(Little Girl, I Say to You, Arise!)
Memoir
“This book is a record of how God transformed my life. I am coming to
the end of my journey, and this book is my legacy to the world.”
-W. M. Brazil
W. M. Brazil, fondly referred to as Chaplain Brazil, is an honorably
retired ordained minister in the church. She is gifted by the Holy Spirit
and ordained by God to feed his children on his word. Her only claim to fame
is that she loves Jesus and Jesus loves her.
I am an African American woman, born less than eighty years after the civil
war. I entered the work force a year after the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Life for my family was hard living in a George Wallace and Bull Connor
Alabama. But God birthed me into a family who not only knew struggle, but
also knew the God who brings us through the struggle. Yet, being born into a
family who knew God, was not enough to bring me into relationship with the
living God. It took Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life, walking into my life,
taking me by the hand and gently saying, Talitha Cumi, which means, Little
Girl, I say unto you, Arise! He touched me and made me whole. But that could
only happen after I, like the woman with the issue of blood, touched the hem
of his garment.
This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior, all the day long.
Jesus brought heaven and earth together in my life. I would take nothing for
the journey. I truly found the pearl of great value.
EXCERPT
INTRODUCTION
This book is a record of how God transformed my life. I am
coming to the end of my journey, and this book is my legacy
to the world. Those of us who have a good relationship with
the Lord often keep that relationship to ourselves. Many
times, we die, and our story dies with us. I do not want that
to happen in my case and I believe God has commissioned
me to write it.
At this writing, I am twice retired—first from pastoral
ministry and second as a community-funded chaplain at
a women’s prison. I started in this world as a little Black
girl, who descended from slaves and sharecroppers; born
and raised in a Bull Connor and George Wallace Alabama
before the civil rights bill was passed. But I overcame my
oppression by the blood of the lamb.
It would have been impossible for me to have done so
without God revealing himself to me in the wonderful way
that he did. God tried many times to get my attention before
I responded, but one day, I realized that the only rational
thing I could do was to ask God to take charge of my life.
That was the day my whole life changed, and I discovered
the secret to living a fulfilled life. He broke into my world
TALITHA CUMI
ii
and filled me with his presence to the extent that, in this
life, I have access to all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
(Ephesians 1:3).
My purpose in this book is to share with you my
relationship with the Lord—the encounters I have had, how
he talks to me, how he leads me and guides me over the
rough places of life, and how he shows his love for me. I am
writing it for you who at this moment might be struggling
with life. I want you to know, that right now, you can live the
abundant life that Jesus promised us in Scripture. No more
damaged emotions, no more feelings of inadequacy, and no
more uncertainties about life.
I am also writing it for you who have had similar experiences
as I but is living with uncertainties about your faith. Perhaps,
you feel that you are alone, because you know of no one else
who has experienced God in the way that you have. Be of
good cheer. You are not alone. There are many people in the
world who have found that Jesus is a friend that sticks closer
than any brother or sister (Proverbs 18:24). That he will never
leave you, nor will he forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
This book is also an invitation for you who have become
stagnant in your faith to stir up the fire of the Spirit and
reaffirm your faith in Christ. One day you might have to
stand for your faith and assert that Jesus is Lord. I pray
that this book will give you strength for the journey as
you connect the dots in your own life. As you read about
my journey, think about your own. Walk with me and find
purpose for the living of these days. God said that he will
restore every year that the locusts have eaten ( Joel 2:25). It
is never too late.
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