This newsletter, by the way, for those of you on echurch, is being mailed out to friends and family and relatives. Along with the newsletter is my testimony called I Flew Kites With Jesus. I had both the newsletter and booklet put into print by a Christian lady who is a small publisher in Nebraska. The proof reading of the newsletter and booklet was done by three people before it was professionally printed. The cover of the booklet has two red kites flying in the air with background scenes. I also mail my brochure which explains what I do in prayer sessions and my business card with this newsletter. I gave the booklet to a 70 year old man I have known for over 30 years. He called me on the phone and almost came right out and asked me to begin conducting prayer sessions with him. He began telling me things about his life that I never knew and he said he wanted to start supporting the ministry. He is an independent Baptist. I am just now starting to mail some of these out but I strongly felt the Lord telling me to publish the booklet of my testimony of when I Flew Kites With Jesus. Here's the first part of the newsletter now. THE COUNTERBALANCE NEWSLETTER By Phil Scovell and Safe Place Fellowship - SafePlaceFellowship.COM - Denver, Colorado July 2004 ****************************** Ten Things You Should Know About This Newsletter 1. You are not on a mailing list. 2. This is a one-time mailing unless you request otherwise. 3. Yes: I will be asking for money. 4. No: You don't have to give. 5. If you are not a friend or relative, I was given your address. 6. This is a Christian newsletter. 7. The stories you read about in this newsletter are true. 8. All newsletters are posted to read on my website. 9. This won't be like any Christian newsletter you have read. 10. Like salvation, the newsletter is always free. Table of Contents An Open Letter From Phil Scovell Chief Shepherd Prayer Ministries The Room Of Light - A Woman With 23 Personalities Is Healed What Are Demons Anyway Can A Christian Be Demon Possessed? Coil Of The Snake - A Christian Novel By Phil Scovell Safe Place Fellowship WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM - The Website Of Testimonies EChurch-USA - An Internet Mailing List The Counterbalance Newsletter Prayer Requests The Lord's Baseball Game An Open Letter From Phil Scovell About two years ago, my life came to a screeching halt. I turned 50 and soon lost my job and that was just the beginning. I don't mind telling you, that when you are over 50 years of age, and are totally blind, not to mention your education level is only three years of seminary, finding a job is mighty unlikely. So, I did what everybody else normally does; I began to think the worst. By June 1, 2002, I was having nightmares, hearing voices, having anxiety and panic attacks, and I literally thought I was going to die. In fact, I wanted to do exactly that. I was too big of a chicken to do it myself but I begged God to do it for me because I wanted out of this life. When I was a kid, we called this: "Having a nervous break down." Now, it is often diagnosed as PTSD, or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or Manic Depressive Disorder, or any numbers of other such labels. No matter what it is called, it all boils down to one simple thing: You are depressed. In some cases, depression is mild and requires no treatment of any kind. Go to bed, get a good night's rest, and in the morning, you feel better. In my case, it was so severe, and I was so desperate, I wanted to be hospitalized and treated medically. One evening, I had my wife and youngest son drive me to the emergency room. I no longer wanted to be a burden on my family. After three hours of waiting, I heard the Lord say to me, "Go and leave this place." We got up and walked out. My life was about to dramatically change in ways I could not comprehend. Within a month of nearly ending up in a mental health facility, the Lord led me to a Christian man who was a licensed Christian therapist. Oddly enough, he was quitting traditional psychological therapy to go full time into a ministry which was totally Christian based. After one hour in his office, I knew this was what the Lord had called me to do. Within weeks, not years, my symptoms were gone. I didn't hear voices any longer. I no longer wished to die. I wasn't afraid any longer and my nightmares vanished. Shortly after my mom's death in November of 2002, I felt the Lord telling me to begin training related directly to a ministry of intercessory prayer. I took that training and in January of 2003, I began conducting private prayer sessions with people. You will be reading about my first real client the Lord gave me later in this newsletter. The purpose of this letter is threefold. First, I need money. In particular, I am in need of monthly donations. I'll explain why in a moment. Secondly, I want you to meet some of the people I pray with and read their amazing and miraculous testimonies of healing and this newsletter will provide one avenue of access to those people. My website is the other way you can read about and listen to these amazing testimonies of healing. Thirdly, there will be valuable Biblical teaching in this newsletter you likely won't find anywhere else. Why I Need Monthly Support After many hours of prayer, I felt the Lord telling me that I could not simply ask people to pay me. Why not? Many said I was crazy for thinking this way. Well, I knew what crazy was two years ago and crazy I now was not. Let me explain why I cannot charge people. First, I am only praying with them. Please read my enclosed brochure so you will understand what I mean when I say I am praying with people. No, I am not a Christian Science practitioner. If you don't know what that is, don't worry about it, since it is a cult anyhow. Secondly, nobody today, in need of this sort of help and understanding by the church, has the money it takes to pay for help. Insurance, when going to a psychologist or psychiatrist, or even to just a licensed counselor, will generally only pay for eight sessions lasting one hour each. That is, if you are fortunate enough to have insurance coverage for psychological counseling. I spend at least two to three hours with people in each session and sometimes more. Sometimes we meet more than once a week. Sometimes I pray five days a week with a client. If these people were required to pay $75 to $150 an hour, they would be unable to do so. thirdly, a man recently drove 65 miles to come to my office to pray with me. He had been on my website and read some of my electronic books I have written and many of my personal testimonies of emotional healing. After just a few minutes of praying and talking with this 46 year old man, one of his alternate personalities came out and began talking to me. When he left my office, I cried. I cried because this poor Christian man has nobody who will believe in him and who doesn't think he is crazy or mentally ill. He was unable to afford any form of payment. So, should I have told him no because he was broke? Should I turn people down because they cannot afford $100 an hour? Should I say yes to only those who can afford it? The Lord has specifically called me to minister to sexually abused women and people with Multiple Personality Disorders, which is now being called DID for Dissociative Identity Disorder. Few people have the money it takes to reach wholeness of mind when suffering such trauma. Most psychologists will tell you that some with DID, for example, or multiple personalities, will take years of weekly treatment, not to mention a basket full of drugs you will need to take every day, before you are half normal. If they were truthful, they would say that a DID case can never be normal again. This is a untrue and totally false. The first Multiple personality case the Lord gave me to work with, experienced total mind integration in just one year. Only about 60 actual hours of prayer time was needed. I did nothing but pray and let the Lord heal her woundedness and pain. I charged her nothing. Sure, she gave me money; about $200 and that comes out to about 33 cents an hour. By the way, this woman lives in England. Sometimes she paid for the calls and sometimes I did. I paid about $100 of my own money on the long distance bills. That's right, about 99 percent of all the ministry prayer work I do is over the telephone and now can be any place in the world. Plus, I do many hours a week of follow up with people via the internet. I would love to tell you story after story of the wonderful things the Lord has been doing in the lives of the clients whom He brings to me but if I did, this newsletter would be a book instead of a newsletter. My request, on the other hand, is simple. It is true I am asking for money for myself but the greater truth is, if I can't gain enough monthly support to maintain a normal case load, I will simply have to stop ministry work and try and find a job. If I have to do that, I wonder who will care for these hurting people besides a doctor who only prescribes medication for the emotional pain these people are suffering? Don't forget that these are born again Christian people with whom I am praying. "Oh, not Christians! How could that be?" Read the following testimony and read the enclosed book of my own testimony and you'll get your answer to that question. Although some may find this difficult to believe, I have been called to this ministry by God. He not only told me this more than two years ago, once I began doing it, He told me that "This is who you are now." How can I do anything else since this is who I am? Some may say, "Well, if God called you, let Him pay the bills." Good point. However, such was never His plan for His church; The Body of Christ. He has always worked through His people. That's why He is working through me to reach people who cannot afford it. Any dollar amount will be greatly appreciated. I even take credit cards. One person has me bill her credit card $50 on the first of each month. Others simply mail checks each month. Donations are not tax deductible. Why? I am not a nonprofit organization. Why not? What I am doing is ministry related only. I am not practicing medicine or psychology or psychiatry. I don't even need to be a license therapist. The reason? What I do is ministry based. Yes, I recommend people see a doctor if needed. If I incorporate, on the other hand, or even attempt to become licensed, I become subject to the state. Working independently as a ministry, I remain autonomous. The last thing I want is the government telling me how I can, and cannot, pray with people concerning their personal problems. Please pray about supporting this ministry. Yes, if you give, you will be supporting me and my family. More importantly, you will be reaching those who cannot afford costly help from what is considered the professionals. Complete In Him, Phil Scovell Chief Shepherd Prayer Ministries Chief Shepherd Prayer Ministries is what I call the counseling ministry, although it isn't counseling at all. Again, to save space, please take time to read over the enclosed brochure. I believe it should answer most of your questions. The Room Of Light - A Woman With 23 Personalities Is Healed Note. I have been given permission by Carol to tell this story. A year ago last April, the Lord gave me my first sexually abused, multiple personality client. Carol lives in England with her husband. They are both blind. Not all with whom I pray, however, are blind, but this lady just so happens to be blind. Carol was born blind and was born prematurely at home and nearly died the first few days of her life. As she grew up, she was sexually abused by her father and grandfather multiple times. She was raped by a family friend at age six. In our eighth prayer session, and after spending just over a total of 10 hours in prayer sessions to this point, I meant Carol's first alternate personality. In this session, I learn she had some 23 alternate personalities which assisted her in functioning in daily life. In at least two previous prayer sessions, the Lord showed Carol a place He called The Room Of Light. He furthermore explained to her that this is where she would be some day. On April 6, 2004, after only about a total of 60 hours of prayer times together, the Lord took all of her alternate personalities into The Room Of Light. Carol now has experienced singleness of mind or what we refer to as integration of the mind. She now lives a normal life after living nearly 55 years in bondage to demons and the lies of the Enemy. You might find it interesting to note that Carol never knew she had these alternate personalities until the day the first one came out to talk with me as we prayed together. No, alternate personalities are not demons but demons can masquerade as alternate personalities. Carol is now beginning her own ministry in England for people just like her. She will be using this intercessory prayer to bring these hurting people to fullness in Christ. Continued in next message.