From Fear to Freedom - Paperback

by Eloise Flanders (Author)

I wear many hats: wife, mother, prophet, worship leader, and author. None of those titles helped me discover who I am. My journey to knowing who I am took many twists and turns, and I am sure this is the same for you. Only when I started discovering my identity as a daughter of God and His purpose for my life were all these titles solidified.

Prophets possess a unique resilience to withstand even the most extraordinary and difficult circumstances. My backstory is no different. My upbringing was complicated, and I faced many challenges as a child. Despite my trauma, God had a purpose for me: to become a prophet to the nations one day.

The devil also had a plan for my life. His plan would lead me down a path of destruction. He planted seeds in my bloodline way before I was conceived. We call it hereditary; the Bible calls it generational curses. The Bible warns us that if we lack knowledge, ignorance goes deep, and people perish.

My parents did not know that on the night of their lustful passion, God formed this prophetic child in my mother's womb. When I was barely three years old, my mother was deported from Guadeloupe, the island of my birth. I do not know all the details of that time. I was told I stayed with my dad for a short time and was treated poorly by the woman he moved in with next. She disliked me so much that she ruined all my clothes.

When I was sent to stay with my grandparents on the island of Dominica, it marked the start of adapting traits that crept into my life. Incest, molestation, and insecurity tainted my identity. I was born in sin, and not having my mom and dad create a safe place for me to grow into who God intended for me left cracks in my foundation.

The first point I want to share with you is this: each parent plays a crucial role in their child's life. Many of us may have been born to unmarried parents, but it is not what God intended. The ideal situation for any child to be born in is in the sanctity of marriage. Being raised by grandparents, aunts, and uncles is not God's original plan. It may have been the best option my parents had, but it left emotional scars that my parents were unaware of.

Unfortunately, many boys and girls have similar stories of rejection from an early age. As I matured in my faith, I realized that it is common for those called to the prophetic to seek love in the wrong places and develop an orphan mentality. Trouble seemed to follow me wherever I went.

We read about mass murders in Biblical history. It is a demonic onslaught of children being killed at a young age. If the devil is unable to kill you through abortion or at birth, he will ensure that you suffer rejection and hardship. In most of the stories I've heard, and from what I can remember, the enemy tried to take me out from a very young age.

Tragic things happen all the time. But I had a magnet to attack them. Almost driving off a cliff, discovering pornography, being molested, and exposing to alcoholism at a young age set the stage for a promiscuous lifestyle. Fights in school and betrayal from friends and family members were constant.

The place I thought I could find refuge was in the church. To my dismay, I experienced the most rejection there. I was molested by the pastor I trusted and considered a father figure. To onlookers, I was the problem. But at the core, I was a lost little girl trying to figure out who I was and my purpose. At that time, there wasn't much teaching on generational curses.

I moved around a lot. I was split between seasons of living with relatives on my father's and mother's side of the family. I was exposed to different cultures, both in the demonic and Christian communities. My parents winded up on the same island years later, and I saw them every vacation.