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    I was born August 29, 1960 at Tachakowa AFB Tokyo Japan.    My dad & mom were both active duty United States Air Force.  My mother served 4 honorable years & my dad served 21 honorable years active duty service for their country.  We traveled a lot, & moved very often.  I was in 14 schools in 11 years.  I learned how to adapt quickly.  I am the oldest of 3 children, who all went into the military  too.  There were a lot of advantages to seeing globally, as a child.  I got to mix with different races, cultures etc.  Some people never leave their home towns.  But not me, I have to see what's going on.  I couldn't  possibly imagine myself being stuck in one place forever.  I love to fly.  My years in my parents care, taught me discipline, integrity, honesty, loyalty & love for my country.

    My dad never showed much emotion, but I knew he loved me.  He is quite a prankster.  My mother was the Christian of the family.  She & her sister were abandoned by their 16 year old mother back in the 1930's.  My mother was raised by her Grandparents on her fathers side.  They were pure blooded Swedish people from the old country, & had a total of 18 kids in that house.  My mother tells me of hours she spent in the basement of that huge home in Gladstone Michigan, trying to read & look at the pictures in the old Swedish Bible.  She told me, she had an awareness of God in that place & that is where she would go as a child.  My mothers grandmother, always took the girls to church.  My mother was raised Lutheran & was confirmed.  She believes she was born again at that training time.  She related to me that, "God has a special place for the orphan, & He watches over them."  My dads people are Baptists.  My grandmother was the spearhead for her generation.  I learned a lot from her.  She taught in the Baptist church for years.  My dads name is Robert E. Edwards & my mother is Barbara A. Gabrielson Edwards.  They both reside in Jonesville Virginia, the four corners area of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky & West Virginia.   My mother gave her children to God.  She didn't know quite what that would mean though.

    During my dads Air Force career, he went on 2 remote assignments.  One to Turkey, the other Vietnam.  When he went to Turkey, my mother,  sister & I went to live in Pennington Gap Virginia for the time he was gone.  We lived in the same town that my dads parents lived in.  My mother always had us in church & soon my grandparents invited us to attend their church, Calvary Baptist Church.  It was an old time shouting church of the southern Baptist flavor.  My mother had a culture shock.  But she knew God wanted to teach her something  there.  When I was seven years old,  I went to a Sunday morning service, & I felt the Love of Christ wooing me, to come to Him.  Later that day, my mother took me to the Pastors home & there he led me in the sinners prayer.  There I received Jesus into my heart.  Later on in that church,  I can remember there being lots of messages about salvation & lots of messages & songs about going home, but I needed to know how to live in this life now.  I personally believe there are different levels in the kingdom and all are necessary, and none of them have all the answers.  Each one must walk in what they have attained from the Lord.  The vacation Bible schools I went to, also left a great impression on my little spirit.  I was also baptized at this same church.

    When my dad returned from Turkey we moved again.  My mother always had us in church.  We would go to Baptist, Methodist, nondenominational etc.  The point is, she would always show me the different ways God would work with people.  At this point, I better clarify, "she had us in Christian churches".   I was able to see the diversity in the kingdom of God as a child.  Although my mother kept us in church, there was really no victory in everyday life.  As I grew into a teenager, I didn't see any need of going to church.  I would see the hypocrisy & honestly thought, if they can do those things so can  I.  My mother didn't understand about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost or about spiritual warfare so a lot of things went on in our home that went unchecked. It is when we have the knowledge & understanding that we are held accountable to what has been revealed to us.  God doesn't stuff a T-bone steak down a 2 year old.  He knows when the child is ready for more information.  My mother visited us while we lived  in San Antonio Texas & during a Friday night service she received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost & went out under the power.

    It was during my teenage years that problems began.  My parents were very strict with me & would keep me from going out anywhere.  There were things that really bothered me, but looking back I know they did the best that they could, with what they had.  No family is perfect.  In my rebellion, I got connected to some bad company, bad music, bad drugs and alcohol.  The more my parents tried to keep me in, the more I would go out.  Rules without relationship, equals rebellion.  I started smoking at thirteen, did my first illegal drug when I was 13, and had been sneaking alcohol from my dads stash before 13.   I would take it mixed in koolaid to school.  At the age of 14,  I was skipping school a lot and getting into trouble.  The school never notified my parents that I was not there.

    Charlie, friend of mine, introduced me to his brother.  His name was Walter Butcher or Butch.  I began to skip school and go out with him.  He was 10 years older & had been married twice before.  He supposedly was a very cool person to hang out with.  He always had drugs, because he sold them.  He had not been back from Vietnam for very long, & he had acquired a lot of purple hearts.  He came back with more than physical disabilities, he also had some weird spirits occupying his house.  I ran away from home, when my parents found out I was seeing him.   I was 15 years old at the time and we left on our way to El Paso Texas.  We waited to see if my parents had dropped the warrants out for our arrest.  When I finally notified my parents, they thought I was dead.  They begged me to come home, and that they would give their consent to marry him.  We went back, & several months later, we married.

The first week of our marriage suddenly changed from an escape from my family, to a different bondage.  We were partying one night and he flew into a rage, & knocked out one of my teeth.  He never did anything like that before we were married.  During the 18 months I was married to him, I received many beatings and was locked in a house, while he went partying.  He didn't work much, and we lived in different places a lot.  Many of which were his sisters & mothers house, which came with their own brands of Hatfield & McCoys devils.  Butch was involved in organized crime, and would do drug runs, & steal brand new cars off the lots & take them to Ohio.  His sources there, were higher ranking in the crime circles he ran with.  Some of the times,  he would take me.  I was in shock at the things I witnessed.  Once he even humiliated me at a restaurant, and took me outside to the van and beat me in front of the whole place.   During this period of my life, I was constantly fearful because I never knew what he would do next.  To cope with this pressure, I developed an addiction to valium.  One night after taking over 100 mg of valium, & drinking  Jack Daniel's, I knew I had gone to far.  I wasn't trying to kill myself, but it seemed like something was.  I tried to stay awake & the next thing I remember, I am out of my body and a voice from an incredible light above my head said "Go back".  In the place where I was, there was so much peace that cannot be described.  Peace was amplified so much that it felt like a blanket around me.  I could see my nose, you know, how  when  you look straight ahead.  I could see clouds moving quickly & the light that came down from above was reflecting down the clouds like a cylinder.  When the voice sounded "Go back"  It sounded unlike any voice I had ever heard before.  So much authority, so much power.  I immediately began to go back.  When I came back  I immediately opened my eyes.  There was a different presence in that room that I wasn't familiar with.  I thought I had a wild dream, but what was so odd, I did not have a hangover or any effects of the medication.  Everyone else was passed out.  I believe that this was one of the many interventions of Gods sovereign mercy for me.  Lots of people were praying for me at my mothers church.

    I left Butch several times, only coming back as he would cry and promise me he would get help.  I became pregnant at 16 and I thought things would get better.  One day he came in our apartment & flew into a rage because we had fish for dinner instead of steak.  He told me to fix steak, I told him to fix it himself.  He proceeded to beat me and whipped me with a vacuum cleaner cord while I was 5 months pregnant.  That night I began to hemorrhage.  He went to work the next day, like nothing ever happened.  I laid in the bathtub as I watched the life drain from my body. ( At this point, I feel I must apologize if this is offensive to you.  There are countless numbers of women out there that are suffering in abuse and it is awful......real awful.  We should be offended at the terrible injustices that women have suffered & not ignore it.)  I knew if I didn't go to my neighbors  apartment & ask her to call the ambulance that I would die.   The rescue squad came & promptly got me admitted to the hospital and I was taken in for surgery.  They had to give me 3 pints of blood right away.  You would think after all that, that I would have left my husband, but no, I didn't.  I wanted to be married forever, and I was taught that it is for better or worse.  I stayed with him, but promised myself, if he ever hit me or threatened to hit me, I was out of there.  I told him so.

    Things went pretty good for awhile after that, although the loss of my baby boy was really hard for a 16 year old to deal with.  My husband allowed me to get a job and I began to save up for a car of my own.  My first car was a VW beetle.  We were getting ready to get a house from one of my distant cousins to have for our own, and Butch flew into a rage.  He was in agreement up to this point.  He said in rage, I'm not living around your relatives! (After living around his all this time)  We were staying at his mothers house, and I quickly picked up my purse and ran barefoot to my car.  I locked the doors just as he got to the car.  As I was backing out, he cursed and threw rocks at me, telling me to never come back.  I stayed with an aunt in the next state, and several days later Butch found me.  He called me begging me to come back once again.  I was almost persuaded,  but told him we needed time to think.  Several days later, my aunt and I went to get some of my belongings at my mother in laws home.  She welcomed us in and informed us that we weren't to take anything until Butch got back.  We waited, then I asked her if it would be alright if I at least start loading some of my things while I wait.  Reluctantly, she agreed.  After I loaded everything, I sat there and I told her that it was over between Butch & I, & she proceeded to curse at me.  As we got up to go,  my mother in law proceeded to get up and hit me on the back of my head with her fist.  Without even thinking, I swung in a complete circle and knocked her out.  When I saw her laying there, I was in shock,  I told my aunt lets get out of here.  My aunt decided to go help her, then she woke up and went after my aunt.  I screamed for my aunt to come out now!  My aunt got loose & came out running, because Mrs. Butcher was getting a gun.  Needless to say, we hustled down the mountain.  Mrs. Butcher filed charges against me for assault and battery and I countered with assault & battery with intent to kill.  The next 3 days Butch tried everything to get me to come back.  He said my mother will drop her charges if you drop yours.  I dropped them, she dropped hers, and I vanished from that area.  No one knew where I went except for my parents.  Butch showed up after I left to my mothers house with a gun demanding to know where I was.  I know, he would have killed me.

I went to live with my aunt and uncle in Alabama.  They own a ranch there, that is quite secluded.  I went through a lot of  withdrawal symptoms from the drugs I had taken.  My uncle pushed me to get me going.  I was devastated at the ripe old age of 17, & they knew it.  They talked me into getting my GED since I quit school when I married.  I started going to classes at the local college & received my GED and they offered me a job at the school.  Things were looking up for this wayward child it seemed. During this time, my aunt would encourage me to go to church and I did.  I had my first dose of Spirit filled people at a local Assembly of God.  It felt like my hair was standing straight up on my arms.  My aunt had this habit that used to bug me during that time, she always had on the PTL show.  For some reason when that show was on, I could feel something different that reminded me of my experience after I had that drug overdose.  My aunt & uncle still thought of me as a little kid, so that tended to make me feel  uncomfortable.  I appreciated everything they did for me but I knew it was time to go.  So without their approval, I went to the nearest recruiters office and signed up to go active duty United States Air Force.  I would be enlisting in 3 months after I turn 18.  My time came, and I became active, October 1978.

    Basic training at Lackland AFB Texas was fun, and I was kept so busy that I did not have time to think.  When the time came for assignments, I was one of the first to go.  I went direct duty to Mountain Home AFB Idaho.  After my arrival, I began to drink alcohol like a fish.  Every night I closed the bar & lunches were spent with liquid suds.  I had become an alcoholic, I could not stop.  Of course, I met many men in all the wrong places.  My drinking got me in trouble, and I had to go for counseling.  I would become violent when I drank, and I would be functioning it seemed normally, but I would black out.   I had a car accident that luckily,  no one was hurt.  Legally I was still married, and in the back of my mind I hoped Butch would come to his senses.   One day I cracked.  My lifestyle, combined with all the emotional trauma I just came out of, set me up for a fall.   I suffered a complete emotional breakdown at the age of 18.  I don't remember anything that happened for three days.  Those days seemed so hazy.   What I do remember, is that when they took me into the hospital, I tried to leave and none of the staff could hold me.   As I got to the door, a little bitty man stood there and I hugged him and started crying.   That's all I remember.  After my release from the hospital, he came to visit me.   He was a doctor and a Spirit filled Christian.  He invited me to his church, and I went, but I wasn't ready to give up my alcohol, or the man I was living with, so I didn't stay long.   But I know their prayers helped me through that time.

    I took leave, and went back to visit my family in Virginia for a week.  While I was there, I got connected with some old friends that told Butch I was back.  As I was going to see him, thinking he changed, some real bazaar stuff started happening.  I was involved in 3 car accidents in one day.  These were separate cars.  I kept hearing a voice tell me "Get out of here, now!"  I did after the last accident.  I went back to Idaho and within a few weeks I was notified by the Red Cross that Butch had been murdered.  The year is 1979.  I am now the age of 19 & a widow.  Sherry Edwards who became Sherry Butcher was now, widow Butcher.  Well, that added more junk to the pile.  The events of his murder were in the newspapers and on the news.  In summary, he had been to a party the night before.  His "friend", who was involved in higher degrees of organized crime, shot him with a twelve gage shotgun point blank range. The reason stated was,  Butch went into a rage, and beat him up the night before at a party.  Philip vowed to even the odds.  This was one of the men he did runs with.  I did not go to the funeral.  I had lots of mixed feelings about the whole thing.

    Not long after the death of my husband, I received overseas orders to Aviano AB Italy.  I was still drinking a lot and now dealing with a death, new assignment, culture change, new job and being far, far away from the USA.  Things continued to escalate in my life, it seemed I was on a course of destruction.  I got into some really bad things in Italy.

    I came to a turning point in my life.  I had been to a party on top of a mountain and got so drunk that I blacked out.  I drove off the mountain and I don't remember driving.  The road was a narrow dirt road with no guard rails.  I had an accident when I came into town, I hit a parked car.  I thank God, I didn't kill anyone.  Well, needless to say, I got in big trouble with the Italian police and with the military police.  I was taken in, and after that,  I had to face my commander.  I got an article 15, which is bad.  I lost my driving privileges and I had to go to counciling.  What a humiliation it was.  I couldn't stop the drinking.   I bought a moped not long after that, because it was legal for me to drive one Italy, and I wrecked it.  One day after a particularly wild night, I was in my apartment in Pordenone Italy.  Alone, no car, no moped, only me, myself and I.   I began to cry out to God & said "Ok God, if your really the God my mom  spoke of, then please help me, because I don't know how to stop."  After I spoke those words a presence entered the room, like the one I felt after I overdosed, and the feeling I had when I was in that Spirit filled church.  I cried all day, it seemed like buckets.  I picked up a Bible I had stolen, and began to read all day and most of the night.  I knew something had changed, I felt so clean, I felt so new.  The year is 1980. I went to work the next day and I felt so different.  I had a great awareness of God in my life.  I could not understand why the people I worked with and all my "friends" didn't like my changes. The Lord helped me with my problem with alcohol, He gave me the strength to stay away from it.   I got connected with a fellow airman who introduced me to the only church in town.  A Baptist church that had been established as an missionary outreach.  It was there that I met my current husband John R. Mackey.  John was active duty Air Force, just recovering from a divorce and at that time had a 2 year old son in his care.  After a season of time, we began to date.  He had just given his life to Christ a few months before we met.  It was a whirlwind relationship and he asked me to marry him right before I would be reenlisting and moving on to New Mexico.  We decided it was best for me to get out of the service.  I  was instant wife and mom in 1982.  I became pregnant and had Daniel Lee in 1983.  Meggie Ann came a year after that.  Daniel was born in California, Meggie was born in Guam.  It was in Guam that things really changed for me Spiritually.

After moving from Italy, we were assigned to Beale AFB California.  Daniel Lee was born there. Sean our oldest, (he's my instant son) had just turned 4 at the time.  I believe the Lord gave me Sean, knowing that I had lost the other.  We attended a Baptist church in California.  John was baptized there, but we had a short time in California, and soon orders came for Guam and I was also pregnant  with Meg.  I loved Guam.... there's something about the tropics I can't get it out of my system.  After I had Meg, I was asked to go out with some girls to a club.  I started drinking  and as I watched the male strippers dance, it was like a 2 x 4 hit me in the head.  I heard distinctly, "why are you here?"  Well, that was it.  I had to go home.  That night, I stayed up almost all night, repenting.  I promised God, I would go to church and go to church I did.

    Our family started attending the base chapel.  John got involved with the men's  groups and did outreach work and I got involved in the women's groups.  I was determined to be good, so I got involved with everything.  I was in the choir and would attend the gospel services that were in another location on base.  I liked the gospel services a lot,  because the people looked alive, they moved.  My dear brothers & sisters of color taught me a lot about oppression.  I tell you, oppression makes you press in.  The Lord led me to a week day Bible Study at the chapel, led by one of the ministers wives.  We received  word that Evelyn Christianson was in town, and the women from the Bible Study decided to go.  During that  conference, I learned about prayer.  I swallowed it all.  After that conference, I began to incorporate prayer into my daily routine.  I began to get up at 5 am to pray and use the things I learned from the conference.  I began to sense the Lord and I became ravenous for the study of the Word.    Not long after this I met Rhonda.

    Ronda quickly became my friend and we would talk for hours about the Lord.  She would tell me stories about her mom and dad.  Rhonda's parents were involved in the Assembly of God church and called to be deliverance ministers.  Rhonda would tell me things that went on in their home as a child.  The conversations were fascinating, because I really didn't think people dealt with demons in this day.  You know, I believed  that old stinken doctrine.   Rhonda and her family attended chapel services and  on Sunday night they would go to a little Christian servicemen's center downtown.  It was a mission set up by the Church of God out of Cleveland Tennessee.   Rhonda would play the piano for the services and she was helping to get the ministry off the ground.  She would always talk to me about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.   One Sunday she invited us to service.  As we went in, I noticed the shouting and handclaping.  I thought cool, these folks are alive.  As the service progressed,  a woman came up to the front for prayer.  The minister laid his hand on her head, and she fell down on the hard concrete floor.  As I watched this, I wondered why she fell and why no one was trying to help her up.  She just laid there and then people started speaking in words I could not understand.  The way it sounded and looked, made me feel like we were in India with a southern accent.  Needless to say,  I freaked!!!  We left and I was stunned at what I witnessed.  Rhonda called me to check on me, but I was still freaked out.  She said to me "Sherry, I can't make you believe, but I want you to ask God if it's real, and ask Him to reveal the truth to you.  Fast a meal to seek the truth & see what He says."

    I thought about what she said a long time and I got serious about seeking Him, because I found scriptures that backed up what she told me.  My husband was due to go TDY to Australia for a  week, so I determined to devote all of my free time to seeking Him.  I had never fasted before for Spiritual reasons, but decided to do so since I found scriptural backing.  I fasted two meals a day and devoted my time to seeking the truth about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I read everything I could get my hands about the Baptism of Holy Spirit both in the Bible and some books I had received.  The first day came, and I kept learning.  My prayer was "Lord if this is for me, then manifest yourself to me.  Because I want this if it's your will."  The second day came and I was feeling the hunger pains, but determined to get an answer, I kept pressing in.   The third day I was able to get the children down early for the night, and by this time,  I was learning a lot about the Spirit and couldn't get enough.  I was hungry for more.  Then the third day came.

    I was in our living room  laying on the couch, reading the Word and a book about the Spirit.  It was late at night, but I couldn't sleep.  As I laid there, I felt a presence enter that room that was freaky.  I knew something was in that room!!!  I got up and went to my bedroom and turned on the lights and decided to read there, hoping that what I felt was just my imagination.  As I laid there, that presence came in my room.  I kept my nose in the book.  Next thing I know, I hear a voice speak to me "It's time!"  I sat straight up in bed and said "Time for What!"  I looked up........ there was a cloud in my room!!!  It was visible to my eyes!!!  I did not know what the cloud was, so I freaked out.  I wondered what was happening to me, I called Rhonda and begged her to come over.  I told her over the phone what was happening and she said God wants to Baptize you in His Holy Spirit and she said she would come.  The only way I can describe this presence, was that it felt like a huge storm was coming, the awesome feel you get when a storm approaches was in my house.  As I waited, freaked out, I prayed that I wouldn't have a heart attack because my heart was pounding!  The visible cloud disappeared but the presence did not.  When Rhonda came, she brought the associate pastors wife.  As soon as they walked into the house, they both said that God was in this place.  I told them what happened and we began to praise the Lord.  As I lifted my arms for the first time in praise and worship, I felt an electrical bolt touch my fingers and it began to inch down my arms, and I started jerking like I was holding a live wire.  I asked God to please let me be filled in that church, because I was scared.  All of this was brand new to me.  I didn't know God could be so real!!!  As I requested, the electrical surges began to subside and I was stunned.  The ladies stayed till early morning, I didn't want them to leave when they did.  I could sense the presence and it didn't leave.  I could not sleep, eat or drink anything for three days.  By the end of those three days, I determined to receive whatever it was that He wanted to give me.  I did not know what the cloud meant.  Later I found out it was the Shekinah Glory of God.  Watch how you pray, I prayed for Him to manifest Himself to me.........and He did!!!

    I knew that when I went to church on Sunday night, I was going to receive the Baptism.  When I walked in the church, I went to the second row.   When the music started, I raised my hands like before.  As I was praising God, that same presence was over my head and I felt my head going backwards, it was hard for me to stand.  The effort was unbearable.  The electrical current I felt before, slowly inched it's way into my arms, this time all the way to my toes.  I stood there  shaking and jerking under the power.  I was so overcome by the revelation of His power, that I was in shock.  The pastors wife said she saw a  aura of light around me that came out quite a distance.  Whatever happened to me that day, ignited a fire that refused to be put out.  I believe I was Baptized by fire.

    Everything changed after that.  My husband thought I was nuts.   The Bible Study I went to in the morning was handed over to me.  The Pastors wife asked me to lead it.  I don't think she knew what she was asking for.  The chapel services are very subdued, and here I come, a live wire.  Needless to say, the Bible study got fired up.  Women got saved, healed and filled.  I thought wow, this Holy Ghost thing is powerful.   Then the Pastor comes to me and tells me I can't talk about controversial things.  At the time I didn't know what controversial things were.  I pointed out to him that everything I did or said was in the Bible, but that didn't seem to matter to him.  I went through a hard lesson with him and didn't come  through very godly.  My zeal was without knowledge and I got hurt.  Being new to this Holy Ghost stuff, I had a lot to learn.  I was fired from that Bible study.  The women protested and wanted me back, but he said no.  So I went to the other church on Sunday nights.   I cried a lot because I didn't understand why, when people are changing would they stop the flow.  During this time, I had  angelic visitations.   I saw one at the foot of my bed, standing over looking at me with a concerned look.  There was so much peace and love  radiating from the angel that my sadness was overcome.  I knew that God had sent me help.   During this time, I asked the Lord what His purpose was for me.  One day in prayer the Lord spoke "prophet" to me.  I didn't know what that was, and what it meant.  I really didn't think much about it for awhile.  But the Lord kept showing me scriptures about it.  I kept arguing, "I can't do that......I'm a woman".  So I continued praying and learning more.  It wasn't until I began to see events happen before they happened  that I got some clue.  One day  Rhonda called me and shared a vision she had pertaining to me.  The vision was in the arctic, and she saw a huge iceberg.  The Lord revealed the size of it above and beneath the water.  Rhonda said, "The Lord said you haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg in the ministry He is calling you to."  Remember, we were still in Guam, one of the hottest climates close to the equator.  I pondered on that word and wrote it in my journal.  Being in Alaska now, I have had many opportunities to see icebergs and glaciers.  I often remember that word from the Lord.   The Lord would also go to great lengths to answer my prayers during those early days.   For example, we were in need of another vehicel.  The Lord kept dealing with us to give away a car we had.  We hesitated and thought it was just our imagination.  A family with five children needed it because their car broke down completely.  Everytime I would get in prayer, the Lord kept pressing the issue.  For three days the conviction grew, then weird stuff started happening to that car.  The windshield got cracked, stuff started going wrong mechanically in the three days.  I was in prayer and God told me to go tell John, we have to give it now!  John noticed the bazaar stuff happening and was in agreement.  That day, we gave the car to that family and I was so relieved and they were blessed.  We kept looking for a car for us that was within our means.  We found a really nice van and wanted it.  I kept feeling like it cost to much though, but I still wanted it.  We put money down on it and went home to wait for all the credit stuff to go through.  I felt like we were not supposed to get it, but I really wanted it, so I put it before God, and said "God if this is not in your perfect will for us, frustrate our plans that we will be in your perfect plan."  We got word back that all the credit stuff came through, but they had to transport the van to the lot.   I kept feeling really uneasy about the whole deal, but was hoping we still could get the van.  As we went down to pick up the van, we walked in to see the dealer and he was totally frustrated.  He informed us that the van was totaled!  You could tell he really didn't want to do business with us anymore.  It was dropped off of a truck on its side.  We saw it and my mouth felt like it dropped to the ground.  Although I was disappointed, I knew God had protected us from a mistake.   An important point, God will move Heaven, earth and hell out of the way of His beloved,  to keep them out of trouble if they will ask Him to.  In this situation, even though the wealth of the sinner was totaled, it was for protection of the just.   Not long after that, the Lord provided a real nice car for us within our means.  The price was perfect and it lasted us many years.    I knew I was truly called, to war, and interceed in prayer.    We soon got orders to do the San Antonio stroll.   Basic training was beginning.

    The time is Spring 1985.  We arrived in San Antonio Texas and my husband was assigned to Randolph AFB.  We bought a small home about 10 miles away from the base.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of churches in the area.  The city was over a million in population.  I began to fast for God to direct me to a ministry home.  I learned early on, that before you can lead, you must follow.  We served in churches, under the leadership.  I knew that I had to learn more, because the fire was burning.  I received a phone call from a woman minister during that fast, and she invited me to the church that God revealed to me.  I was thrilled!!!  When I went, I had the aditude that I knew it all, because of the revelations given to me.  I walked in with my concordance in my bag, ready to answer any questions.  All of the sudden, I heard the Lord speak to me & He said "SIT DOWN & LEARN, YOU DO NOT KNOW AS MUCH AS YOU THINK YOU DO!!!!"

     Well, that deflated my head real quick.  I learned a lot there, and the Lord promoted me up the ranks quickly.  The church had over 3000 members.  He began to make me prophesy and the anointing would be so strong that I violently shook as I delivered the messages.  It was as if something was discharged in the Spirit, like an arrow and a lot of force behind it.  I was quickly given authority in that church to move about within all the circles.  I was on the women's council and taught quite often, and I was heavily involved in prayer ministry.  I was promoted by the Lord, to coordinate all follow-up ministry to new converts and distributed the follow up reports to the different regions of the city.  I was involved!!!  For example, the Power Team came to our church and conducted an outreach.  We had hundreds of conversions to follow up on, that not including the reports of healing's and those wanting contact.

    I learned submission to authority very well.  I understand the blessing.  During this time, I grew strong in Spirit and the Lord used me in prophecy a lot.  I was loyal and devoted to my leadership because God placed me there.  I would not touch them in criticism, even when they made big mistakes.  I knew God had to change them, not me.  Later, the pastor got into some big trouble with finances and lost a multimillion dollar deal.  We never heard him say he made a mistake.  During this time, I would go to the church to pray and do other things.  I noticed he began to follow me around a lot.  I began to feel very uncomfortable.  He would ask me to come into his office and I knew something was wrong.  Sexual advances were in the making.  I left that day and went home and threw away any dress or outfit that I thought was causing the problem.  I thought it was my fault.  The next time I saw him, I had my hair up with a dress up to my neck, but nothing had changed.  He still was acting the same way.  During this time, my husband was  in Alabama for Senior Academy School.  He was gone two months.

    This problem really bothered me.  I began to fast & pray.  I cried to the Lord and told him, "I will not be a problem and if you don't do something, I will have to leave."  Up to this point, I weathered every storm well.  God never told me to leave the ministry so a lot of confusion came my way, because I was dealing with something that I didn't know how to deal with.   How could this man of God do these things.   As I continued to fast & pray, the Lord led me to service one Wednesday night.  As the meeting began, I noticed 2 men in the back that I didn't recognize.  After the praise and worship, the pastor noticed them and recognized them.  The pastor said he had had a dream about them  the night before, and knew they were to speak.  So up they came.  One of the men began to minister, on something that had never been addressed in that congregation before,  Lust.   He said there was a lot of lust in this congregation.   He read all my mail and as I watched the pastor, I knew God was intervening on my behalf.  As soon as the guest finished speaking, the Lord moved me to prophesy very boldly.  From that moment on, I did not have any more problems in that area with the pastor.  I learned how to face the lion and roar back!!!  I believe a lot of God's people need to learn how to stick with the agenda, until the Lord changes things.

    The Lord continued to teach me personally about prophecy.  Not much was ever mentioned in that congregation about the office of the Prophet.  Things were going well for me in the ministry, I had attained by the Lord a position of credibility with the congregation and outside as well.  One day the Lord began to speak to me about a release and a door opening for me.  I believe the year was 1988.  If that's wrong I'll correct it later.  Anyway, I was asked by a friend to go with her to Tulsa.  She wanted to go visit some different ministries and had a prophetic friend up there.  We went to several churches.  First was TL Osborne's. We heard some powerful confirmation to our being in Tulsa at this time.  Next we went to Higher Dimensions, Carlton Pearsons ministry.  We got a lot more confirmations.  After that we went to Oral Roberts University.  We decided to go up to the prayer tower and wait on the Lord.  While we were praying, a prophetess came to me and announced the activation of the Prophet in my life, and said things are going to really change when you get back.  And change they did!!!

When I came back, my eyes were opened.  I could see everything that was going on in the church  and I was shocked by the things that were kept hidden from me before.  I fasted a lot and the Lord began to tell me we would be leaving that church soon.  I argued with the Lord for 3 months and went to some of the staff and told them, so they could pray.  All but one of them told me that it was a mistake.   One even said 99% of the people who leave this church fall away from God.  I also told the pastor I was leaving and he "prophesied" that my marriage would be destroyed, and that I should stay there.  So here I was in another dilemma.  Who was right.  I had a lot to give up.  I continued to press in and God continued to say the same thing.  I said "Ok, God......your telling me to leave, but where am I going?"  All I received was "like Abraham, he left & didn't know where he was going."  I left and felt the biggest release over my life.  When I left though, all my "friends" were no longer my friends.  They thought I was out there.  When I left that church,  it was like the people gave up on me.  During that time, I was in strict fasting and prayer.  I was determined to hear  the Lord about where I was to go.    During that fast, the Lord began to tell me I had a message for my former pastor.  I really did not want to hear that.    For two weeks the Lord kept telling me to go to the pastor in private and give him the message.  The message was "the Lord says your  to judge yourself in three areas...one pride, two financial matters and the third lust."  I argued with the Lord for days.  I was terrified.   The Lord finally said to me "I will not talk to you again, until you deliver that message."  And He didn't.  I can't stand it when God doesn't talk to me.  As I continued to prepare for the delivery of it, the Lords day finally came.  I was prayed up, fasted up and humble.  I did not want any of Sherry to come through.  Off I went.

    The presence of God was so strong when I walked into the foyer of that church.  I felt like a dome was over me, but yet I could see so clearly.  I walked in and met the pastors wife in the hall, she and I both knew I had to talk to pastor.  I told her I had been in fasting and prayer and that God had given me a word for him.   She told me to find him.  I was invited into his office and after the normal formalities, I began my process of revealing what God gave me.  It was very basic.  First I said "Judgment must first begin in the house of God, and the Lord said that you are to judge yourself in three areas.  The first pride, second financial matters and the third was lust."  When I got to lust,  he got up and ran out of his office and said false prophet.  I was left in his office in shock.  I got up to leave and I saw his wife standing in the corner hidden and I told her I loved her and she asked me to leave and I did.  When I left that church the biggest relief came over me....I knew I had been obedient and the results of that encounter were up to God.  Not long after that encounter, I got a call from someone I knew in that church wanting to know what happened.  I told them the Lord had led us out of that church and we had to be obedient.  They proceeded to tell me, that I was publicly blasted from the pulpit by the pastor.  He announced that I was a false prophet to the whole congregation.  I was devastated.  I continued to fast and pray in desperation for the will of God.  Up until this point,  the Lord had not led us anywhere, so a lot of self doubts and fears of being deceived were plaguing my mind.   All of my "so called" friends were no where to be found, and I felt alone.  During this same time frame and fast, the Lord began to speak to me about a church that I didn't know anything about.  The ministry had moved several times in a short period of time.  I could not find out where they were.  I kept hearing the name of the church in prayer and I asked God to show me where they were.  That same day,  a woman who I had not heard from in a long time called me.  She began to share with me some things that God gave her and then invited me her church........her church was the same church God had spoken to me.  I was so relieved.  The day we went to the place where they met, I felt such a strong prophetic anointing.  As the worship began, my knees started knocking and then my body started with the jerking.  I felt like I was holding a live wire.  After the worship, began silence........then God opened my mouth.  To put into summary, I did not know that the pastor that day was going to resign and close the doors.  The word God gave,  was at the right place at the right time.  The pastor was so discouraged and the Lord brought hope.  I was so thankful to the Lord for His sovereign hand.  The pastor did not resign.  It sure was nice to be a blessing, considering what I had just come out of a few weeks ago.

    I assumed we were supposed to be planted at that ministry, so we jumped in.  I continued in my pursuit of God and His will.  During this same time frame, God began to reveal that we were going to move to Alaska.  I did not want anything to do with Alaska.  I said "you can keep that ice box."  But during another two week  period, everywhere I went, I saw signs about Alaska, programs on tv about Alaska, people who had lived in Alaska, bumper stickers about Alaska, license plates from Alaska etc.  God was sending me confirmations daily about Alaska.  It got so hilarious with frequency, that I laughed......but what was so strange, was over this same period of time, I started wanting to go to Alaska.  As I was walking out of a store one day, I looked & there on the back of a big truck, was mud flaps that said, "North to the future....Alaska."   Well.....me and Jesus had a shouting session in the parking lot.....I was beside myself.  I went home and got into my prayer closet, and laughing I said, "OK God, I get the message, you are sending us to Alaska.  I accept that.  Lord, Alaska is a very big place....where are we going in Alaska?"  He revealed a scripture concerning the Valley of Achor.  Through that passage, I understood that to mean Anchorage.  I asked Him to confirm that word.  That night, we were invited to a ministers meeting at the home of the pastor.  We had a little trouble finding his home, so we arrived a little late.  As we walked in, the pastor was speaking about pioneers.  He said, "God is preparing you so well that you won't fail, and as pioneers, God would not send you to a place like Anchorage Alaska if you weren't prepared."  Well, once again I was beside myself.  I nearly fell off my chair.  He asked what was up, and we shared what God had revealed that day.  I was ready to go to Alaska right then, little did I know how long we would have to wait.

    I continued seeking God with all my heart, and I was relieved that we were in another ministry.  Then the Lord began stirring again to leave that ministry.  I was really confused and I didn't understand why He wanted us to leave again.   It was hard, because I finally felt secure again.  During this time frame, I heard a lot of nasty rumors concerning me,  from people I knew from the other church I served in.  I became the scapegoat and was blamed for everything and the pastor was perfectly blameless.  I visited lots of churches, and prayed that God would show me where to go.  I never felt like I fit anywhere.  God had been speaking to me about starting a church but I didn't think I could do that, because I was a woman.  My husband could pastor, but not me.  So I continued to seek out places to fit.  All of my friends were gone, and the isolation of not having fellowship with them began to take its toll.  I really began to question everything, wondering if I was even in Gods will at all.  Why can't I fit anywhere?  It was during this time that I hit a very low point in my life.  I really wanted Gods will, but in my mind because of the rejections, I felt like maybe I had done the unpardonable sin.  I felt like the person on the side of the road wounded, and all the  religious folks I knew,  just passed by on the other side, while I lay there dying.   Some of the confusions that plagued my mind were, how could I be so used of God one day and the next day be called a false prophet.  The way it looked and felt, made me think they might be right.  I felt lower than a piece of trash with no hope for a future.  It was during this low point that I met a very special person in my life.   She found me on the side of the road and nursed me back to Spiritual health.

    Her name is Durussia Jenkins.  She found me and God gave her exactly what to do for me.  Only God knows the impact she has had on my life, and how much I love her.  She is a little woman, half Black, half Jewish with so much love that I have never witnessed in a human being before.  You see, she had been fiercely persecuted for years and from that suffering, was filled with so much love and genuine concern for those who were suffering.  She had been in ministry for years and tried to fit in places.  She was another one that wanted Gods perfect will.  She would come into places prophetically, with so much love, and the enemy would raise up his nasty head against her through religious people.   As I recovered, she gently taught me about the life of the prophet.  The name of her ministry is Dunamis Power Ministries and I joined in with her ministry.   We have taken many ministry trips together.   We organized a city wide prayer warfare march in San Antonio Texas.  It was three days long with prayer and warfare going on twenty four hours a day.  We had four armies.  The north, the south, the east and the west, which would meet in three hour intervals in conjunction with each other.  God really moved during that meeting.  We were stationed in the center of the city, on a historic piece of ground where the headquarters was many years ago and generals would stay in this location.  The Alamo was only a few short blocks away.  During this warfare, many hidden plans of the enemy were revealed.   A great victory was won in the Spirit.  I thank God for those faithful warriors who fought valiantly.

    February 1, 1990 I was ordained under Dunamis Power Ministries.  Durussia anointed us and a prophet named David Gardiner came to witness the ordination & prayed over us.   February 5, 1990 we opened New Beginning Christian Church on Walnut Lake Drive in our home.  We had as few as 15 people to 50 people in that little house.  Many were born again, filled with the Spirit and delivered.  I finally felt like I was doing what I was destined to do.  The desire to want to fit in another church vanished,  when we started the church.  We had such a close knit group, and God taught us so much.  We were highly involved in Spiritual warfare and had many week long meetings.  It truly felt like family.  For example, of one of the meetings we had,  preparations for a week long prayer meeting began and the Lord had us fast and pray.  It was very late, the night before the meeting was to start, I was in bed and I sat straight up.  I knew something was brewing.  The Lord spoke that the phone call would reveal what it was.  Right after He said that, the phone rang, and it felt like a chill went down my spine.  On the other end, two men that announced themselves as satanist's were, cursing at me telling me they were going to rape and kill me.  Much hideous words and sounds came across that phone to me.  I proceed to tell them about the future of their god and their futures if they did not repent.  I told them God loved them and that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, including their god satan. They couldn't stand the Word being spoken and hung up many times, only to call back later.  I taped the conversations on my answering machine, so the prayer group could hear the messages before we went to war.  The prayer group was shocked to hear the threats, nothing like a reality check to get you stirred up.  You could see the determination build in these dear saints for destruction of the enemies plans.  It sparked a holy zeal and pushed them into the lions roar.  We all learned much from that experience.  To summarize, the satanist did show up at my home and try to kill me, but it didn't work.  God always protects His troops, and if you are called to warfare you will have direct confrontations with devils.  God wants His warriors to know that if He calls you to do a good warfare, then He will be there to equip you and to protect you by His precious blood.  God never calls you to war so you will be destroyed, but for you to destroy the works of the devil.
 

To be continued................

                                  Luke 5:37-38  No man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine
                                   will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.  But new
                                  wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved.

                                                    John 2:10  but thou hast kept the best wine for last.