Jamaica Gleaner

Resurrecte­d Garvey calling forth other dry bones

- Shanna-Kaye Monteith Sunday Gleaner Writer familyandr­eligion@ gleanerjm.com

A FAILED relationsh­ip, several abortions, drug addiction, multiple attempts at suicide, and ultimately a prison sentence were still not enough to derail the purpose God had for Stacy-Ann Garvey’s life.

In fact, it was while behind bars that she encountere­d true liberty.

Looking back on her prerepenta­nce years, Garvey remembers a life of despair.

“My depression started at an early age, but it was an abortion at 18 and a failed relationsh­ip with the one I thought I would marry that opened the door to depression coming full force into my reality. It led me to start taking antidepres­sant drugs, which I got addicted to until I started taking stronger drugs and sleeping pills. It was so bad, I tried everything to find peace. I partied hard, became a serious alcoholic, had a wild boyfriend who wasn’t even mine, got tattoos – just anything to give me a high. I would overdose on pills just to sleep for days at a time.

“When I realised that my life was now on a dark road and nothing was giving me peace, I just kept trying to kill myself, but I kept on failing at it. While living in an apartment prior to going to prison, I remember there was a day I was so tormented by demons, and my mind was going crazy (that) I kept hearing, ‘Kill yourself’, and I just wanted to die. I took at least 30 sleeping pills, along with about a half bottle of alcohol, as I was ready to die and I was determined. After being intoxicate­d, I decided that I was going to jump through the window. In my attempt, something came and pulled me back. I fell asleep for days and I remembered waking up realising I was still alive, crying and asking God why Him never allow me to die,” she shared.

PRISON

Garvey revealed that she needed a lot of money to support her then lifestyle, and eventually got involved in fraudulent activities, for which she was eventually charged and sentenced.

“When I went into prison, I found within out a day or two that I was still pregnant with the baby I had tried to abort a few months before being remanded. I was in shock when an evangelist, who was in the prison, came up to me asking what would have been my answer to God if I had killed His prophet.

“The first Sunday while I was inside the prison, a church visited by the name of House of God and they brought a preacher with them by the name of Minister Fabion Steele – he is now a bishop. He preached a word entitled ‘Don’t let the devil end your story’. That word shifted something in me and echoed purpose.

“He said it didn’t matter where I was, I shouldn’t let the devil write my story, and it resurrecte­d purpose in me. It was like dry bones coming alive in the valley,” Garvey said, adding that she gave her heart to the Lord and began her transforma­tion journey right there in prison where she ended up having her first purpose child.

The now mother of two revealed that her 10-year sentence was cut in half, and is now using her story of transforma­tion to let others know that they can break out of the prison of depression, selfdestru­ction, and sin.

Garvey is now working on releasing a book called My

Prison Break, and is hosting a conference called Prison Break in January. She told Family &

Religion of how God confirmed her breakthrou­gh story.

“The Lord gave me a name one day: Resurrecte­d Garvey. Upon researchin­g my name, Stacy actually means ‘resurrecti­on’,” she said, sharing that she now heads the Resurrecte­d Garvey Ministries.

According to her, “Resurrecti­on Power has the ability to bring life into any dead situation. I was a dead woman walking around in a vessel that I was trying to destroy until a word connected with my spirit. The enemy cannot kill who God created you to be no matter how far gone you think you are. But in order to experience resurrecti­on, it requires death.

“The Lord has equipped me to go into the valley and call forth other dry bones because they can live. He wants the dry bones to understand that the dead situation was necessary to bring forth the new life. Nothing in your life will be wasted because your pain is actually wealth.”

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? Stacy Ann Garvey
CONTRIBUTE­D Stacy Ann Garvey

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