Sister Whatley's
Testimony
Praise the Lord!� My name
is Eileen Lavina Poindexter Whatley and I am the wife of the Pastor of
"Are You Sure Ministries" located in beautiful Laramie, Wyoming.
I was born in Memphis, Tennessee
on January 27, 1948, the only daughter of Douglas Winston Poindexter and
Janie Lavina Boyer.
It seems that I have always
been aware of God, even as a little child.� I can't remember the age
I was when I had two specific dreams.� They occurred at different
times, but, both came before I was six years old.�� I was not
yet aware, at such a young age, that there was a judgment coming from Him.
The first dream I had was impressive
& frightening.� I saw people, many numbers of people.� They
stretched from one end of the sky to the other end.� In my dream,
I realized that everyone in the whole world was dead, & they were facing
God.� I did not see Him, but understood that He had something to do
with the masses of people I saw.� Every face looked frightened or
sad.� Then this dream faded away.
Later, I had another dream.�
In this one, I was standing out in space (possibly on the moon), looking
at earth.� I saw a great fire break out somewhere in the United States.�
As I watched, the fire quickly covered the United States, Canada, Mexico,
& South America.� It then started across the oceans.� Water
did not stop the fire at all.� In fact, it seemed to help the fire
move faster.� Very quickly, the whole earth was a ball of flames.�
All the time, I had been watching the earth burn, I had not heard a sound.
My mother was a member of a
small church in Memphis where� I was raised at.� I accepted Him
as my Lord & Savior around the age of ten.� Sometime later, around
the age of eleven, I had started getting unhappy with the� "church".�
They changed pastors every year, and I felt� that each Pastor preached
a little differently than the last Pastor.� I wanted continuity, a
pastor that stayed, & was preaching the Word.�
There is a little church across
the street from where my mother lives.� My brother & I would go
there during the summer for vacation Bible school.
It was during one such summer
that I became aware that this church could be what I was looking for.�
The pastor had been there for a number of years.� So, at the age of
thirteen, I began going to that church.� I eventually became the church
pianist & was involved in every activity of that church, from services
to christmas plays.� I was very happy there & it was to be the
main source of happiness for me during the difficult teenage years ahead.
It was during this time, around
the age of thirteen that my parents started having problems.� School
wasn't going well, & I had no friends.� All of these brought me
closer to God & my church.�
Many nights during these years,
after all the lights were out, I would creep to the edge of my bed, look
out my window at the field, & talk to God.� Sometimes, I felt
as if He was in the room with me.� Sometimes He would "talk" to me.�
I didn't hear an audible voice, but as a still small voice inside of me.�
Only I could hear it.� What did He say?� Sometimes, He comforted
me, other times He instructed me, & still at times He would give me
a glimpse of what was ahead.� I especially remember one time, He told
me I had a hard life ahead.� Another time, I was told to pray for
my future husband.� Later, after I had met the man God had for me,
I told him of this prayer.� We compared dates, & found out that
at that time, he was in serious trouble.� He credits that prayer for
saving his life.�
This continued until I was eighteen.�
My parents divorced that summer & I started the twelfth grade.�
I have always loved to read.� But, most of what I read was Bible &
nursing stories.� For some reason, I found myself reading books about
ministers wives.� And when I read them, He seemed to come around me
like He sometimes does when I "talk" to Him.� I said, "Lord, are you
telling me You want me to be a minister's wife?� But Lord, I want
to be a nurse."
A few weeks later, I went to
see what I had to do for admission to nursing school.� I was told
that because of my handicap, no school in this country would accept me
as a student.� I am deaf in the right ear, & wear a hearing aid
in the left ear.� This was devastating new for me.� I had wanted
to be a nurse since I was a little girl.� Later, after I had met &
married my husband & had four children, God allowed me to become a
nurse.� He then used my job as a nurse to support my family &
husband when God sent him out on the field.
Of course, I could not know
this then.� I cried out to God.� "What can I do?� I can't
think of anything else that I want to do for a career.� I don't want
to be a secretary like my mother is.� I'm not pretty enough to be
an airline stewardess.� I don't want to work in a store.� What
do You want me to do?� The only other thing I can think of is to get
married.� If it's time for my husband, please send him."
About two months later, I met
my future husband, who was a minister of the Gospel. The man God had chosen
for me.� We were married on February first, 1967, after a courtship
of about two months.�
Rev. Whatley
|