Greetings in the Name of the Lord!  I live in the “free world” but I used to be in my own prison of low self-esteem, rejection, fear, unworthiness, poverty, ignorance, and sin.  When I read the testimonies and prayer requests of my brothers and sisters in the Lord behind prison walls in Mel’s newsletter, my heart rejoiced that Mel Novak has been teaching you the truth that will set you FREE (John 8:32).  As a child I had severe learning disabilities, including dyslexia (reversal of numbers and letters), attention deficit disorder, and a fear of test taking.  I never completed an aptitude test, so the schools never knew what my level of intelligence was.  I had polio as a child and I spent many years walking with a severe limp and in pain.  All of this insecurity caused terrible social skills, so I was loud, talkative, and I stuttered. 

Add to all of this, I was raised a 4^th Generation Christian Scientist, a religion that does not profess Jesus as the Son of God (1Tim2:4,5) and does not allow the use of medicine or doctors.  I once missed three months of high school with a sickness that could have been cured with penicillin. There was a huge cloud of deception over my head in this cult religion and with the same passion that Saul (later Paul) killed Christians. In the midst of this deception, I still wanted to know God in a personal way.  I asked my mother if I could talk to God and if God could talk to me.  She told me “no”, and as a result I never learned of God’s love and I never learned to pray.  I had a form of religion without the power (2Tim. 3:5).   The void of love and years of rejection made me depressed and lonely.  At age 20, I thought that marriage and having a baby would give me the love I was looking for, but three years later, my husband told me he didn’t love me when he married me and we were headed toward divorce.  It was in this darkness and despair that I found Jesus, the LOVE of my life. 

One Sunday morning I went to a Methodist church.  They were having something called “Communion”.  I didn’t know what that was, but I wanted to know the Jesus they kept mentioning.  I fell on my knees at the alter looking for forgiveness and freedom from years of torment.  I heard a voice speak to me and say, “Wendy, I love you, I forgive you, and I’m so glad you have come unto me.”  I thought it was the pastor talking to me, but when I looked up, he was not there.  In that moment, I knew God TALKED and He had called me by NAME (Isa.45:3)! That was 31 years ago that Jesus began to mold this piece of clay into something beautiful (Isa.64:8).  He healed my marriage, he healed my hurts and pains, He healed my mind (Rom.12:2).  He healed my leg from the effects of polio (1Peter2:24), he took away my poverty (Phil.4:19) and He healed my stuttering and low self-esteem and made me a public speaker for Him (Exodus 4:10-12).   Most important, He filled me with the Holy Spirit (John 20:21) and taught me Spiritual Warfare to take back the land of everything satan had stolen from me (Joshua 1:3,6).  Just as Mel Novak is teaching you, I used the WEAPONS OF WARFARE (Eph.6:10-17) and the WORD OF GOD (John 8:31) to proclaim God’s WISDOM, PEACE, FORGIVENESS, JOY, PROSPERITY, and POWER in my life.  Some of you have expressed a fear of surviving on the outside.  I am LIVING EVIDENCE that YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS YOU! (Phil.4:13) This month, May 2004, with the Lord’s help and with my obedience to Him, after many years of putting one foot in front of the other, I will receive my PhD .I teach at a community college and I am a part time Professor at a Christian University.  Less than 1% of the people in this nation have a doctorate.  I give Him all the glory for He did it by HIS SPIRIT (Zech.4:6). 

My message for you is DON’T LOOK BACK (Isa.43:18,19), FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT (2Tim. 4:7), DON’T LOSE HEART (Gal.6:9), and PRESS ON (Phil. 3:14) toward what Jesus has for you.    God doesn’t play favorites and He wants to do for you what He has done for me.  The Lord bless you mightily.  Believe and practice what Mel tells you – IT WORKS!!