Out Of The Shadows
Carmen Esther Sandoval committed her life to the Lord Jesus Christ in 1977. Her salvation experience was dramatic and encouraged her to be open and honest with the Holy Spirit. Through prayer counseling and study of the scriptures her emotional wounds were exposed. She gained God’s perspective on her problems and learned to forgive those who had offended her. In the course of this initial process she raised two children, worked as an Administrative and Human Resource Manager and became an active member of her local church. These first 20 years laid a foundation for praying for distressed people and encouraging them to yield to the Holy Spirit.
Her writing journey began as a result of a class assignment at the Anaheim Vineyard. She had taken a huge detour in life by marrying a man who was an alcoholic drug abuser. After 13 years she found herself in a divorce recovery class. One weekly assignment was to write about her reactions to what had happened in her marriage and also in her childhood. Her expression began through allegory which is symbolic representation. She had a recurring dream of a mouse which had fallen into a pit and another of a little bird which was bitten by a crow. These stories began her journey in written expression and storytelling. Years later she joined a writer’s group at Mariners Church in Irvine where she was encouraged to publish her work.
Having experienced many physical healings and miracles in her own life, Carmen’s passion to see others come to know God’s goodness grew stronger with each passing year. She has come to understand that individual choice to believe in the goodness and faithfulness of God gives people the courage to step out of the shadows. Caring enough to confront and forgive ourselves opens the door to a real intimate relationship with God. Daily, we are all faced with decisions. Choosing to walk in humility and cry out to God sustains courage to face the difficulties of life and walk in the light.
Carmen has served the church and the community in the past 20 years through personal prayer ministry, building up the Body of Christ one person at a time. She was part of the Small Team Ministry at the Anaheim Vineyard, leader of the Mobile Prayer Team at the Laguna Niguel Vineyard, on the pastoral team at New Creation Outreach in Anaheim, and a member of the Father’s Touch Ministry in Mission Viejo. For the past five years she has been Director of the Healing Rooms of Orange County in San Juan Capistrano, California. The Healing Rooms is an outreach ministry and associated with the International Association of Healing Rooms, Spokane, Washington. Prayer ministry allows Carmen to experience not only what God is doing in her own life but also what He is doing in the lives of others. Each breakthrough reinforces her deep desire to encourage others to trust God in challenging and difficult circumstances.
While Jesus was on earth, He healed the sick cast out demons and performed miracles. Carmen believes Jesus is doing the same today and will use humble and yielded sons and daughters of God to manifest his great love to the world.
