Changed...The Journey

By Carla Dunbar

Carla Dunbar creates a compelling and honest narrative of her life’s journey in this raw and gritty publication. Her personal accounts will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, but will leave you inspired at the end of her story. The publication’s strength is cemented in the bold honesty in which the author shares deeply personal accounts of her life. It is a book to be read again and again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pelican Publishers
• Release date: Apr 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370657018

Book preview

Carla A. Dunbar

First Published in Jamaica, 2014 by Pelican Publishers Limited

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.pelicanpublishers.com.jm

© Carla A. Dunbar 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording or otherwise or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Cover design by

Pelican Publishers Limited & Travis Muschett

Photography by Gailon J. Wisdom Photography

Endorsements

Changed... The Journey

The display of character and experiences of an extraordinary woman is revealed in Changed…The Journey. Faithful, hardworking and wholly given to the service of God. People change, leaders change, but God does not change. A real story that is worth reading and one that emphasizes God’s unchangeable purposes for His redeemed people. This will be an unforgettable story of a woman who experienced God’s mercy, His inexplicable grace and His call to radical discipleship. It is a lesson of true faith in action, a repudiated past and a journey that signified a strong sense of God’s calling, unquestionable word and courage.

Bishop Winston Leith

National Overseer – Church of God of Prophecy Jamaica

Carla Dunbar is a woman of excellence! Her story is riveting because it is authentic and inspiring. I have known her for years and am honored to be one of her mentors. She demonstrates great faith, resolve, tenacity, courage and the capacity to face life and what it offers her and overcome. She is an overcomer! From early teen pregnancy to gang involvement to beating cancer; her story is a compelling tale of a woman who knows how to triumph over the odds. For all these reasons and more, her book is worth more than gold.

Courtney Richards

Global missionary and International Director of RENEWED Ministries

Changed...The Journey is a most fascinating read as it chronicles the life of Carla Dunbar. Carla Dunbar has led an interesting and intriguing life. God has refashioned her in a remarkable way. God took a young rebel- lious teenager, who was a common-law wife at thirteen years, and made her into a useful tool for His kingdom and glory. This book is a must read as it outlines the challenges, the miracles and victories that God, by His transforming power, has allowed in the life of His servant. The Jamaican adage wha nuh dead, nuh call it duppy can be applied to this amazing story.

Rev. Dr Carlton Dennis

Lecturer Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS)

Ever since our days as students at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Carla Dunbar's name became synonymous with the word change. In fact, change, was the theme of her campaign when she became President of the Student Body. Rev. Carla Dunbar is a true example of a visionary leader who not only expects great things from God but attempts great things for God. She is indeed a living example of the transformative nature and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to save, heal, deliver and set a life ablaze for the glory of God.

Cameka Taylor

Island Coordinator, OM Jamaica

Carla’s life story is both captivating and inspiring. It shows how our Lord Jesus Christ chose, called, changed and channeled a life for His glory. Carla’s book, is a must read for pastors, teachers, students, believ- ers and just about anyone who needs a reason to fight for life; as it shows a life that is chosen and called, is also a life filled struggles and challenges; that faces despair; Yet this life is one that is triumphant, victorious and glorious in the sight of God her Lord; this is the Christian’s story. You cannot miss out on this exciting must read.

Pastor Kevin Edwards

Waterford Missionary Church

I remember Dr the Rev Carla Dunbar’s sojourn at the JTS very well. Very few students have impacted the college for good as she did and very few have made the school more proud than she has. Carla is just one of three who served as student council president for two terms, and that with distinction. She did this while juggling family and academic matters, while living in two places (Buff Bay and Kingston) and while battling personal health issues — and all that without complaining!

Who can forget her first course (Biblical Introduction) in which she and her teenage sweetheart (yes, the same guy who later became her life partner) made a replica of Gutenberg’s printing press to support her riveting class-room presentation? Though I could say much more I will just mention one other episode from her JTS experience: she invited herself to watch CAFU (Christian Ambassadors Footballers United) play at Buttercup Park, Mona, and afterward she was asked about the match. Although she was standing near the sideline, Carla saw very little of it because she spent most of her time witnessing to the four or five young men who found her more attractive than the game; for her at that time (and to this day) ministry is priority!

It was Mrs. Dunbar who also reminded me that the best days for conjugal rights (‘due benevolence’ according to the King James Version) begins with ‘T’—Tuesday, Thursday, today, tomorrow, ‘taturday,’ ‘tunday’. For more concerning her exciting, Spirit-filled life, read her life story again and again; you will be inspired.

Delano Palmer

Deputy President, Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS)

Dedication

This book is dedicated firstly to God my Creator, Sustainer, and Saviour who has kept me throughout my journey, enabling me with his strength and endurance to overcome the many obstacles. He has changed me for the better after each challenge. May all who read be inspired to glorify His name! My mom, Rosetta Ellison Reid, (now deceased), who gave me her genes of tenacity and then to my darling husband and teen- age sweetheart Nalo and my children Shereese, Keniesha, Miguel and Brandon, who have journeyed with me through it all. May your courage be lifted and your faith increase as you read and relive the moments of Changed.

Acknowledgements

It is silly at best to receive and not to give, hence, I would like to acknowledge the following persons who have made this remarkable re- cord of my journey possible. To the president of my fan club, my soul mate, partner, friend and husband, Nalo, who through his undaunted commitedness, dedicated sense of responsibility, and unwavering love enabled me to be the woman, lover and mother that I have become. He exemplifies understanding, allowing me the many times of absence from his side to record my journey. My now adult children and studious son-in law Shaun who cheered me along with words of encouragement echoing oohs and ahhhs as they encountered synopses of my journey, particularly Sher who nurtured and cared for me through my illnesses and Keniesha my pro-bono manager/daughter who took charge and gave me the dead- line by publicizing the date of the launch enabling the impetus to meet it.

Mr. Smith manager of Tech-Pro Business Solutions Limited, who aided me unwaveringly with the technological gift of a laptop with which to capture my spiraling thoughts and make it accessible to all today. Thank you Tech Pro, you are more than just a service.

To the warm and welcoming management and staff of Club Ambi- ance Resort in St Ann, particularly Mr. Gilbert Blackwood, who gave me a honeymoon place of solace which was necessary to unearth the inspi- ration needed to complete the final chapters of Changed…

To the Loving Without Limits (LWL) team members not mentioned earlier Gailon, Andea, Dyan, Damarli and Travis Muschett our graphic designer. To the illustrious, and sensational, Ian Boyne, who catapulted me into national attention, enabling who I am and who I will become.

To all my prayer warriors and intercessors, headlined by Ms. Cameka Taylor, as they tirelessly bombard heaven and campaign against hell on my behalf. The fellowship of Buff Bay and Orange Bay Church of God of Prophecy and the wider community who aided and lauded my growth and development and the members of Praise Sanctuary in Cavaliers for your love and support. My change would never have been processed without you all.

Preface

Changed is a testimony of God’s unwavering love and grace as He moulded me to answer the call He had mandated for my life. From conception to midlife, it was clearly evident that my life was poised for greatness which would not be realized without the numerous challenges, pitfalls, failures and achievements that I have come to experience.

Changed…The Journey encapsulates all of the above and so much more. It is my early beginnings, my lonely times, my encounters with the bizarre workings of witchcraft, my wrestling with the supernatural, my very near death experiences and more so, my sojourn with the love of my life, be- ginning at the impressionable age of thirteen. The wayward, fatherless, barrel-child teenager that I was, would not allow me to be content with now and again visits from my boyfriend, thus moving in with Nalo was my brilliant recourse and that I did despite my grandmother’s objections.

The twice paralysis, three months of blindness and four times clinical diagnosis of death are only a few of the heart-throbbing incidences of my very colourful life. But like a cat with nine lives, I have survived in order to thrive and yet still I continue to rise, as God with His enabling power fulfils His purposeful plans for my life.

As you take the turns with me in my journey, may you be challenged, inspired, motivated and encouraged to live passionately and purposefully against the odds, rise above your own challenges and chart the change in your own journey.

Foreword

Ian Boyne

Carla Dunbar is a phenomenon. One indication of that is the fact that she is the only person whom I can recall in all my 27 years of doing Profile and over fourteen years of doing Religious Hardtalk, who has appeared on both shows. She has so many stories, and she tells them so grippingly; as she does in this autobiography, Changed...The Journey.

In these pages you will learn about a woman who had every reason to be bitter and broken. A woman who was met with disappointment after disappointment, obstacle after obstacle. A woman of God who was a go-go dancer and a bruk out, skin out dancehall fanatic. This is a story of transformation—spiritual and otherwise.

If you know anyone who is in the depths of discouragement and despair; someone who feels life has dealt him or her crushing blows from which there is no escape, give that person this book. Can one person battle infidelity, mental illness, early teenage pregnancy, rejection, damaged self- esteem, educational underachievement, crippling sickness and still rise from the ashes? Changed... The Journey answers with a resounding Yes! If you want a story about coming from behind, of rising from the ashes and achieving against the odds, Changed... The Journey is the book for you.

But if you are going to come from behind, remember you have to make up for lost ground. And that is what Carla was prepared to do, as demonstrated by this book. Determination, grit and resilience are words which aptly describe her and her journey. When you read about the time she had to wake up in the mornings to catch a bus from Buff Bay to reach Kingston for classes, and her diligence in pursuing her studies at the Jamaica Theological Seminar, you see that success does not come easily. But it does come with a determined mind and unbreakable spirit.

Carla Dunbar does not believe in crying in her soup. She takes the lemons life throws her and makes delicious lemonade. She turns her set- backs into set-ups for comebacks. I remember talking to Carla one day after her most recent bout of illness some years ago and feeling that could have been my last conversation with her. When she described her condition in what sounded like a death voice, I thought that was it. I never indicated, of course, that I felt this way and continued to encourage her.

But Carla never for a moment doubted the power of her God. It didn’t matter what the external circumstances were manifesting. Carla’s faith was unshakeable. It was only that incalculable faith that dogged belief that things would turn out right that enabled her to get back on her feet literally. Carla’s appearance on Profile was not a courtesy on my point. Her life demanded and compelled it. And when she told her story that evening, the audience was spell-bound. Everything that Carla does is done with utmost relish style and dynamism. She just can’t help herself.

This book, short enough to be easily digestible and simply written, should be an inspiration to all who read it. Rear and re-read; it would be a shame to consign it to a shelf. Use it to empower lives; to show people it can be done and to provide concrete proof that people can, not only survive, but grow through enormous adversities. Carla has moved from strength to strength and this publication itself is another milestone. Read and be inspired.

Introduction

"Behold I show you a mystery;