10/22/2026
My name, my testimony!
Born in Germany into a Greek immigrant family. My grandparents from my mother’s side were both orphaned by the hands of the Turks and thrown out to sea. They survived arriving back to the motherland, Greece.
My father was orphaned because of WW2 and had to survive until after the war in utter poverty. At a very young age him and my mother married then migrated to Germany. The country invited southern Europeans to come and work.
My father had many demons and marriage was not good. My mother after many abortions and miscarriages had me. And to the surprise of the doctor I made it!
According to Greek tradition the firstborn girl gets the name of the father’s mother. And I inherited her name, Efthimia.
My father’s mother did not like my mother and therefore mistreated her and me, too. You can imagine that I did not like my name.
Also, growing up in Germany all the Germans would recognize me as a foreigner by my name and would mistreat me badly. Teachers and students would be mean to me. It was a constant fight to stay safe.
Long story short I have experienced prejudice in all my youth in Germany and in Greece. In Germany due to my name and heritage and in Greece due to my Greek accent. I sounded more German than Greek.
I hated my name!
At 15 years old I rose up and protected my mother from further physical abuse of my father and I kicked him out of the house. My mom was finally free and at peace.
Right after I kicked him out I got up and left for the United States of America. In the United States at 15 years old I got a hold of an old King James version of the Bible and it intrigued me so I began to read and study it. I had a quest to know if Jesus was real. I wanted to know what the Easter bunny and santa had to do with Jesus. I wanted to know the truth. In my young life I saw many demonic entities and supernatural occurrences, so, I from a young age knew that there was a spiritual dimension to life.
I also knew that if you want a result you need to do what the instructions say. Therefore I prayed the prayer of acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Savior and with that ask Him to reveal himself to me. Three months of reading, studying and asking it happened!
Something changed overnight. I understood every word that I was reading in the Old KJV of the bible without a translator nor a dictionary. The day before I needed to use both to understand what I was reading. A miracle happened and I understood everything that I was reading! I understood that I am a sinner in sin and need Jesus to save me. No longer were my prayers a ritual but they became real and alive!
From that moment I started to ask Jesus to change my name. He has done it for Peter and Paul. “Please, Lord, do it for me, too.”
Remember I hated my name!
And one day the Holy Spirit spoke to me and showed me my name in the Bible. Philippians 4:8 “….whatever things are of a GOOD REPORT….” Efthimia = of a good, cheerful report.
And as I read this the Spirit of the Lord said to me that my grandmother had to carry this name for me to have it! It was always destined for me to have this name! I was born for a godly purpose.
Through the ups and downs of life I always remembered who I was and what my purpose is. Then years later I married my late husband, Frank Delacruz! And that put the dot on the i. 😊 And I became Efthimia Delacruz! The good, cheerful report of the cross!
You know my maiden name is Leonidis = lion like…Jesus is the Lion of Judah, the bright and true morning star! The Lord knows what He is doing!
I am here to tell the world around me about the good report of the accomplished redemptive works of Christ, my LORD and my SAVIOR! I am who I am by the power and grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You are NOT an accident! You also was born for a purpose and for you to be chosen for this era of time, you are here to make it. The key to access your destiny and power is found in Jesus Christ! Seek Him and you will find Him!
