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As a small girl I attended Christian Science Sunday School in Provo, Utah. I remember distinctly learning that God is Love, and accepting it as true.

Attending Christian Science Sunday School as a child, I loved what I learned there of God—He’s everywhere, always Love, and All. But going out into the “cold, cruel world,” I couldn’t reconcile what I was seeing with a God who is Love. Putting my Bible and Science and Health on the shelf, I forged ahead, just trying to live a moral, meaningful life. I married, had children, was happy, but missing was a depth to life.  Science and Health beckoned to me. Opening it, I saw my grandmother’s note inside: “Judith Ann—Read this.  You owe it to yourself.” I did, for the first time. When I came to “The calm, strong currents of true spirituality.

What do counseling at-risk youth, running an emergency shelter, working as a wilderness ranger, teaching, and coordinating community outreach programs all have in common? These were jobs that led to my being in the full-time practice of Christian Science! Even as a child, lessons from the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's writings had encouraged and shown me ways to help others.  Christian Science gave me a love for Christ Jesus; it also enabled me to follow him by showing how prayer transforms experience by transforming thought.  Whether confronting hostile situations, battling a forest fire, or facing physical challenges, prayer enabled me to get beyond the appearance of things to the spiritual truth that brought healing solutions. As God’s love became more real to me and the mental nature of experience became more apparent, so did opportunities to heal.

I live in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with my wife. We have four children.

Awful poverty in a polygamous family--these words describe well the condition in which I first became aware of my existence in the remote countryside of South-Eastern Togo, West Africa, where I was born. Traditional animism, worship of and belief in many spirits, nurtured my heathen early education.

Occasional visits to a Christian Science Sunday school when I was a child had shown me the practicality of its teachings. Attending a Christian Science lecture was a turning point, and some of the ideas shared brought my first demonstration of healing during exams a month later.

I have lived most of my life in and around Fremantle, Australia.  I trained as a hairdresser and operated a hairdressing business. Christian Science came into my life shortly after a personal challenge.  A dear friend passed on at a relatively young age.  Shortly after, I bought a second-hand copy of Science and Health - the word “Health” caught my attention.

Growing up in a loving Christian Science home in California, I witnessed and experienced many healings through prayer. Later, after unfruitful years of exploring different modes of thinking and behavior, I found myself drawn back to the truths, the universal spiritual laws I had learned as a child--the pure and deeply practical teachings of Christian Science.  I knew this was the Truth -- the unwavering nature of God's love, the supreme power and grace of God's goodness -- that I had found nowhere else.  I experienced healing and a deep yearning to understand more of God, which led me to take Primary class in 1983.

I grew up in a family in which Christian Science was at the heart. I deeply value the security I have always felt from knowing that God is our Father-Mother Love, an ever-present help, and that in any situation we can find the inspiration and spiritual understanding that we need in the Bible and  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

I grew up on a horse farm in northeast Kansas. Many generations of my family have relied on Christian Science for literally everything. We’ve seen healings of broken bones, severe bleeding during pregnancy, concussion, diabetes, car accidents, job loss, severe skin conditions, blindness, financial difficulties, and, as you might expect, many, many animal healings. During our college years, my husband and I met working as swimming instructors at a camp for Christian Scientists. After graduation and marriage, we eventually moved to the Dallas, Texas, area where I started in the healing practice of Christian Science, becoming Journal -listed in 1989. While studying the Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy, I was struck by the bylaw, “The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively.”  (See Church Manual , p.