Category: Preserverance

Hi Faith Travelers!

This month we are doing something a little different. We are debuting our first Faith Traveler Feature of the year. In light of May being Lupus Awareness Month, what better way to celebrate the resilience and strength of those living with lupus than to share the faith journey of one of the most resilient and faith filled lupus warriors I know, Salathiel DeLoach.

This feature is near and dear to me because what you didn’t know is that Salathiel was my very first friend, best friend even, growing up in the early 90s in Savannah, Ga; living with my grandmother only a few doors from each other. Salathiel and her family welcomed me into their lives leaving me with a lasting impression that she didn’t just treat me like a friend but her and her family treated me like family and that has stayed with me til this day. Sadly, we loss touch during middle school and no longer lived in the same neighborhood. It wasn’t until God randomly (not random to Him of course) reconnected us in November 2016, just a year after I started my own journey with the Lord and she had been faithfully walking with God in her own faith journey. As we met, over an early dinner May of 2017, after a God ordained encounter and conversation, we knew that God had perhaps reconnected us for such a time as this on purpose for purpose.

Salathiel is the founder of the DeLoach Lupus Foundation Savannah Ga Inc., a nonprofit focused on lupus warriors, their unmet needs and educating the community in which they serve. Salathiel is an advocate and successful entrepreneur through her podcast, her book and her voice (Learn more at https://www.speakupdeloach.com/ ) but her journey didn’t start with promise; it started with pain and a process that people seldom are prepared for but she didn’t allow the pain to steal her joy or her voice.

This is her story…

“From an early age, I believed I was created to bare hardship- Pain seemed like a constant companion I was meant to endure, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. I always felt different like something about me was never quite normal. I couldn’t put my hand on it and as I grew older life became more confusing.

As a young teenager, I began experiencing medical issues that would shape my understanding of womanhood in ways I never expected. It all started when I was introduced to my menstrual cycle early in middle school. I had heard my sister, and cousins talk about her experience – cramps for a few days and those infamous seven days of blood – But what I encountered was different from what they described. This wasn’t what I had been prepared for. It was the beginning of a journey into women hood that would reveal far more than just the physical challenges.

These cramps felt like punishment. Instead of just being sent to my room, these cramps commended me to spend days curled in the fetal position, crying for relief. I bled for weeks on end, never knowing when it would end. The bleeding some days would be so heavy that I would pass out from blood loss. My mom, not knowing what to do to help me made an appointment with the OBGYN to explore my options. This was where I learned there was a name for what I was experiencing Menorrhagia. The doctor suggested birth control as a solution. Birth control… clearly this guy didn’t know who my dad was. There was no way my God-fearing dad was having that. Eventually a decision was made where I was allowed to begin depo injections. Thank goodness no more issues…so I thought.

As time went on, something else I couldn’t explain started happening. I begin falling asleep at the drop of a dime. My parents assumed I had become lazy, but quickly realized that it didn’t make any sense. One moment I would be fully engaged and the next I would be knocked out cold. My mom became worried and wanted to understand why. She took me to a doctor who suggested I undergo a sleep study. Like yesterday, I can still remember the hospital visit – being led into a small glass room with only a bed and a machine. They put a lot of stickers on me all connected with cords to a machine that would monitor me sleeping or lack there of through the night. When I awoke the following morning, I felt like I hadn’t slept at all.

At the follow-up appointment, the doctor told us that I had narcolepsy. Yet another thing that I could barely pronounce. While no one else in my family was ever diagnosed I watched my grandmother fall asleep regularly so I didn’t feel too bad. At least this time I could trace it even if I seemed to fall straight in to a deep sleep and couldn’t be awakened. He prescribed medication that was supposed to help me stay awake, but I was detrimental not to like my life relying on meds so there were days I would test my body and just not take them. Here I was thinking I had it under control – until one day in class, I drifted off to sleep and the teacher couldn’t wake me up. It was at this moment that determined my fate of my high school years and I was placed on home school.

I spent most of my days sleeping, only waking up to do assignments, using the restroom and eat. Thankfully I had a friend who was also going through her own issues with health and wasn’t attending school either. We talked and slept on the phone all day, which made me feel a little less lonely. During this season I found myself in the word of God and our conversations shifted from pain and random foolishness to what the bible meant to us. Just like my conversations, life began to improve. I learned to manage the meds well enough to return to school.

At 17, I graduated from high school in 2001, a monumental achievement considering the many curveballs life had thrown my way during my youth. I worked in retail making pretty decent money for my age and ready to move on to a greater path of life. I was looking forward to life in college and my body had other plans.

It started with severe stomach pains, which I assumed were cramps. As if my body was now rejecting the depo because I’d been on them for so long. I had plans of dinner and a movie, but in the battle of body vs agenda, my body won as it always has. When I got home, I tried to eat, epic fail. I changed my clothes, flopped on the couch to watch basketball and drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night my dad woke me up and sent me to bed and the next morning I could barely move. My feet were so swollen they looked like footballs. I tried to walk but my legs were not having it and I began to drag myself across the carpet, crying out for my parents. I remember my mom finding me and calling out for my dad. Instead of going to work they convinced me to go to the hospital.

I was diagnosed with lupus. My legs and arms were swollen my stomach tender to the touch and a butterfly-shaped rash on the left side of my face. The doctor immediately suspected lupus. He gave her some pamphlets and ran tests to confirm his thoughts. When he returned, the diagnosis was clear: Lupus. The pain became increasingly worst by the moment resulting in me flat lining for a moment due to kidney failure requiring me to be admitted.

I spent what felt like months in the hospital, battling days of lupus attacking my body. Recovery took time and everyday I begged to go home. Eventually I lost my insurance because I wasn’t in school, and that led to my release. But the journey didn’t end there, I continued to face complications to include losing the use of my limbs due to medication where the doctor told me it was all in my head.

Sitting on the couch became my daily routine, and it came at a heavy price. I went from 150lbs soak and wet to 300+ lbs and I felt like I was only a memory of someone who once was. My parents became my caregivers; they were my legs when I couldn’t walk, my hands when I couldn’t feed myself, bathe, or do anything that required movement. As a teenager, This was one of the most depressing and humiliating periods of my life. I was once independent, and excited about my future, but here I was lost and completely dependent on my parents. Boy was this a hard space to accept.

My parents prayed for me, encouraged me, and tried to keep mentally positive. They reminded me that this season would pass. It was here in this season that I begin to get to know Christ for myself. In my youth, I played church but here life was real and all of those people I played with were gone. I was now calling on Him because I genuinely needed Him. I wasn’t shouting anymore, this season required me to sit still and wait for answers with no real idea of my own what I was listening for.

Through this journey with this diagnoses, I’ve learned more about myself and others than I could have ever imagined. I began by asking God, why me? Why was he doing this to me? Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? I didn’t understand why I had to experience so much pain in my life. I knew I was flip with my mom but certainly this wasn’t it, she was the one who was always helping me, so it was hurting her too.

But God had other plans. He chose me for something greater than I could understand at the time. These things weren’t something He was doing to me, they were things that He allowed to happen because He knew who He created me to be and these hardships would introduce me to Him and the version of me that He wanted to use for His glory.

As my health slowly improved, I was able to walk again. I remember the first time that I went to the bathroom alone. I hadn’t seen myself in so long I had no idea what to expect. I washed my hands and glanced at myself and quickly looked away. Tears begin to form in my eyes because I didn’t recognize who was staring back at me. He face was swollen, lips were tiny and puffed up like a fish and the scars were everywhere. Who was this girl I saw staring back at me? I felt ugly and refused to look again. I didn’t like what I saw.

My life was already unrecognizable and now I was fighting with my image which also impacted my mental health. I just didn’t seem fair. What did I do to deserve this. Most days I walked with my head down trying to avoid engagement with others. Hiding in plain sight.

As time went on, I returned to work, and despite some difficult days. I’ve been working ever since. I went back as a part-time worker and worked my way up to regional management. Even though I didn’t get to go off to college as I dreamed of, I did attend college. I earned my associate’s degree in Computer Information and, a few years later, a bachelor’s degree in Management- something I use daily in my current career. This journey was not easy due to health complications. School was stressful, and stress triggers lupus flares but I was determined to pursue and complete my goals. There were semesters where things went smoothly but others where I had to drop out. Obtaining these degrees took much longer than expected. Truth be told there were days I wanted to give up but this was something I truly wanted, so I pressed.

Along this new path, I endured much physical pain and experienced the loss of things and people that once felt familiar. These losses shaped me into a better person. Over time, I grew and matured. While I knew Christ, it was through my losses that I truly found Him for myself and where I began to learn about the version of me that He created me to be. In Christ, I found healing for a disease that doctors said would either kill me or be with me forever. Every day, I look in the mirror and I see the evidence of lupus in my scars, but my faith is stronger than what I see. My faith reminds me that what I see is bigger than me. I am evidence that God still heals.

I still have rough days, and when I read the Bible, I’m reminded of John 16:33, which says, “In this world, you will have tribulations. But be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.” Despite the challenges, I find peace in Knowing that God chose me for this journey from the start. As I grow in Christ, I notice changes with myself. I’ve always been an introvert, but I began to speak to strangers, and often, they approached me first. That never used to be the case, people were always afraid to approach me or at least so I thought. Some were struggling with their self- image, depression, feelings of loss, desires to harm themselves, or were newly diagnosed with lupus and even other diseases. Others just needed someone to talk to. In these moments, I would share my story or simply encourage them to keep moving forward, to live life as fully as possible.

At this stage of my life, I refuse to hide who I am. Instead of asking, “Why me?”, I’ve changed the question to Why not me?” The more I embrace that question, the more I desire to encourage others to live fully, even after a diagnoses or life- altering event.

Through this experience, I’ve learned that healing requires the whole person- Mind, body and soul. The thoughts I think, the words I speak, what I eat, how I rest, whether I choose to exercise, who I surround myself with, and my relationship with God- these things all play a crucial role in the healing process. I often say that I don’t “have” lupus: I’ve just been diagnosed with it. This distinction is important because “having” something suggest ownership, but I know my diagnosis is just part of the process that God is guiding me through.

Healing isn’t always visible on the outside or marked by a change in diagnosis. For me, healing is how I see myself, what I believe, and what I speak over myself. I seem myself; alive with much to give, and I choose to speak life into my circumstances and to become all that God has created me to be. I am grateful for each day and choose to live it fully to honor Christ. I may not feel well every day, but I’m still here. I choose to be thankful in all things and to trust God’s process, knowing that although He allowed this journey, He knew the end from the beginning.

Through every illness I’ve faced, I can trace back to see that God is there with me. In the blood, He covered me like He did the people of Egypt, increasing my faith like the woman with the issue of blood, When I pass by thee and saw thee polluted in your blood. Live, In my sleep, He granted me visions and dreams, just like He did for Joseph, and now those things are coming to pass. And with lupus, He allowed, the old me, to die so that He could make me a new creature, I am forever grateful that God saw strength in me to endure everything He has placed before me.

Even as I write this, I’m experiencing pain from the deterioration of the bones in my neck, caused by lupus and its treatments over the years. My C3, C4, C6, and C7 vertebrae are all causing pain, but I’ve made a choice to press on because all of this is part of the process—a process that’s bigger than me. It’s a process to help others. God is using everything in my life to get glory, and I’ve surrendered to His will, refusing to turn back. My body may hurt, but my life has purpose.

I’ve learned to take the time to do the things I enjoy, like worship, spending time with family and friends, traveling, singing, modeling, writing, speaking at engagements, advocating for lupus patients, and working with my hands—whether it’s photography, crafting, restorations, planting, or sewing (when my neck agrees). These activities not only give me joy, but they also serve as therapy for my hands. This journey has ignited a desire in me to help others and spread awareness about lupus around the world.

This desire has produced the vision that I saw in my sleep during that season. I started a 501c3 non-profit organization called the DeLoach Lupus Foundation Savannah GA Inc. where I advocate and help other warriors. I have the honor to use my journey and apply the lessons learned to help others and provide assistance to those in need- a resource that was not available when I was in need.

In addition, the journey fanned the flames of the fire that led to me beginning Speak Up DeLoach LLC. Through this platform, I’m honored to take on speaking engagements, host my podcast The Light, Lupus, and I, work as a voice-over artist, and recently, become a self -published author with Chosen for This Journey: A 30-Day Devotional Guide to Turning Pain into Purpose, which is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Nobles (Click Here to Support). Speak Up DeLoach isn’t just a business—it’s a part of my journey, and I’m here to use it to spread awareness, empower others, and walk boldly in the purpose God has for me.

I’m fully committed to following wherever God leads me in this mission to raise awareness and educate others with lupus and their families as well as every other health challenge I’ve faced. My heart is set on collaborating with schools, churches, community centers, organizations and business that are both local and abroad, and government officials to reach students, parents, members, and staff.

I believe God allowed lupus to become a part of my life because He knew He had created me to be a helper and a voice, one that would not be afraid to speak out. I didn’t know this at the time. All I wanted was to live quietly and die peacefully. But God has been doing a new thing in me. He’s opening doors and calling my name in rooms that matter before leadership—rooms where real change can happen. And I know my purpose in these spaces is to give Him the glory.

No opportunity presented to me is about me; I am simply His chosen vessel to spread awareness not only of diseases but, more importantly, of Him. I believe God will provide all the resources and support needed to make this organization—and everything He places my hands to—become everything He created it to be. I believe that God wants to partner with me to bring change to the medical industry, and I trust Him and the plans He has for me.”

I hope Salathiel’s faith journey has blessed you as much as it has blessed me. To the woman whose voice was shaped through pain, refined by purpose, and released through faith; Thank You for honor of featuring you and for taking us on your faith journey.

If you are local to Savannah, Ga, USA, her foundation will be hosting a Lupus Awareness Run Walk Event this weekend on May 16th, 2026 (See Above Flyer). For those willing and able to support, please share and support what God is doing in and through Salathiel’s Foundation, Book, and Business for His Glory.

Until the next Faith Traveler Feature…

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