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    The Invisible Sentence: True Justice, #1
    The Invisible Sentence: True Justice, #1
    The Invisible Sentence: True Justice, #1
    Ebook133 pages2 hours

    The Invisible Sentence: True Justice, #1

    By Verna McFelin

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    About this ebook

    Riveting from start to finish…

     

    Experience the captivating journey of Verna McFelin as she navigates the tumultuous aftermath of her husband's arrest and imprisonment for kidnapping. With a foreword penned by esteemed journalist Miriama Kamo, "The Invisible Sentence" is a compelling and uplifting memoir that delves into McFelin's resilience and faith amidst adversity.

     

    Packed with Christian lessons this inspirational tale will leave readers captivated and enlightened.

     

    Praised as an absolute must-read by Chick Lit Café, this 5-star memoir promises to captivate audiences with its raw honesty and unwavering hope. Prepare to be moved by McFelin' s remarkable story of strength in the face of adversity.  "

     

    I am also excited to offer you the opportunity to further explore and grow in your faith through the two discipleship courses, "Redeemed and Renewed - A Journey of Hope and Transformation" and "Pathway to Purpose – Triumphing Through Trials with Faith." These courses will take you through a transformative journey that will equip you with the spiritual tools and biblical principles needed to walk confidently in your faith, navigate the trials of life, and discover your authority and purpose in God.  Through these sessions, spanning two hours per week, you will embark on a profound exploration of your faith, identity, and Godly calling. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVerna McFelin
    Release dateFeb 24, 2024
    ISBN9780473562786
    The Invisible Sentence: True Justice, #1

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      Book preview

      The Invisible Sentence - Verna McFelin

      3_1.jpg

      foreword

      Verna McFelin and her children moved in across the road when I was 11 years old. Her second eldest, Lisa, was my age. She was to go to my small Catholic primary school and to become my friend. What I couldn’t know then was that it was Verna who was to become a force in mine and my family’s lives for decades to come. Already exposed to prisons through my parents’ work as Prison Chaplains, I felt neither judgement nor surprise that Lisa’s father was in prison. It was just another of the many details I was learning about the McFelin whānau; they were a normal family, kind, generous and lively. But I remember listening to a story Lisa had written in class about the night the police came for her father. She wrote of the force, the terror, the trauma of her father’s arrest. It was the beginning of restitution for his part in a kidnapping that had horrified the nation. He served his time. But, so too, did his family.

      What Verna’s work as the founder of Pillars did, was to remind New Zealanders of the innocence of the child. The birthright of every child is to be innocent. Verna’s mahi found, however, that the burden of associated guilt weighs heavy on the child of an inmate. These children are over nine times more likely to end up in prison themselves. But was that path built by the parents or by a society which constantly reminds them of their vulnerability? A single parent family, one less income, more strain and anxiety, the stigma of a parent’s imprisonment, the trauma of growing up in uncertainty. Where was the support, the care and love that Verna’s children needed, that all children of prison inmates need?

      Pillars was born to tend to that need, to show these young vulnerable people that society does care, and to highlight to them other pathways. While some might see this as a kindly charity with worthy ideals, Pillars is, in fact, a robust and determined organisation with real end goals—goals that can be measured not just in the lives of the families it deals with, but across the society it operates in. Almost every child that has been supported by Pillars so far has bucked the statistics—few of them have followed their parents into prison. The value of that intervention is immense, making our communities safer and easing the burden on our deeply flawed Justice and Corrections systems. This means fewer crimes, fewer traumatised victims, fewer expensive prison beds and fewer dispossessed children.

      My family has supported Pillars for decades now. My parents, firstly, as the Kaumatua for the organisation and my older brother and I as Board member and ambassadors respectively. I remain proud of my association with Pillars. But I am proud too of my relationship to Verna McFelin. I’ve known her since I was a child. Her influence on me has been humbling but it is her influence on our country which has been remarkable.

      Miriama Kamo - Journalist

      contents

      3_1.jpg

      Foreword

      Prologue

      Chapter 1. The Beginning of the End

      Chapter 2. The Damascus Road Experience

      Chapter 3. The Big Move

      Chapter 4. What about the Children?

      Chapter 5. The Lolly Man

      Chapter 6. But I Died for You

      Chapter 7. I Will Go

      Chapter 8. Dedicated and Baptised

      Chapter 9. It is also Blessed to Receive

      Chapter 10. The Food Angels

      Chapter 11. God my Heavenly Husband and Father

      Chapter 12. Giving up Smoking

      Chapter 13. God Moves the Heavens

      Chapter 14. One Day Left—then Homeless

      Chapter 15. Ruling and Reigning

      Chapter 16. The Adventures of Intercession

      Chapter 17. Ask for a Million Dollars

      Chapter 18. The Beginnings of Pillars

      Chapter 19. Paul is Released from Prison

      Chapter 20. The Earthquake Angels

      Chapter 21. Tea with the Governor General

      Chapter 22. The End of the Beginning

      My Lessons and Learnings

      Children of Incarcerated Parents

      About Pillars

      About the Author

      prologue

      3_1.jpg

      My introduction to the spiritual world began when I was two years old. One night, I was awakened by two transparent beings who were standing before me clothed in the armour of a Roman centurion. I knew they could cause me harm, but I did not know why, or understand who they were or how or why they were there. As I came face to face with them fear gripped me. I leapt over the cot’s rails and bounded straight into my parents’ bed in the hope they would go away. When I told my parents about what I had seen, they said that ghosts were in my imagination, they were not real, and it was all just a bad dream.

      After that encounter the supernatural world became a big part of my life and I quickly learned not to share it with anyone. I felt I was the only one seeing such things and I bore the constant torment from the beings for many years while I lived in that house. It was a very lonely time.

      At five years old I’d had enough. I thought if God were real, He surely would be stronger and protect me from the beings. So, one night with bated breath, I asked God if He were real to appear in the corner of my bedroom. I watched with apprehension as a dim light appeared and became brighter and brighter and there in the midst of it was Jesus himself. I quickly looked at Him then hid myself under the blankets. I just was not ready for that. But now I knew for sure that He was there for me, and I did not have to be scared about the beings anymore. While God was around, nothing could hurt me.

      I gave my heart to Jesus when I was six years old when a missionary came to my Sunday School to talk about her work in the New Hebrides. Her life and adventures fascinated me. As she spoke, I had a real burning desire to serve God and to be a missionary too but felt that could never be possible as I would never be good enough, or holy enough. Missionary work was only for special people.

      When I was eight, we moved to a new house. The regular visits from the beings immediately stopped but now I was confronted with a new group of beings. These were different from the Roman Centurion ones, these were hideous, some with ugly white faces with blotches, wearing black capes and they had a disgusting stench. I was constantly woken in the night by several of them, some about 1.8 metres tall, some much smaller. They would jeer at me and enjoy picking up the end of my bed, lifting it high into the air and shaking it so hard that my head would bash violently on the headboard. By the time I had properly woken up they were always gone. This went on night after night for years and I told nobody, but deep inside, I knew God was there protecting me and that I would be all right.

      All my best friends went to the same school and to the same Presbyterian Church. They were my community and I felt very safe. Their parents were my parents’ friends, and we were all remarkably close knit.

      I had a competitive spirit and I excelled in learning the scriptures so I could always be the best. We would learn the scriptures at Sunday School and then recite them the following Sunday to win a sticker. I strived to collect all the stickers for my book. Little did I know then that God had other purposes for me learning the scriptures so well.

      Holidays were something of a treat for our family and, when I was 12 years old we had planned to take a train trip to Nelson to visit my uncle and aunt. We were sitting at the table having our soup just before leaving, our bags all packed in the hallway, when I had this sudden anxious thought that we were not going anywhere and that something terrible had just happened to my grandfather. At the table, I told my dad and mum that something was terribly wrong with Grandad and that we wouldn’t be going to Nelson. Just then the phone rang. I can remember my parents both looking at each other with obvious unease. My dad answered the phone and came back and said, Verna’s right. Grandad has just had a heart attack. We won’t be going to Nelson. I had several of these types of premonitions during my childhood years. Mainly ones that kept me from harm.

      I left school and went to work, first at an accountant and sharebroker agency, then at the local newspaper. During that time, I met Paul. He was an apprentice plumber. I was 16 and he was 15. Two years later we were married and six months later we welcomed our eldest daughter, Jacqueline, into the world. It was 1970.

      By then I had changed to be a Roman Catholic as I had been told by my parents that a mixed religion could be devastating to a marriage. It did not matter to me if I was a Presbyterian or a Catholic. As far as I was concerned, God was always with me everywhere I went regardless of what church I went to or whether I went to one or not.

      one

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      the beginning of the end

      He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of

      the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on

      a rock and made me secure.

      Psalm 40: 2

      During our early years of marriage, paul and I purchased a farmlet in North Otago. We employed a builder and spent every moment of our time and money restoring the 120-year-old Ardgowan homestead, which was on a four-hectare block, over a seven-year period. Paul learned some real building skills and loved working on the project. The children had a great life and had their own ponies. i bred and showed Old English Sheepdogs and was involved with the local kennel club and the SPCA. we started

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