Walk Worthy Press: Saved Folk in the House

Author Testimony

Refusing to be a victim has driven me all my life. I grew up in a neighborhood on the eastside of Richmond, Virginia where outsiders were afraid to enter. I actually saw a bumper sticker once that said "THE EAST END. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK." I had to be tougher than I looked to survive within the neighborhood, yet it was hard to shake that roughness as I grew outside the neighborhood and mixed and mingled with less threatening types. I refused to be a victim or a thug so I excelled in school, obtained a college degree, good job, the whole American dream. I did what I was told as far as church was concerned, yet I never had a relationship with the Heavenly Father. I always wanted one, but was never taught how to establish one. As I helplessly watched immediate family members fall victim, through drugs, suicide and murder I cried out to God, "How can I stop the madness before it reaches my children? I do not believe you want us to be sitting ducks, not able to avoid being victimized. I know You are up there and I know it is not suppose to be like this. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

I found a Word of Faith based church and dived into the Bible head first doing everything the Word said to do. I became excited, wise, empowered and wanted everybody I knew to learn what I was learning so they too could stop the devastation in their lives. See, through the Word, I had gained control over my situation, circumstances and life. I would no longer fear being a victim. As a matter of fact, now that the victimizer had been identified and I was becoming less ignorant of his devices, I counter attacked. I prayed to God to use me to help Him empower people so they too could take control of their lives and not be victimized. To my surprise, people weren't as interested in not being a victim as I had expected they would. So I pushed. As I pushed, I alienated and some even thought I was crazy. After a few years of going in circles getting nowhere, I needed a refreshing.

God led me to a place where He could honor my faith, take me to a new level and give me my heart's desire all at the same time. He led me to World Changers Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia and allowed me to work at the ministry around people who spoke my language, the language of faith. I thought I was in heaven until reality began to set in. I saw some of the same issues on the outside of the church going on inside the church. I watched as well as prayed and began to understand that folks were having a time adjusting to this new thing God was doing, this breaking of tradition. Where people back in the day ate dinner with their pastor, that kind of intimacy was rare in this new environment. Where they use to come to the church, tell their story and the church would solve their problems for them, pay their bills, buy them food, here at my new church the concept was to empower them with the Word to solve their own problems, being led by the Holy Spirit. The mission was to teach them how to live to avoid such problems. However a lot of folks weren't getting it. They were leaving hurt, disappointed and feeling abandoned because the church was not solving their problems for them. They wanted to be around the pastor more than they wanted to be around God.

I thanked God for my relationship with Him as I watch people be devastated because the pastor wasn't at their disposal. Fortunately, I understood that the pastor was a young, busy, anointed man with a major mission to fulfill and all I wanted from him was a Word from God so that I could live and prosper in every area of my life as the Bible promised. Until people understood that God was their source and not the pastor a different kind of tragedy would continue. Their connection would be broken and they would find themselves in a backsliden condition, blaming the church.

When I had the opportunity to explain the "Relationship with the Father" concept to folks, they received it and were empowered, where those who were waiting around to meet with the pastor are still waiting. I wanted to get the message out that all you need is your relationship with God in order and unshakable faith in His word to get everything else you need in this life.

I always loved to write. I could tell a story and would lose my audience by making a short story long. I thought maybe I could get this message out through stories folks could relate to. But I am a degreed accountant. I haven't been trained in writing, yet I believe that the anointing, the burden removing, yoke destroying power of God, is more effective than formal training. Some of the most anointed men and women of God in the world today never received formal training, but were trained by the Holy Spirit.

Being the only child who depended heavily on my natural father for love and support all my life, I was devastated when he fell victim to a massive stroke. I was completely numb and didn't know what to do when he died. So I was still. I did nothing. Until I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to write, "just write, just get on the computer and type as I dictate". A month and a half later I had a real sloppy manuscript, my first ever, yet all who read it were so moved that it was self published, because no legitimate publisher would touch it.

Readers of my first novel, REAL SAVED FOLKS, felt that I had effectively dealt with the issues of married women and demanded that I deal with issues of single women. To answer the call I wrote SAVED BABIES DADDIES and picked up a whole new audience, Internet addicts because I dealt with that whole phenomenon. People were now telling me what issues to deal with. Dysfunctional households and their effects on our children was a real issue that needed to be addressed, so OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF SAVED BABES was next. These three novels got the attention of a major publisher and SAVED FOLK IN THE HOUSE was conceived.

As I rise to answer the call of the people, God meets me with the anointed answer so that we can get two treats in one, entertaining reading and wisdom to live the abundant life that God promised we can have. When Jesus comes, He will find me answering the call.

Sonnie Beverly

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