“I just loved it right away. It talked about like worshiping nature and respecting animal spirits. And like it was the first thing where I had this outlet where I could be like dreamy and sensitive and a child.” Alyssa explained. 
 
Alyssa Leone’s journey into new age didn’t start as an adult trying to “find her inner child”. she was 13,  looking for a way out of the nightmare of sexual abuse from a “friendly” neighbor. it had started when she was five.
 
“I'm thinking my only value is sex. I remember just getting depressed. I remember getting anxiety. I- I couldn't rest because even when I did try to sleep, I would have these nightmares of this guy.” She continued. 
 
The nightmare would get worse. Alyssa’s mom not only dismissed her daughter’s claims about the abuse, she married the abuser. They attended catholic mass regularly. Hearing about god’s love rang empty.

"I thought first maybe he doesn't exist. And then I thought, well, if he does exist, he doesn't love me. Like he's not for me. He loves those kids over there that have like a mom, a dad, a house, a normal childhood.” Alyssa reflected. 
 
As a teenager, with her depression and anxiety growing, Alyssa had one question. Why? in her mind, meditation and eastern mysticism, held the answers to peace and understanding. 
 
"And that's the point where I'm like, ding, light bulb moment, I'm on the right track because I always just wanted to know why. Like why did I grow up like that? Why do other people grow up normal? Why? And I felt like karma and reincarnation was my answer to that.” She continued. 
 
By the time she moved out at 18, Alyssa was immersed in new age and witchcraft.
 
“It really makes you believe that you're in control. 'Cause it's this idea that like we're all gods, I'm gonna make my life better, my own way, on my own accord in my own way." Alyssa further explained. 
 
“it felt like a fulfillment of prophecy. I was like, this is where I'm supposed to be. This is what I'm supposed to be doing.”
 
In the coming years, Alyssa would marry and have two children. She continued practicing witchcraft meditating, using healing crystals, and calling on spirits just trying to find peace. After thirteen years she realized it wasn’t coming, and she wanted out.

“I'm getting worse. Like my depression is worse. My anxiety is turning into panic attacks. Nightmares I've always [00:14:30] had are turning into sleep paralysis. And at that point I was like, there is a darkness here and I don't understand it.” She admitted.

At the recommendation of a coworker, Alyssa decided to see a trauma therapist, …who happened to be a christian. When she talked about god’s love, Alyssa still wasn’t buying it.

“I thought to myself, I'm in 'cause I need help. And even though my, the therapist was a Christian, I, in my new age belief system, I believe the Christian God didn't love me, but I thought all paths led to the same source or the same God.” Alyssa further explained.

One night in bed, she had a terrifying episode of sleep paralysis.

“And this time it's different because I'm levitating about four feet out of my body and I can't move. I see my child just being horribly abused and I can't look away. I can't move, I can't do anything. . I'm turned to look to my other side. I see my other child being horribly abused and I can't do anything.” She recalls fearfully. 

It was then Alyssa remembered something her therapist told her to do.
 
“I knew that I needed to call on the name of Jesus. But I'm paralyzed. I can't do anything. So I get out in my head, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And the second I do two opposing forces meet. And that force that's ripping me out is still there, but suddenly a more powerful yet gentle and loving force meets it and is slowly bringing me back down into my body. when I get back into my body, I can move, I can breathe. And I know two things for certain that changed my life. I know that Jesus is Lord of everything. The next thing I know for certain is the darkness. The demonic bows down to the name of Jesus.” Alyssa confessed. 
 
“in that moment I was like, I've screwed up basically my entire life up to this point. Like, Jesus, I don't know what I'm doing. I know you're Lord of everything. Like take it, like take my life, take my kids, take my like, take whatever you wanna take from me. Like I will drop everything and follow you.” She reflected, 

 
A lifetime of anxiety, depression and nightmares were gone. The next day, Alyssa threw away her crystals, tarot cards, everything associated with the occult.  

Today she and her family are committed, faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
 
“if you're ready to like give up the control, like there's a more peaceful life. Um, Jesus wants to take it over for you, you know, like he wants to heal it. He wants you to give it over to him. And that feels so much better than trying to fix it yourself.” She concluded. 

Princika said, “I was playing with my sister and she pushed me. I fell on the cooking fire and got burned really bad. It hurt a lot and made me cry.” 

Princika severely burned her chest and back. 

Her mother said, “My husband and I searched for a hospital that would give her proper treatment, but we found none we could afford. Princika cried all the time from the pain. It was unbearable. Her whole stomach was scalded. Her hand was burned, and it all hurt her so badly. We worried she would die soon.”  

Thick, painful scars began to form on the open wounds, making it hard for Princika to sleep or even eat normally. She became badly malnourished.

“I tried to feed her, but Princika refused to eat, because she was in so much pain,” explained her mother. “When we tried to clean her wounds, she barely allowed us to touch her.”

Princika’s parents had no money for the surgery she so desperately needed. Her mother made some home remedies, but gave up all hope for her recovery.

Her mother said, “All day, I stayed with her and put on my ointments, but they didn’t do much. We felt helpless.” 

Then the family came to a hospital that partners with Operation Blessing.  First, we put Princika on a good diet to fight the malnourishment.  Then we paid for the multiple surgeries she needed. 

“Now she is perfectly fine,” her mother said. “She has no more pain. Her skin has even turned back to its natural color. Her father and I are so relieved to see her happy again. She plays with her friends, and she is filled with joy and laughter.”

Princika said, “I come out here to play in the field. It makes me happy.” 

Her mother said, “Thank you so much everyone who contributed for Princika’s surgery. You gave her a new life and a better future.” 

Richard Magnuson recalls that day in October, “The nurse asked me, ‘If your heart stops, do you want to be kept alive?’ And, I said, ‘yes.'” October 12, 2020, 72-year-old Richard told his wife, Pam, he was going to rest in their back bedroom. He’d been suffering for two days from what he thought was a pulled stomach muscle. He says, “I really had no idea what it was, I just know that the pain was severe and I wanted it to go away.” Pam recalls, “I went back there, and he looked pale, and he was laying there not able to get up. I called 911 and the guys were there very quickly.”

Richard was rushed to Lucas County Health Center in Chariton, Iowa – about 10 minutes away. Suspecting a heart attack, doctors gave Richard blood thinners and prepped him to be flown to a larger hospital in Des Moines: MercyOne Medical Center. Waiting for Richard to arrive at MercyOne was vascular surgeon, Dr. Jose Borromeo. He recalls, “The suspicion at that time I was told was that he could have had a heart event. He had severe pain, not so much in his chest but throughout his abdomen and his back. His blood pressure was dipping into the low side which made us very concerned at that time.”

Then, right before Richard was about to be loaded onto the helicopter, a doctor at Lucas County noticed swelling in Richard’s abdomen. He knew at once it wasn’t a heart attack. Dr. Borromeo says, “When they had suspected he had an aneurysm and that he was bleeding from it, that usually requires an emergent transfer just because time is of the essence in those emergencies.” Pam recalls, “Everybody was in a hurry. But he said, ‘Let her say goodbye.’ He's telling me that this is bad enough, that death is going to part us. I didn’t want to hear that.”

Because of Covid protocols, Pam went home to wait for news. Meanwhile, Richard arrived at MercyOne in critical condition and was immediately wheeled in for CAT scans. From those, Dr. Borromeo determined that Richard suffered an abdominal aortic aneurism. Dr. Borromeo says, “Normally the aorta should be around, oh I’d say about 2 cm, we call it an aneurysm when it becomes bigger than 3, and he had a 9 cm aneurysm. But equally ominous was the fact that there was blood outside of his blood vessels, clearly, he was internally bleeding. And that really ups the onus of having to take care of him right away.”

As they prepped Richard for surgery, Dr. Borromeo called Pam. He recalls telling her, “A rough rule of thumb is that 50% of people don’t even make it to the hospital. And then you even have an equally high mortality even with making it to the hospital and getting through surgery. It could be about 80% mortality with a ruptured aneurysm. So, this is clearly a very dangerous, life-threatening condition.” Pam replied, “My heart was sinking at that time. So, I said, ‘Well, can I quick pray for you?’ And he let me, and I just prayed, ‘Lord, guide his hands, show him the right thing to do.’ And that was about it. It was a very short, brief prayer.”

Pam hung up and drove the hour to MercyOne Hospital praying for Richard along the way. She says, “My prayer was, ‘Lord, whatever is Your plan, I'm on board. If it's his time to go be with Jesus, I'm okay. If you bring him back to me, I’ll be even more okay.’” Richard was already in surgery when Pam arrived at the hospital. Dr. Borromeo recalls, “We actually opened him up and replaced that weak wall with a synthetic graft. He had what we call an inflammatory aneurysm, and this is relatively uncommon, I’d say about 10% of people have inflammation around and what that means is everything is stuck. So, in addition to having a big mass of a blood vessel, everything around it stuck and that includes sometimes the structures behind like the intestine. When I was trying to get control of his bleeding, I had to go to the highest point above his aneurysm and it was stuck up there, so there was a small tear in his intestine which I repaired once I had gotten control of the bleeding.”

Meanwhile, Pam found a quiet room to be alone with her thoughts, and God. She recalls, “It was pretty lonely. I had all kinds of thoughts coming through my mind. ‘Lord, I'm still leaving it up to you. But, if he can come back to me, that would be great.’” Around midnight, after six hours in surgery, Dr. Borromeo gave Pam an update. He told Pam. “He did very well all throughout, I would say, Richard is extremely fortunate. Cause he’s defied the odds.” Pam recalls, “I shot outta my seat and I said, ‘Praise the Lord.’ I was so happy. I was just so happy, 'cause God answered the prayer the way I really wanted. I wanted him to come back to me.”

Eleven days later Richard was able to go home. Richard recalls, “I was very thankful. Every time somebody would come in and say, 'man, you're really lucky, then I would thank God.'” Pam says, “We were very, very thankful. I'm still, still saying, 'thank you Jesus.' There are so many things that I'm so thankful for. Yes, He was there. He got us through."

Richard and Pam both believe it was only because of God’s loving care that Richard is alive and well today. Pam says, “Everything God does continues to strengthen my belief and faith and, and dependence on our Lord. Yep. He's got a plan. And apparently, He wasn't done with my husband yet. So, we praise God for that.” Richard says, “I don't know what He has planned for me, but, I know it just wasn't my time. Rely on God. Trust Him and know that He’s there.”

10-year-old Dao and her little brother went to live with their grandparents after their mother abandoned them. But after only a few weeks, Dao wasn’t sure she liked the new living arrangements. Grandma Pinyo faced challenges with Dao from the beginning.

“Dao wouldn’t listen to me and always argued with me,” recalled Grandma Pinyo. “I didn’t know what to do. I felt so discouraged even after a short time.”

“Whenever Grandma asked me to help her with the chores, I always told her I would do it. But I never did,” said Dao.

Dao’s grandparents prayed for their grandkids and took them to church. The kids went to Sunday School where Dao watched the Superbook episode about Job.    

“I saw that bad things happened to Job. He had boils on his body, his children died, his friends left. His wife told him to turn away from God. But Job was very patient. He knelt down and praised God. He had great faith,” recalled Dao. 

When Dao came home after watching Superbook, she prayed in her room to become a Christian. “I felt Jesus was speaking to me,” she said. “He told me to have faith in Him and to follow Him.”

Grandma Pinyo was amazed by the dramatic change she saw in Dao. “She said, ‘Grandma, from now on, I’ll obey you. I’ll help you do the dishes and the laundry. I’ll do everything you ask,’” recalled Grandma Pinyo.

Grandma Pinyo asked Dao to help her with something else. “I don’t know how to read very well, and now she helps me read the Bible!” said Grandma. “Dao has become a new person! I’m so glad that she believes in Jesus and follows Him.” 

Soon after, Dao invited her friend, Ink to Sunday School. After she watched the Superbook episode, “The Fiery Furnace,” Ink prayed to become a Christian too. “I really like Superbook,” said Ink. “God delivered the three men from the fire. It makes me know that always protect me too!”

“I’m so happy that I got to share God’s love with my friend,” said Dao. “We love Superbook!”
 

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