels, a condition that ran strongly throughout her family.
Many relatives on her mother’s side had suffered strokes, including her mother, who eventually died from one.
Despite experiencing a major stroke, two minor strokes and a heart attack, Boxe continues to live a life devoted to service.
She believes her survival was no accident.
As a child, she narrowly escaped drowning on more than one occasion. Looking back, she sees each close call as evidence that God had a plan for her life.
“I realised that destiny was over my life,” she says. “The enemy was always after me, but God was always there helping me.”
Today, Boxe is known as a pastor, mentor, intercessor and founder of the Destiny Changer Mentorship Outreach Foundation. She serves as pastor of Bible Truth Church of God in Edgeware, Manchester, leads the 24-hour prayer ministry Keepers of the Altar, and hosts the podcast Chilling with Destiny. She is also a devoted wife, mother of three and grandmother to many biological and adopted children whose lives she has touched through ministry.
