He sets the Captives Free

by Laura Irby
(Point Harbor, NC USA)

From madness to missions is my overwhelming story of grace, redemption and reconciliation.

I was born in the place where Roll Tide Rolls, Cotton Fields Flourish, and the Weeping Willow Tree stands tall-sweet home Alabama.

While hippies were weeping for peace and free love-there was a woman on the other side of the tracks weeping for her own freedom. That woman is my mother.

My mother got her freedom-while everyone thought the McCrary's were the All-American family with a nice car, a nice home-dad was an engineer --mom was a stay at home mom-dad was abusing my mother and my brother, and drinking all hours of the night. My parents divorced when I was just a toddler-dad went to prison. We-the three of us-went to the southside of town-'the ghetto' growing up in apartment after apartment. Mom lost everything. She worked three jobs to give us a good Christmas. Got no child support-BUT GOD..

She accepted the Lord and told my brother and I about a wonderful Savior-we accepted Him with delight. He became husband, father and Savior to us all. I watched mom tithe, read me the Psalms for bedtime stories and grow in her walk with the Lord-while I had no clue where my dad was.
God gave us all the child support we needed!

As I grew into my teen years I loved the Lord, read my bible, went to youth group and went on my first missions trip when I was 18. I watched God put me through christian school, and send me to Mexico to help build a church.

IN my twenties, after being date raped in college at a christian college, I rebelled and moved as far away from the south as possible for another guy. I ended up in New Hampshire and it was there I found a loving Father-God. God is in NH also! HA HA

I became active in a wonderful church-began experiencing God's Father heart for me in the most amazing ways. When I would lose jobs, he would provide. When I was sad because this 8 year boyfriend wouldn't commit to marriage, God brought me my joy. Everytime I listened to Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, Dr. Dobson-read a book by Joni Eareckson Tada or Corrie ten Boom or those great missionaries like Mothere Teresa and Elisabeth Elliot-I was inspired. I wanted to be a missionary!

My boyfriend and I broke up after ten years-it felt like a horrible divorce-and I was so hurt. I went to counseling, began working in a church and moved to Atlanta. About one year later I was doing missionary work with Youth with a Misison-and headed to Mongolia to work in an orphanage. From the land of weeping willows-to Mongolia-what a thought! Noone hardly ever made it out of the other side of town in Alabama-and I was going to Mongolia-I didn't even know where it was!(This was right after 9/11..)
I never dreamed I could have afforded such an airplane cost-BUT GOD!
I was convicted to find out more about my dad while serving in Mongolia. The Lord had me find out the truth about my dad several months before from a family friend. I tried to get into the prison but to my devastation I wasn't on his visiting list.

After one year, I finally got on his visiting list. In the fall of 2002, after going from Mongolia to Hawaii to Fiji to serve the Lord-I traveled to Atlanta, GA (and before I had not any clue he was there when I was working there..) to meet my dad in a prison cell after being separated for 32 years. (From no child support to around the world on God's dime!) How awesome is HE?!

We met, we embraced, we hugged, we cried. We prayed together-for he had become a born again christian and had been praying for me for years and I didn't know it. All my anger, sadness and despair was for nothing-because my dad was praying for me. Yet, God uses those that have been broken hearted and He is close to them!
He loves the fatherless and promises to always take care of them and He has.

Since then I have traveled to India and now I am married to a wonderful christian man who loves the Lord and goes to the prison with me to minister to dad. I have written and published my first book called

Help Lord, I'm Afraid to inspire and motivate women to overcome fear. I have also been blessed with a DVD. You see in the fall of 2004 I was at Ywam in Hawaii and met a man who graduatd from Regent Film School. He believed in my father's story and our reconciliation so much so that he wrote the prison and tried for several months to get into the prison to interview him.

Finally, in the spring of 2005 that visit was granted. Upon my return from India, I surprised dad with the man from Regent in Atlanta, GA and we filmed dad and myself discussing our reconciliation. Now, I watch that DVD often, and can see dad whenever I want!!!!

Before when I was growing up there were no pictures of dad, and I had never heard his voice! Now I can see him whenever I want, hear his voice and watch the DVD!!!!! It's priceless. I take the DVD to youth detention centers, and prisons and share it wherever I can.!!!!!!!!

Since that time God has brought me to a deeper relationship with Him and the Holy Spirit. I have had my struggles yet every time God completely surrounds me by His forgiveness, grace and mercy.

Now, God is working in my marriage in wonderful ways, bringing more healing to me and with each step He guides me into His loving arms and tells me how much He loves me. I am far from perfect and have many faults yet God wants to use those that are willing-longs for us to be vulnerable-and wants us to be broken before Him so that He can pick up the broken pieces in basketfulls as He did with the feeding of the 5,000 and make us whole!!!!!

PRAISE THE LORD GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE. It is my prayer, hope and dream to write more books and be used as an instrument of compassion around the world.

God will use YOU no matter what if you just will let HIM. The scripture I am reminded of just now is found in Leviticus it is "I am the LORD YOUR GOD who brought you up out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." Lev:26: 13