TESTIMONY OF FAITH "From Lost to Found" The Testimony of Julie Chavoya - Part Two

Julie Chavoya with her husband Gabriel

(Editor’s Note: In our last issue, Julie had the divine hand of Christ lead her to a church of the Apostolic faith in the Bay Area where she will now be challenged to leave the world for good and become a true disciple of Christianity. While attending church, she notices a young man who has recently been baptized and feels a draw to him that will change her life. It is wonderful how the Lord intervenes into everyday life and calls an individual for His service. Julie is about to experience this divine touch with Jesus. Read and be inspired!)

BREAKING FREE

Julie was always intrigued with the soul winners in the church. She wondered, how did they have such boldness to just talk to strangers about Jesus and persuade them to be baptized? She was so intimidated to do something she could never do! She found her- self from her back pew studying these new souls. Could they really change? Would they continue? The next Sunday, she saw Sister Elizabeth Chavoya sitting near the front at her usual place with a different person. Julie asked her mom, “What happened to that John the Baptist looking dude who was baptized last week she was sitting with?”

“Oh you mean Gabriel? That’s her son. He’s right next to her,” Mom said.

“I was shocked,” she recalled. He was all cleaned up and clean shaven. Such a transformation! At the next Bible study that Wednesday, Elizabeth brought her son Gabriel with her. “Although I felt zero attraction towards him,” said Julie, “immediately we connected. It was like, what I would begin to say, he would finish and vice-versa. As they say, we would finish each other’s sentences.”

Julie continued attending church and Bible studies. One night after she came back from Bible study, she got into a severe fight with her boyfriend, Pele’s father. She went into the bathroom, sat on the floor and just cried. She will never forget how he walked over to her, told her, among other things, to get up and stop acting like a baby. “For the first time, I rose up, looked him in the eye and told him he was a coward. I don’t know where the boldness came from, but it was a breakthrough in my faith,” she exclaims. She honestly thought he would hit her as they were now face to face. “But to my sur- prise,” Julie remembers, “he turned and walked away.” Then she was startled to see a dark mass following him, like it was attached from behind! “This frightened me, and when he left, I instantly locked the door behind him! I realized at that moment for years I was fighting with the man, but what I needed to fight against was that evil thing!”

That night she did not find solace with wine. Instead she went to her room, got on her knees and prayed. “God, either change this man’s heart or show me a way out!” When she went to sleep she had a dream about Gabriel. For the first time in a long time, she woke up feeling alive. Then she turned and realized she was face to face with her son’s father. She immediately became nauseated. She got up, washed her face, looked in the mirror, and spoke to God, “Lord, I don’t know why I dreamed of Gabriel, but show me a sign. I don’t know what this means.” But deep down, Julie knew she wanted out of this sinful lifestyle more than she wanted her boyfriend to change. She was tired of waiting for him to con- vert and marry her. She felt God was showing her He had someone else for her, who would not mistreat her. Perhaps that man was Gabriel. But this was too hasty, she thought, since he was the first man in church with whom she had socialized.

That Saturday, her boyfriend left the house to go visit his brother. She walked into the kitchen and saw that his emails were left open on his computer. He never left anything on his computer open without password protection. He was always so secretive. She went over, nervously took the mouse and scrolled through his emails, discovering what he was into, and that he was still communicating with his ex-girlfriend. At this point, Julie had been together with him for eight years! Why would he still be in touch with her? She was mortified. She called her sister Neaomy and told her what she had found. “Neaomy, I don’t know how to get out of this relationship. Pele will cry for his father,” she said. “No doubt he will fight with me for custody of his son.”

Neaomy had a quick solution, “Why don’t you just leave him a Dear John letter and leave?”

“Yes!” Julie readily agreed. Why hadn’t she ever thought of this? Julie called her mom and asked if she and her son could come stay the night. Her mother said of course. Julie packed a bag with at least two weeks worth of clothing, wrote a letter to her boyfriend, saying she had fallen in love with a new man and “His name is Jesus!” She then took her four- year-old on a trip to grandma’s house. When her boyfriend called and asked where she had gone, she told him to read her letter because she was leaving him. “I thought for sure he would come to break down the door for his son,” she said. She eagerly waited.

To her surprise, he never called back. Instead, she heard from him three days later. He said he was so angry at her that he turned off his phone and went gambling in Reno, Nevada. For two weeks they talked but Julie realized he was never going to change. He was never going to marry her. Her mind was made up, She was getting baptized and never looking back! Leaving her boyfriend for good was leaving the world behind!

FULL SALVATION AND SURPRISES

Julie was baptized in the month of November, 2006. Afterwards, her mom and Eddie held a celebration lunch at their home. After all, the very first Bible study she had was with Eddie. She regrets it took four years!

She remembers Eddie asking her how it felt to be baptized. She said surprisingly that she expected the water to be cold, but it was very warm like a bathtub! She saw him and a few others in the group chuckle, and she asked what was so funny? Eddie told her that Gabri- el went to the church early that morning and prepared the baptistery for her. He gave Gabriel the key. She thought, “Oh my word! Nobody has ever done anything that nice for me!” She looked at Gabriel and asked, “Is it true that you did that?” He said, “Yes, I wanted the water to be warm for you.” The very next week Julie attended a wedding at the church. She was helping to prepare food in the church kitchen that would be served in the church gymnasium. She was hoping someone would take Pele out of the kitchen and keep him occupied in the gym. Gabriel seemed to read her thoughts and did just that. As she prepared the food with the ladies, Julie mentioned to one girl named Marlo how much she would like to serve duck at her wedding, prepared correctly.

When the food was ready, Julie and the ladies wheeled the meal on carts into the church gymnasium, and she saw that Gabriel was seat- ed with her son at a table with her mom and Eddie. After the ladies served the wedding party, they were free to make their plates and join their families. Julie invited Marlo to sit with her family. The subject of wedding rings was brought up and Eddie, the minister, advised that instead of a ring, commitment is with the heart.

Then Gabriel said the oddest thing, “At my wedding I would love to serve DUCK!” Marlo, quickly whispered to Julie, “Did you hear that?” Julie whispered back, “No way!” After the meal she and Marlo went to see the bridal couple cut the cake. Julie said to Marlo, “I just love the way he looks into her eyes. You can tell they are in love.”

About 30 seconds later, Gabriel walked up behind them and said, “Don’t you just love how he looks at her? They are so in love.”

Julie thought, “Dude! Get out of my head! I just said that!” Marlo was astonished and giddy at what was taking place between Julie and Gabriel. It sounded like they were reading each other’s thoughts.

Julie and Gabriel Chavoya with their children: Pele, Estar, Chloe, and Phebe.

Then for the first time in her life, Julie caught the bride’s bouquet. “These are the types of stories you only see in movies,” Julie remem- bered.

That night, Julie could not get the events of the day out of her mind. She decided to read her Bible and looked at the concordance in the back. When she decided to look up the word “love” in the Bible, the scripture that seemed to leap off the page was: “Behold, you are fair my love, you are fair, you have eyes of a dove” (Song of Solomon 1:15). She thought this described Gabriel perfectly. Although his ethnicity was Mexican, he had fair skin and blue eyes. She then boldly decided to text the scripture to his phone. It was after 9 pm and wondered if he would text her back. She put her son to bed. Twenty minutes passed and nothing. Then she thought, “Oh he thinks I am on the rebound. I must look very desperate. My mother taught me that Apostolic women should be patient and pray - never make the first move when it comes to romantic interests. I totally messed up now, how do I explain my way out of this one?”

A CONFIRMATION

Then her phone rang. “Not a phone call,” she groaned. “Julie, it’s me. I received your text message.” Julie then proceeded to respond with what she thought were bab- bling idiotic ramblings about the dreams she had, how she asked God for a sign, how the events unfolded from the moment she was baptized, the conversations she had with him and how he finished her sentences, and today during the wedding, how he seemed to be read- ing her mind. Then she stopped.

Uncomfortable silence.

Gabriel finally responded “Well, I wanted to tell you that I have always wanted to ask you out on a date, but I never could because you were with your son’s father.”

Julie suddenly felt a sigh of relief. He was actually feeling all this time the same way about her! “Okay, well, um... I don’t know what to say… I would like to go on a date with you if it is allowed,” Julie responded, her heart pounding just a little.

“I am letting you know that I will be coming over to your mom’s house and asking Brother Eddie permission to take his stepdaughter on a date.” Gabriel replied.

At 4:00 that morning Julie was awakened when she heard male voices speaking through the walls of her bedroom. Gabriel had come over that very night, woke up her stepdad, and did what he said he would do. Julie went back to sleep, smiling at his audacity, and pleased he was “pursuing her!”

The next morning, Eddie called Julie into his office to inform her that Gabriel asked at an ungodly hour permission to date her. “And what did you say?” she nervously asked.

“Well, I wasn’t sure if I should punch him or hug him. But I hugged him and gave him permission,” he joked.

“Um... Okay,” she humbly responded, but was thrilled with his consent.

After two weeks of talking on the phone with no formal dates, they decided to pray at the same time every night at 10:00 for one hour and then call each other back. Miracles were beginning to happen during this time, Gabriel began to manifest the gift of healing. His mother came home with a painfully injured elbow. He laid hands on her el- bow and instantly she was healed! Elizabeth said Gabriel’s hands got very hot as he prayed.

Soon afterwards, Julie told Gabriel that while she was praying, the numbers 777 came to her mind for no reason. He said, “That is per- fect! That is the day we have to get married!”

“WAIT, WHAT?” she responded, shocked and surprised. Instantly she remembered how long she had wanted to marry - eight years!

“Well I got out of jail on July 5, 2005, and was baptized on July 7th, so we should get married on 7/7/07!” he explained.

She realized the significance of the numbers, then responded, “Okay, but you cannot propose over the phone like this! You need to come over here and really propose to me in person, like get on your knee and stuff.” Her emotions began to overwhelm her. “How about you come for dinner tomorrow?”

AT LAST!

The next day in early December 2006, Julie invited her real dad, Richerd, over also and made dinner for the entire family. Before Gabriel could even pick up his fork to eat, he got on one knee before everyone present and proposed, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee, Julie, will you marry me?”

Perhaps for the sake of entertainment, Julie gave him a strange look, hesitated a good ten seconds, then answered, “Yes! I will marry you.” They then posed for a picture with the silk flower bouquet she caught three weeks prior. Everyone laughed when Julie said, “I just realized, we haven’t even started dating yet!”

During their engagement period of seven months, they discovered their spiritual gifts. She remembered telling a visiting minister that she wanted to figure out what her spiritual gift was. Julie explained to him that she had been coveting these gifts and wondered if a recent experience meant she had the gift of prophecy. Julie shared with the minister the story of how she was praying for a young girl at the altar. There were no visible signs she was pregnant, but Julie told her she was going to have a son and that he would be born on Julie’s birthday. Immediately the girl was filled with the Holy Ghost and joyfully convulsed into dancing. Julie later found out, when the girl came to, that she was four months pregnant but fearful. She and her husband had been wanting a baby for years, but she had kept having miscarriages. Julie was told by the visiting minister that it was too early to know if she had the gift. The possibility was very certain if what she spoke to the girl did happen. Well, needless to say, the girl did have a baby boy the following year, AND on January 25th, Julie’s birthday.

Julie and Gabriel were married on July 7, 2007, in the church sanctuary. They hosted 325 guests at their reception. They decided to go with a Victorian theme wedding and had an English tea reception - but the funny thing, no duck was served. A vital revelation Julie testifies she had when their marriage began was the coveted spiritual gifts they were receiving were uniting both of them to fight spiritual battles together and reap the blessings using these gifts.

NEWLYWED CHALLENGES

They rented a humble two-bedroom apartment in Hayward. Ju- lie remembered their first night in their apartment, She had a dream that Gabriel walked out in the middle of the night, down the street to someone’s house to go get high. “When I woke up, I immediately began praying and rebuking the enemy,” said Julie, “commanding these demons to stay far from my family and my marriage. Satan, let me introduce myself,” she went on, “I am just like my Father, skilled in spiritual warfare!,” she proclaimed. “You can’t have my husband!”

The next morning was Saturday. They noticed the house across the street had an open house. They decided to walk through and check it out. When they came out, there was a baggie of meth on the curb. Gabriel picked it up and said, “You know back in the day, I would have found this and smoked this.” But instead he took it and disposed of it. Julie was joyful and recounted her dream to Gabriel. She told him that she suspected there was drug activity in the neighborhood.

Then the economy collapsed and the misfortunes began to rain on the newlyweds. Julie discovered she was pregnant. She was also told at the Masonic Home that there was a resident who complained she got a chemical burn from a perm Julie had given her, so the Masonic Home would not be renewing Julie’s contract. “Nobody would hire me. Every door was shut to me,” laments Julie. Soon, she and Gabriel had used up her savings and they were going into debt. “For the first time in my life, I was standing in food bank lines and applying for welfare,” said Julie. Their first daughter Estar (Esther with a modern spelling) was born on April 13, 2008, and Julie fell into depression. “When our first daughter was born,” said Julie, “my son Pele was five, and I really struggled with being stuck at home all day. Nobody was hiring. The entire country was experiencing a great recession. At this point we only had one car.”

Then their apartment building was sold, and the new owner issued them a letter stating the monthly rent would be raised an additional $300. They barely had enough food to eat as it was. Julie began to fast and pray. Weeks before their new rent amount was to set in, they got a call for housing from one of the many wait lists she had placed their name. They were able to move into a newly built, larger three bedroom apartment for only an additional $100 per month. She was grateful her prayers were answered.

DISCERNING SPIRITUAL BATTLES

It was in this apartment that they began seeing the fruits of their labor. They learned about the Daniel fast, which caused them to fast and pray more regularly, and they were witnessing Christ to people in the apartments. Since she couldn’t go anywhere without a car, she prayed that God would send souls her way. Soon people were knock- ing on her door asking for a Bible study. Before they knew it, Julie and Gabriel had sixteen people regularly attending their weekly cell group in their home.

One particular lady who came to her door for Bible study asked if Julie would come to her apartment to do a Bible study with her and her children. Julie walked over a few days later, went into the woman’s apartment and something just didn’t feel right. Julie told her, “I cannot do a Bible study right now with what I feel in this place.” There was nothing noticeably wrong with her apartment. It was nice and clean and prepared for guests. But, Julie explained that there were some things in the house that she felt were of the enemy. “I don’t know what they are,” Julie said. “You probably know what is hidden here, but after these objects are removed from the house, then I will come right back.” Julie reinforced her reasoning by accounting the story of Noah when, after the flood, he sent out the raven and it never returned - the raven feasted on the floating dead. Then Noah sent a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, and it returned to Noah and rested on his hand, showing that Noah and his family were the only ones living, as the Holy Spirit can only rest on the living. Therefore, Julie said she could not successfully give a Bible study in a place where the Holy Spirit cannot rest. So Julie told her with boldness to call her back the next day after they had rid the home of the items.

The next morning at 8:00 there was a knock at her door. The woman was crying and confessed her drug addiction. She said she could not throw the things away and asked if Julie would come over and help her. Julie went back to her neighbor’s apartment and flushed down the marijuana, pills, liquid methadone, and disposed of other devices and substances. She asked Julie how her house felt now. Julie discerned that something didn’t feel right in her daughter’s room. Julie suspected something was under the daughter’s bed, but the rest of the apartment felt fine. The mother was not willing to start a search. Julie also didn’t feel comfortable going through the woman’s teenage daughter’s things, so she agreed that they could proceed with the Bible study in the living room. She then instructed the woman she could go into her daughter’s room after Julie was gone. Julie also instructed her to take oil and anoint her home.

About a week later, Julie and another sister from their Bible study group wanted to go to the church to help with church cleanup, since they were preparing for a large conference. The woman’s teenage daughter offered to babysit Julie and her friend’s two infant daughters. They dropped them off with the daughter at the neighbor’s apartment. As they were driving to church, Julie could sense that her friend was uneasy and was getting more upset. Julie kept asking her what was wrong. The friend kept saying nothing was wrong. As they were pulling into the church, Julie persisted, “If something happened in that apartment, you need to tell me!” Her friend responded, “I just wish people wouldn’t tell me stuff.” “Okay, what did someone tell you?” “That girl is cutting herself.” “WHAT?” I shouted, “and we left our babies there? You needed to tell me this sooner, I am driving to get our kids out of there. The church does not need us that badly!”

They drove back. Julie asked God to forgive her for the little white lie she was about to tell. “How come you are back so soon?” her daughter asked. “The church didn’t need us after all. There are plenty of helpers. Thank you! We will take the kids now.” Julie and her friend waited in Julie’s apartment until their husbands returned. When Gabriel returned from the church, Julie told them to please go to their neighbor’s apart- ment and ask if they could pray for her daughter. “She is cutting.”

The woman let them in, saying that her daughter was in her room. He asked if they could go upstairs to her room to pray for her. She allowed him, following them. When they entered the room, he told the daughter they were here to pray for her. She accepted. However, before they began to pray, Gabriel felt something in her bedroom wasn’t right, like something had a spiritual attachment to it. They were allowed to search the room. Gabriel then lifted the mattress and there under the mattress where the girl laid her head was a metal medallion of a demon head. He picked it up and removed it from the room. Her daughter said she had no idea where that came from. Gabriel then laid hands on her and said, “I rebuke the spirit of depression to come out of you right now! I bind it and cast it out right now in the name of Jesus!” He told Julie that the weirdest thing happened. Her window was slightly open and as they prayed, Gabriel told Julie, “I watched as her chest swelled up and a dark mass came out of her chest, then flew out the window!”

“Gabriel,” Julie said, “I never told you this but when I went there to do Bible study, I sensed something was under her bed, but her mother refused to look under her daughter’s bed. That is so crazy!”

Gabriel responded, “Yeah, as soon as that thing left her, she was completely calm and was crying. Her mom was also crying. Neither of them had any idea how that item got there. She said she had never seen it before.”

“I am not so sure I believe that. There was a demonology book that I told them to throw in the fire when we removed items from the home. Her daughter didn’t want to get rid of it because she said she paid $5 for it. So I told her I will pay her $5 for the book, and so she sold it to me and I burned it myself. Do you think maybe she just doesn’t remember when she brought it into the home because the spirit within her worked through her? The only way why she truly doesn’t know is she may be possessed. If this is the case Gabriel, then we need her to be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost as soon as possible! There is no way a person with the Holy Ghost can be possessed.”

That following Sunday, this mother, her daughter and her son were all baptized in Jesus’ name, and all three received the gift of the Holy Ghost!

For another five years living in those apartments, Julie and Gabriel saw miracle after miracle. “I literally could write a book,” says Julie. Actively involved with the Bible study cell ministry of the church, Gabriel and Julie reported they had given Bible studies to nearly 200 souls and saw 54 baptized! One young man who Gabriel mentored is now married with three boys and is a youth minister at his church in San Jose. Others are still continuing to live for God even after the Chavoya’s left the Bay Area.

FIRMLY IN GOD’S WILL

Julie decided when Ester was nine months old to go back to school and study to be a teacher. Julie completed her classes all online while raising their kids. During that time they added two more girls to their family: Chloe born March 26, 2010 and Phebe born October 23, 2012.

Julie’s father, Richerd, suffered a massive heart attack on the way to the hospital following a three-day water fast. She told God, “If my dad is saved, take him. But if he isn’t, use me to save his soul!” She knew her father was not attending any church, and he needed a good reason to start. The doctors shook their heads and said he had too much block- age, but they wouldn’t know until after surgery. Gabriel prayed in the hospital’s chapel. When the doctor came out of the surgery room thirty minutes later, Richerd’s blockage had drastically reduced, no stints required. Julie asked the doctor, “Do arteries unblock themselves?” The doctor replied, “No, they don’t and typically ultrasounds are fairly accurate within 10% range.” Julie told the doctor, “It was Jesus, He is still in the healing business!” When Richerd woke from the anesthesia, Julie told him all about what Jesus had done for him while he was out. Soon after his release from the hospital, Richerd attended a conference with Julie and Gabriel, moved in with them after that, and fully com- mitted his life to Christ. He believes this was a true miracle and was baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost. To this day, both of Julie’s parents are saved and living for Christ.

With Julie’s dad also living with them, they quickly outgrew their apartment. In January 2013, after 42 days of fasting, God told Julie in her prayers the word “Modesto.” They moved to Modesto, California, after they received a letter from their pastor to approve their move to Revival Center United Pentecostal Church.

Julie had earned her bachelor’s degree in 2013, and then her masters of arts in education in 2015.

In 2017, Gabriel and Julie finally purchased their own home in Modesto. Julie’s mom and Eddie still attend church in Union City. He is part of the ministerial staff. Julie and Gabriel recently even bought a mobile home for Richard and her sister Neaomy to rent from them. God is good. Julie now teaches 6th grade in public elementary school in Stockton which she believes is truly her current mission field. Julie has also now rewritten the curriculum for ACTS (Alcohol Chemical Treatment Series) for our church. “We have a vision to offer a faith=based program to try and combat all of the addiction ailing our community,” she says. “Already we have seen our first client complete our 12-week faith-based program where he testified before the entire congregation, ‘I have been completely set free!’”

God bless the Chavoyas for sharing their testimonies with our faithful readers. May 2021 be their greatest year yet!