The Brown Bible

This is an open invitation to our readers to share your personal stories. These sharings do not need to be dramatic. They can be BIG or small. But what stories do you have to tell about how our Father has blessed you?

Just enter your story into the ‘Question’ box in the form below along with your other details:

1 - Notification of when your question has been answered. (Optional)

2 - Optional link back to your website.

1. I attended a rural school and learned to read and write, which in itself is a privilege and blessing. Nothing was perfect but what we did have, we had in abundance.
2. God gave me a wonderful spouse...
3. God Help Prevent My Move to Virginia
4. Prayers Answered on A Long Plane Flight
5. God brought me through 3 surgeries and chemo for stage 4 cancer
6. I just want to express my total faith in God. He has carried me through so many trials and tribulations that I have lost count.
7. The ways God has brought people into my life when I really needed them
8. As I have matured, God has taught me that I have a choice on how I respond to painful events
9. I saw the peace my father had gained from his walk with the Lord
10. I heard a voice inside of me say this man was the one
11. God has been there when there is nowhere else to turn
12. Despite having a reproductive system disorder that causes infertility, God has granted my husband and I two beautiful children
13. When I was 34, I was married and had 2 small children. Then I found out I had cancer and was scared I would lose it all
14. Letter from a Friend About God’s Deliverance
15. The Amazing, Dramatic Way God Changed My Life

1. Rating: +1

   

   I attended a rural school and learned to read and write, which in itself is a privilege and blessing. Nothing was perfect but what we did have, we had in abundance.

   I don’t have a profound or lengthy story to share. But I remember after my mom passed away, a childhood friend came to visit. We talked about how blessed we felt to have grown up in a safe, friendly neighborhood with parents who cared about us and taught us right from wrong, or at least tried. It was an economically depressed area and era, but we had enough. I got to know all four of my grandparents and learned from them. I attended a rural school and learned to read and write, which in itself is a privilege and blessing. Nothing was perfect but what we did have, we had in abundance.

   Asked by: Jane H.

2. Rating: +1

   

   God gave me a wonderful spouse...

   God gave me a wonderful spouse who is truly my other half. I am very thankful for that.

   God also rescued me from the brink of brain damage in July. With His help I have been healed.

   Asked by: The Harvester

3. Rating: +1

   

   God Help Prevent My Move to Virginia

   Years ago I lived and worked in Los Angeles. One day I noticed that my company was offering to pay for someone to move to Virginia to start up a new position in that office. I jumped at the opportunity of moving back to the East Coast and applied for the job. I also prayed that, if this was the right thing for my wife and I to do, that God make this happen for us.

   After several interviews I was told I got the job. Yeah! I was so excited. I began working with the person at my company who would coordinate everything that was needed to get my wife and I and all of our belongings shipped to Virginia. I had convinced myself that this move was something that God wanted me to do, because I wanted it so much for myself. Which is why I was so very surprised when, just a couple of weeks before we were supposed to move, I was called into my boss’s office and told that the position was no longer being offered….to anyone…and I would not be moving to Virginia.

   I was a confused. After praying that God make this happen for me (assuming it WAS the right thing for me to do), why would He do so and then snatch it away from me at the last minute? Who knows, maybe it was not God who made this happen after all. Or maybe something changed and it was no longer the right thing for me to do.

   Often times we never get to find out why these things happen. But in this situation, I did eventually find out why God helped me to NOT move to Virginia. About two years later, the company decided to close the entire Virginia office. I would have been out of a job in a location where there were no other companies in that field that had jobs in my specific function. That could have been disastrous for me.

   This story always reminds me of the Garth Brook song that has the line, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” Technically, my prayer was answered as I asked for God to make this happen for me “if it was the right thing for me to do.” But I did not get the results that I desired when I made my prayer request. I wanted to move to Virginia but God knew that was not the best thing for me to do. He answered my prayer when the position was eliminated.

   I eventually did move out of Los Angeles, and God made it happen (boy, oh boy He sure did!). But that is another story.

   Asked by: Rich

4. Rating: +1

   

   Prayers Answered on A Long Plane Flight

   My wife and I recently took a long plane flight. We are both larger than average-sized people so flying in coach seats is always a rather tight and uncomfortable fit. When I can, try to book myself in the aisle seat and my wife in the window seat with the hope that the middle seat will not get filled with another passenger. I have tried this trick on 3-4 separate trips but the middle seat always gets filled by someone.

   After the first flight we took for the day, which was on a tiny plane with only 2 seats per row and the both of us had to be squished up against each other for 2+ hours, I told my wife that I was hoping the next leg of the trip was not completely sold out so that maybe the seat between us would stay empty. She said, “Let’s pray about it.” So we did…she asked God that He please leave that seat as the last one booked and if it were at all available that He please leave that one seat open for this flight. I will be honest with you, I wasn’t really believing prayer would help our situation.

   When we got to the gate where our flight would be leaving, I noticed all the people there and said that there was no way that middle seat would not get booked. My wife said, “Just be patient and we’ll see.”

   Then later I saw that there was a list of names up on the screen behind the counter and it said these were people waiting for standby tickets. I pointed this out to my wife and said the flight must be overbooked as there are people waiting in the standby line. Now there was no way that the seat between us would stay vacant. My wife again said, “We prayed about it so stop worrying.”

   When we were finally called to board the plane we made it to our seats and the flight attendant made an announcement saying the flight was fully booked so everyone needed to make sure that they only put one carry-on item above in the bins and any other carry-on item had to be stowed under the seats. I looked at my wife and said to her that this was proof that the seat in-between us would be filled and we’d be squeezed in like sardines. She just looked at me calmly and said again, “We prayed about it. Everything will be okay.”

   We watched people continue to file into the plane and take up all the seats in each row before and after ours…..but no one ever stopped to take that empty seat in our row. My wife smiled at me and said nothing. She did not pray that the seat MUST remain empty, just that we be able to be comfortable on the flight…and if possible, that this seat be booked last. She was right. I should have had more faith that God would answer our prayers…no matter how small they might be to Him.

   And as an added bonus, the same thing happened on our return flight. Except this time I believed that God would answer our prayer too.

   I promised my wife that as soon as we got home, I would post this story on the “What has God Done for You?” page. So here it is.

   Asked by: Dean

5. Rating: +1

   

   God brought me through 3 surgeries and chemo for stage 4 cancer

   God is with me in avery step. I can see that the path He has me on has a purpose. Many years ago, he brought me through 3 surgeries and chemo for stage 4 cancer. Today, I am helping a pastor in Africa get an orphanage started, to help thousands of children. God is so amazing!!! I shouldn't have lived and now I am rejoicing to have a chance to serve Him... What a gift! Thank You Jesus!

   Asked by: Suni Johnson

6. Rating: +1

   

   I just want to express my total faith in God. He has carried me through so many trials and tribulations that I have lost count.

   I just want to express my total faith in God. He has carried me through so many trials and tribulations that I have lost count. I believe the biggest test of my faith was when I was 5 months pregnant and found out it was an encephalic fetus (my son didn't have a brain). This test almost completely destroyed me. God was there during the delivery, my release from the hospital and the funeral. I know because I wouldn't have made it without him. This was the point in my life that I realized that through him all things are possible. If not for my faith I don't know what I would have done.

   He has also been with my husband and myself through 3 back surgeries. This has taught me that as long as you remember your faith everything will be ok.

   We were forced to sell our home 2 years ago but I knew that there was a reason for God's plan.

   Over the years I have learned to go with the flow because God's plan will become clear sooner or later.

   Asked by: Lisa Meese

7. Rating: +0

   

   The ways God has brought people into my life when I really needed them

   More than once I’ve narrowly avoided car accidents that could have been very bad, something I could easily attribute to God’s protection. Maybe more importantly, though, have been my relationships with others and the ways God has brought people into my life when I really needed them. I’ve struggled with clinical depression for several years, and I’ve always had support from my friends even on my worst days–and on the other side of that equation, that experience also enabled me to support some of my friends when they exhibited clear signs of depression too. I was able to encourage them and convince them to seek treatment, something that’s made a significant difference.

8. Rating: +0

   

   As I have matured, God has taught me that I have a choice on how I respond to painful events

   God has taught me about being blessed. I used to watch TV and see these late night preachers proclaim something to the effect “If you send in a donation, God will open the heavens and bless you”. I always thought they had a little Elmer Gantry in their approach, you know con-man for Jesus. But I did have to consider what it means to be blessed and how to recognize it when it happens. As I have matured, God has taught me that I have a choice on how I respond to painful events. It is my choice to accept the pain, trust God and learn what that experience will teach me or to raise my fist and scream in agony and bitterness. By learning to trust that those painful events are part of this journey and accepting them for what they are, I have also learned about being blessed. If there were a top ten list for blessings, material possessions would not even be number ten. Number one would be contentment, to me is the greatest blessing, to learn contentment, to learn to be content in all things (note it is a process not a place you arrive at). That is one of the greatest blessings ever!

   Asked by: Ben

9. Rating: +0

   

   I saw the peace my father had gained from his walk with the Lord

   God blessed me twice fold during the ailment and death of my father.

   When I was 13 he was diagnosed with leukemia before it became as treatable as it is today.
   While it was heart-breaking to see what it did to my father’s body, he was built up in spirit the whole time. Through his determination, granted through the Lord, I was able to come to grips with it myself.

   My father was sick for two years before a bad bout of pneumonia killed him, but on his deathbed I saw the peace he had gained with his walk with the Lord and it gave me peace of mind as well to know that.

   Asked by: Richard

10. Rating: +0

    

    I heard a voice inside of me say this man was the one

    I am only twenty-eight, but my life has been very blessed. I did not date in high school and most of college, because I was waiting for some kind of signal that would signify I had met my match for life. The waiting seemed like forever, especially since most of my peers had gone through multiple relationships at that point. My friends all said I was crazy and the only way I would find anyone was just get out there and get with someone. I was about ready to give in. Finally in my junior year of college, I saw him. I heard a voice inside of me say this man was the one. We dated for three years and we have been married for five wonderful years now and have two children. I am glad I was able to share the first everything from first kiss to first child with my husband! God has given me a wonderful husband, a fulfilling job, and all of the necessities! I believe with patience good things will come and God will give you the direction you need for a fulfilling life! All it takes is being patience and listening to the silence within yourself.

    Asked by: Britny

11. Rating: +0

    

    God has been there when there is nowhere else to turn

    God has done so many wonderful things in my life. To begin with he gave me a loving home while I was growing up. Later he blessed me with a great husband and son.

    Now as an adult, God has been there when there is nowhere else to turn. When I am down and out, I know I can turn to him for support. Many times when money was tight and I didn’t know how we would make it through, I would just turn my eyes to him as say,” Lord, I’ve went as far as I can on my own, now I’m giving it to you.” It never fails that he brings us through even the worst of times. He is a loving and merciful GOD!

    Asked by: Lyla

12. Rating: +0

    

    Despite having a reproductive system disorder that causes infertility, God has granted my husband and I two beautiful children

    Despite having a reproductive system disorder that is often the cause of infertility, God has granted my husband and I the opportunity to have two beautiful children. Our daughter, who is now 4, is a beautiful, funny, and strong-willed thinker who continually challenges us. Our one-year-old son is a delightful baby who is easy-going and pleasant and brings joy to everyone around him. Each time I look at my precious kids, I am reminded that God is a giver of good gifts.

    That said, this morning I was reminded that God gives and God takes away. My children could be taken from me (may it not be!). My husband could be taken from me. My home, my job, my health, my family could all be taken from me. The ONLY thing that can never be taken from me is my faith relationship with Jesus Christ. No one can pluck me from His hand. For this reason, the greatest blessing in my life is my personal relationship with God.

    Asked by: Kelli

13. Rating: +0

    

    When I was 34, I was married and had 2 small children. Then I found out I had cancer and was scared I would lose it all

    I had been a life-long christian, but in college I finally realized what love Jesus had for me, that He would die on the cross for me. That realization happened after I fell in love with my first real boyfriend in college. All the pieces fell into place, how Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for me, because I was a precious child to Him.

    When I was 34, I was married and had 2 small children. Then I found out I had cancer and was scared I would lose it all. I could not stand the thought of my children without a mother to guide them. I prayed and asked all my friends and family to pray also, that God would guide the surgeons to find all the cancer. I had doubts many times that I would stay healthy after that. But God kept me strong and healthy. My children are now adults and Christians, and I thank God for that. He used me to do His work in my own family, and I am so grateful I could be there.

    Asked by: Delores G.

14. Rating: +0

    

    Letter from a Friend About God’s Deliverance

    Ken Brown says:

    Please see the article titled, “Letter from a Friend About God’s Deliverance” by my friend Terry:

    http://brownbible.com/guest-authors/letter-from-a-friend-about-gods-deliverance/

    Asked by: Ken Brown

15. Rating: +0

    

    The Amazing, Dramatic Way God Changed My Life

    I wanted to share a story (I’ll try to keep it short) with you guys of a dramatic event that happened to me in May of this year. Initially I didn’t quite understand what had happened to me on this particular night, however over time, I began to understand what happened not just to me, but also to a small group of friends, on the night of May 23rd 2009.

    Note that this story that I am about to share with you all, is by no means a directive at anyone in particular, but the Holy Spirit just led me to share it with everyone and anyone.

    Now before I go any further I would just like to state that prior to the night of May 23rd I had never read the bible, nor did I know or understand what, or who, the Holy Spirit was.

    My Story: Anyway it may sound unbelievable initially as you read my story, however at the end of the story is where the coincidences all start to fit together….almost like a pre-planned Jigsaw puzzle.

    Now just to fill you in on a little about my past, when I was about 22 I had a mini-nervous breakdown while at Uni due to the stress of exams and also from not sleeping and eating well, etc. Alcohol and some Marijuana consumption were involved back then. Now I’m not an avid user of Marijuana and although I have tried it on occasion in the past, I have never been a fan of it, nor do I condone its use, especially now. So anyway my mini-nervous breakdown in Fiji lasted for about a month, where I wasn’t sleeping well, wasn’t eating well, and was incapable of working for that whole month. Luckily I was living with my Mother then, so she helped me thru my nightmare.

    Anyway back to the present day, so on the night of May 23rd this year I went to a friends place (Marc & Shobna’s house) to play Poker. There were three of my close friends there that night. The 1st being Marc himself, who is an ex-Kick boxer, and two other friends Dave & my neighbour Sos.

    I had been drinking for the 2 nights prior leading up to the night of May 23rd. So on this particular night (May 23rd) I didn’t feel like drinking anymore as I had had a bit too much the previous 2 nights…..so in a twist of things….Marc’s Godfather Payne (who was visiting from Malaysia at the time) asked if I wanted to have some Marijuana with him instead. Now I have tried Marijuana before, like when I was 22, but have never been keen on it, but nevertheless I agreed to have some with Payne.

    So only Marc’s Godfather Payne, Dave and myself had some Marijuana, before resuming our game of cards. Marc & his partner Shobna didn’t have any, as they don’t smoke at all. Also, none of us drank any alcohol on this particular night.

    Now after about 15mins of smoking it I started to suffer a Panic attack (part of the Marijuana trip). So when I started to get the panic attack, I went and sat down on the Couch to be on my own. Now as time went on, whilst I was sitting on the couch, I started to get more and more paranoid and my bodily functions started to shut down one by one, e.g. I couldn’t move my arms and then I couldn’t move my legs, and I was finding it increasingly difficult to talk, etc. It was at this time that I thought back to when I was 22 and had suffered the mini-nervous breakdown in Fiji. I then started to really panic, as I knew that there was no way that I could go thru the same thing again now in NZ, as I knew it would prevent me from leaving my house, working, eating, sleeping, etc etc.

    So in my panic/paranoid state, I asked my friends to call my Mother in Fiji, as I told them that I needed her to pray for me…..now I don’t know what caused me to ask them to call my Mother and have her pray for me especially when I hadn’t been praying to God myself, plus I hadn’t been going to Church, and also had never read the Bible in my life. It sounds crazy I know, but at the age of 39, I had never read even the 1st page of the Bible.

    Anyhow, while I was waiting for them to ring my Mother I started to get more and more terrified. I felt like I was heading towards another nervous breakdown as all the symptoms were the same as when I was 22.

    So while I waited for them to call my Mother, I don’t know why….but I did something which I’d never done before……I turned to Jesus for help…..I started to say quietly to myself over and over again “Please Jesus help me, please Jesus help me……”

    Now after a few minutes of sitting on the Couch by myself and continually asking Jesus to help me, a female friend of the group walked into the house, and without thinking I said to her “Chloe you need to leave the house now.” Now I can tell you, that that is not in my character to just ask someone, especially a good friend, to just leave a house. But it was like she was not meant to be there…..for what, was about to come!!

    As Chloe turned around and left the house, Soseni (nicknamed Sos) then made a joking sexual comment about her….and I don’t know why….but I somehow couldn’t stop myself…..but I could feel that I was about to tell him that what he had said about Chloe wasn’t right. Even though I tried not to….I just couldn’t stop myself from saying to him…..”Oh Sos….man don’t say things like that.”

    I then somehow started to sense that I was about to start telling the boys in the room that the things that they were doing was wrong, even though I didn’t want to. Because when I felt it was about to happen, I tried to cover my tracks by saying “guys in case I start to tell you stuff about yourselves, please don’t take it personally”…….I didn’t know why, at the time, but I could sense that all of these things were about to happen.

    I then, in an incredible twist, started to also sense that I was about to start crying, so again I said to the boys “boys, in case I start to cry, don’t make fun of me.” I tried to laugh to turn it into a bit of a joke, but I still didn’t know why I felt like I was about to cry.

    Then, after what seemed like ages Marc finally got my Mother (in Fiji) on the phone (1) and, I’m not sure why but, in front of everyone in the room, I broke down and started to cry……and I started telling my Mother over the phone that “I was sorry for letting her down, sorry for being unfaithful to my wife during my marriage, sorry for all the hurt I caused her and my daughters due to my marriage breakup, and just sorry for being a bad son to her and for letting everyone down.”

    I started confessing things to my Mother that I never wanted to discuss openly in front of the boys, or anyone for that matter, but somehow I couldn’t stop myself from doing so. I didn’t know, at the time, what it was that had made me start to cry and start to apologise to my Mother for all my past mistakes, and especially in front of my friends….as Men aren’t supposed to behave like this in public!!

    I didn’t realize it at the time, but only found out later…..that when the Presence of God (the Holy Spirit) enters a room….it will make Grown Men cry!!

    To make a long story short…my Mother then led me thru a prayer over the phone; before I said goodbye to her and hung up.

    After a while after talking to my Mother on the phone, I was still sitting there by myself on the Couch when…..all of a sudden the whole room and the people in it seemed to stop…..it was as if time had slowed down and then stood still…..and then Marc & Dave walked towards me and sat down in front of me….as if directed by some sort of force or Power?? (A few weeks after this incident I found out what this Power was, but on this night I kept calling it the Power, as I didn’t know or understand who or what the Holy Spirit was)

    I remember getting very excited and I started to see things as they were meant to be seen…..it was as if I knew the answers to why we were brought together as friends….and I somehow knew who was behind all of this…..but I don’t know how I knew!!

    It was then at this point…..that I somehow started to feel and understand things which I didn’t know before, as I could feel immediately that my anxieties, and sinful desires, were no longer present in me. But I couldn’t work out why this was?? I found out later, that when the Holy Spirit enters someone, that that person can’t help but tell the truth, thus exposing the lies, that’s been lying in the darkness of their souls for so long!!

    I also didn’t realize it at the time…..but it was the Holy Spirit (also known as the Spirit of Truth) that was getting me to reveal all my sins and shortfalls to my Mother….and in front of everyone….. and it was this Spirit of Truth that had over taken me……“and the Truth was about to set me Free!!”

    Then something remarkable began to happen to me…..I suddenly started to feel very different….somehow I started to feel very confident, but not in an arrogant way!! I somehow also knew, then and there, that I was NOT going to have another nervous breakdown, but I don’t know how I knew this.

    I also immediately became aware of some sort of “Power” in the room, and I started asking the boys if they could feel this Power!?! Now anyone could have been thinking, including myself at the time, that it was the Marijuana that was making me feel these things!!

    However, I soon realised that, although a few minutes ago I couldn’t move, let alone talk (because of the Marijuana), I now somehow felt a power which I’d never experienced before!! This power was now allowing me to move my body again, and more importantly allow me to speak with such ease and fluency like never before. Now I was certain that this Power, and definitely not the Marijuana, had taken over me, and this Power was in the room with us all!!

    This Power was allowing me to move again, and not be fearful anymore…..and then the most unbelievable thing happened……as all of a sudden..…I started to preach to the boys in the room about Jesus!!

    I can clearly remember opening my mouth, but I had no idea what I was going to say, but these words were coming out of my mouth telling the boys about all our wrongful sins and that how we were living our lives were all wrong!!

    Now in all my life….I can honestly say that I have never preached about God nor Jesus to anyone….let alone my own close friends!!

    But on this particular night I just couldn’t stop what was happening, as I would just open my mouth and these words….words that were not mine…..started flowing out of me in an effortless manner…..as if I had been practicing this speech throughout my whole life!! Now remember, I had never up to this day read the Bible before, therefore I had no knowledge, nor authority to preach about Jesus.

    I myself didn’t know where these words were coming from, as remember only a few minutes ago I couldn’t talk….let alone preach like a seasoned Orator!!

    I was now crying and talking with so much confidence, passion and joy to the boys in the room……and I started saying to them “Boys can you feel this Power…..I mean can you really feel it……I know you can…..and you know it……I know you know it…….just as I know it…..you see because we all know about it now!!”

    And at that precise moment this Power again filled me up and started to talk thru me saying “You see boys…..We all know about it now….and you know we all know about it now……and that’s why you’re all about to cry”…..and you’ll never believe what happened next……..The boys in the room…..these Grown Men…..bowed their heads…..and started to cry!! (2)

    And as these Grown Men, with their heads bowed, started to cry, I started yelling with joy and laughter, as I knew that this Power that was in the room, that we could all sense, had just made them cry too!!

    You see we didn’t realize it at the time, but this power that was in the room with us, was now in the process of turning these boys, including myself, into Grown Men…..because it is only a Grown Man….that will humble himself….to bow his head….and cry in front of the Lord!!! And we all knew about it now!!

    Then, all of a sudden….I could sense (due to the Holy Spirit) that we weren’t embarrassed to be crying in front of each other anymore….and I said to them “Guys can you feel that we’re not embarrassed to be crying in front of each other anymore”…..and then the most amazing thing happened next…..these Grown men, who were sitting around me with their heads bowed crying, suddenly looked up at the same time (once they realised this)…..and as they looked up…..their faces started to (3) light up with a bright glow, almost like a reddish yellow street light!! (I’m putting number’s in Blue next to these points, as I’ll come back to explain them later in the story).

    Then this Power, that had been talking thru me, said these words next……“Guys there is a reason that we were all brought together as friends…..and it is because we are going to help people…..and we are going to heal people from their sicknesses and disease!!”

    Now as you can imagine, at the time and even now, I didn’t know what those words meant, as we couldn’t even help or heal ourselves, let alone help and heal others??

    I then felt an immense calm and peace overtake me, and somehow knew that it was all going to be ok as I started repeating the words “Tomorrow’s going to be a new day.”

    While I was sitting there in my now peaceful state the phone then rang again, and without thinking…..I just blurted out, without knowing who it was, “that’s my Mother calling again……tell her that her prayers have been answered!!” (5) I suddenly became aware of what I had just said, yet I wasn’t sure why I had said it…..coincidentally enough it was my Mother calling again from Fiji.

    To cut this long story short, I eventually got dropped off home by the boys around 3am, yet I couldn’t sleep as I was still trying to come to terms with what had just happened at Marc’s house.

    Incidentally, before I left Marc’s house that night, I had asked Marc if they had in fact also started crying too or if I was imagining it, and he said that they had indeed cried too. Now I still couldn’t understand why they all started crying, especially for someone like Marc, being a Kickboxer, it’s very unlike him. Plus, his partner Shobna later informed me, that Marc never cries, especially not in front of people.

    The next morning, I woke up at my own home, and was still trying to come to terms with the previous nights encounter. I was trying to make sense of it all, especially the bit about why I felt so different, e.g. why I didn’t feel like smoking or drinking alcohol anymore, why I felt at peace, why I felt no desire to lust after women anymore….etc etc.

    I was still sitting there peacefully in my living room on Sun May 24th when the phone rang….it was my Mother calling from Fiji just to see how I was. I told her I was fine, but informed her that I still wasn’t sure what had happened to me, and the rest of the guys, the night before.

    Now here is where the coincidences (numbered above in blue) started to fit together in an unbelievable manner!!

    My Mother then told me that she was in her bedroom in Fiji on the previous night (May 23rd) when she was walking by her bed. She then saw a pic of me that she keeps on her bed, and she started to feel sorry for me, and started to cry and pray to God for me!! Yet she wasn’t sure what was making her cry??

    She then said, that while she was crying and praying to God, her phone rang….and it was someone she had never spoken to before….it was my friend Marc, calling from NZ saying “Hello is this Frank’s Mother?? You don’t know me, but my name is Marc, and I’m one of your son’s friends…..Frank is here at my house, and wants to speak to you, as he needs your help” (coincidence 5).

    I then realised why I had blurted out what I did the night before (in (5) above) because my Mother had been praying & crying to God for me before Marc called from NZ!! Yet I didn’t know how I knew it?? I started to believe that although the Marijuana had initially made me paranoid the night before….that something else had taken over a while later….something that had nothing to do with the Marijuana….and with it came a message!!

    I started to question whether it was God that was behind what had happened the night before…..yet somehow…..I wasn’t fully convinced, as remember…..although I believed in God…..I didn’t believe in his miracles.

    Anyhow, after I got off the phone with my Mother, I received another phone call….this time it was from Shobna, Marc’s partner. She asked if I was alone, as she wanted to share something with me.

    She then proceeded to tell me that as I was preaching to the boys the night before, she was in the kitchen watching everything, and suddenly (3) she saw this bright light that lit up the room…..and she said it was as if time stood still….and then she saw a man standing there in front of me in white….while I was preaching to the boys about Jesus!!

    Now when she told me this I started to feel scared, as I started to firmly believe that something BIG had in fact happened the night before, something that was beginning to unfold again in front of my very eyes!! Someone was trying to tell me something….and I sensed that I already knew who it was, but maybe I was too scared to admit it to myself…..as I didn’t know what he wanted with me!! In a way it was also too much information for me to handle all at once!!

    Now to be honest I can’t recall seeing a man in front of me while I was preaching, as I was too preoccupied, but I was shocked by her story of how everything slowed down and of the light in the room, which matched exactly my experience. Remember Shobna doesn’t smoke Marijuana, nor did she have any alcohol the night before.

    I was amazed by her story mainly because I hadn’t told anyone about time standing still and about the light that I saw, as I didn’t want them to think that I had lost the plot and was seeing things due to the Marijuana.

    But Shobna’s story, in a miraculous way, confirmed to me my very own experience. What I couldn’t understand though, is why she saw and experienced what I had experienced, especially when she wasn’t a Christian!! If it was in fact a miracle by God, could he also touch others, like Shobna & Marc, who weren’t Christians??

    After I got off the phone with Shobna, I started to ask myself these following questions:

    (1) Was it the Marijuana that got me to cry and apologise to my mother the night before about all my past mistakes, in front of the boys and Shobna….I tend to think so….but somehow I felt that it was all part of a path that I was being lead down

    (2) What was it, the night before, that made the boys around me cry too….I somehow doubt that this had anything to do with the Marijuana, more amazing is that I knew that Marc wasn’t a Christian.

    (3) If it was the Marijuana that allowed me to see this light that lit up the room….what made Shobna (who was dead sober) see and experience the exact same thing that I did??

    (4) What took away all my sinful desires and left me not wanting to smoke cigarettes, lust for women, view pornography etc, anymore?? I wasn’t convinced that it was the Marijuana as I was certain Marijuana didn’t work this way….cause if it did, I’m certain that they would have legalised it in many countries by now

    (5) Was it just a coincidence that my Mother felt sad and started to cry out to God for me in Fiji….at the exact same time that I was in NZ and trying to get in touch with her to pray for me??

    Now here’s the final piece of this story….that amazes me even to this day, and made me finally believe and come to terms once and for all, about who was behind the previous nights encounter, and healing of me!!

    After getting off the phone with Shobna, I somehow felt that I still needed an additional sign to fully confirm to me about who was behind last nights encounter!!

    I then drove to pick up my two daughters Siobhan (16) & Tara (8) from their Mother’s house down the road. I usually get my daughters one day on the weekend, so this week it just happened to be Sunday May 24th. Now my daughters did not know anything about the previous night’s episode. We went to a Café and sat there while I still tried to make sense, and come to terms, with what had happened the night before. My 16yr old daughter Siobhan then looked at me and asked “Dad are you ok, as you look funny.”

    While Siobhan and I were still talking, I noticed that my youngest daughter Tara (8) was sitting there quietly reading a white book….and out of curiosity I asked her “Tara what are you reading??”

    It’s amazing because as soon as the words left my lips…..I somehow already knew what her answer was going to be….even before she said it!!

    Now the amazing thing is that the white book that Tara brought with her that day, by her own free will, in the 8yrs that she’s been alive I have never seen her with this book….in fact I didn’t even know she owned one, let alone read it before…..and why, of all days did she just happen to bring it with her on this exact day…….and then she said the words that I’ll never forget…….“Dad I’m reading the Bible!!”

    I suddenly felt like crying again, but this time there was no Marijuana involved…..and it was then….that for the 1st time….I finally believed who was behind the previous nights encounter…….as he was now finally confirming to me loud and clear….that it was HE who stepped in the night before and did what he had to do!! And maybe for someone as ignorant, and as stubborn as me, maybe this was what he had to do to finally get my attention!!

    I then proceeded to tell my daughters my story about what had happened on the previous night….

    They have both since given their lives to the Lord in early July…..I also re-dedicated my life to the Lord on June 29th 2009, without realising that it was the same day as my, now deceased, Fathers birthday!! There are far more coincidences to this story, but it would be too much to write it all down in this email.

    Now, at the time….I did not know why God had orchestrated one of his miracles on me…..on a sinner who didn’t know him, who wasn’t actively praying to him, who wasn’t going to Church, who didn’t believe in miracles, and who had never read the bible before.

    But now I am starting to see why God saved me….you see….because God has mercy on us…..and he loves us so much that he will bestow his grace upon us…. even if we don’t know him!! Because you see if God can forgive and use a major sinner like me to promote his message, a sinner who had never read the Bible prior to May this Year……imagine what he can do with others!!

    Last week I was blessed to have had 2 more encounters with the Holy Spirit, similar to the May 23rd encounter, but this time there was no Marijuana involved……but you see……we already know it had nothing to do with the Marijuana…….but rather everything to do with God!!

    You see God is so real…..but unfortunately most of us never call out to him….so instead people like me just carried on with our lives…..and never allowed the truth to be revealed!! Thus for people like me, I was bound…..even though I didn’t know it!!

    And the message is….in these last days….God is trying to get our attention….but we are so busy with life that we cannot see the signs….because he wants to save as many of us as possible!! Now God isn’t saying that you’re not already saved…..but you may know of someone that isn’t.

    You see, 5 months ago I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d be talking about Jesus….

    But you see, now I know it…..and somehow I believe, that whoever reads this will know it……because you see…..we all know about it now…….

    Amen!!

    Frankie V

    Asked by: Frank Vuso

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