Читать книгу Because God Was There - Belma Diana Vardy - Страница 9

Foreword

Belma is the best example I know of someone whose mourning has been turned into dancing and whose sorrow has become praise. She and I met at a wedding. I was the officiant, and Belma was there as an instructor who had brought a group of children she had trained in worship dance to perform during the wedding ceremony. I was impressed. This was not just dance; it was praise and worship. The children were worshipping, and the presence of the Lord was there.

After the wedding Belma came to me for counselling at the Bayridge Family Centre. Her background shaped her present life and her journey as she follows the Lord in ministry, and it has been a joy for me not only to share in her recovery from an abusive childhood but also to observe firsthand the miracle of redemption at work in a shattered life.

Belma’s story is one of gripping contrasts. It illustrates how one event, or a single life’s circumstance, can impact two individuals who share a similar background in widely divergent ways. The trauma Belma endured in her younger years would have destroyed most people. If they had survived, they would have been severely crippled emotionally. But Belma found the key to healing. Her recovery demonstrates that healing is possible for any broken, wounded, rejected soul.

The sum of Belma’s experiences makes her the person she is today—loving, compassionate, outgoing and exuberant in her expression of thanksgiving and love to God through worship dance. Her life’s journey will not only bless you but change your life and put the key to healing and freedom in your hands.

It has been a privilege for me to know Belma. I am honoured to contribute to her book, because I know her story will be a blessing to you. I am grateful to the Lord to be given the opportunity to assist, support, encourage and help her compile her testimony. It was a labour of love and reliance on the Lord for both of us and was possible only because God was there.

Lorne Shepherd

Rev. Lorne Shepherd is a certified pastoral counsellor by Canada Christian College specializing in marriage and family and a veteran in television broadcasting. Lorne is founder of Bayridge Family Centre and Heart to Heart Marriage and Family Ministry. He is proud of his First Nation’s heritage. His mother is part Iroquois and Algonquin. Lorne is author of Love Making His Way, Raising Real Kids in an Unreal World, and Sex, Never a Four Letter Word.