I started thinking it was about time I changed my lifestyle again, before one of my friends kill me! I was thinking my luck would soon run out if I stayed in LA and continued to live this lifestyle. I had completed one year at USC, which meant that I knew I could go back to North Carolina and get my divorce, which required that you had to be separated for one year. I had come to the realization one more time that it was again time for me to relocate. I stopped by to spend some time with my mother and family before leaving LA. I arrived back in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and leased a nice two-bedroom apartment near Cross Creek Mall. Lola gave me some of our furniture that had been in storage, and we went to see an attorney to finish filing for divorce. A couple of weeks later, I was talking to my brother Ben, who lived with our mother in LA. Ben told me he didn’t know anyone who had as many women as I did in LA. Many of them would call, asking for me. Some even came looking for me. He said, “This one woman named Helen wanted to know where you were, and your new address, but I couldn’t tell her because I didn’t know it.” I told Ben not to give anyone my address or phone number. Later, my divorce was finalized. I also got a good job working for Goodyear. I slowed down some, since I was working second shift. I would get off at 11 p.m., rush home, take a shower, and change clothes. While on my way to a club, I would take a few drinks, trying to catch up with those already in the club. Taking advantage that someone else had already spent money wining and dining the ladies. Later, I would come along and take one home. I realized I was heading in the same direction I had been going in LA. I hadn’t been here but a few months, and I already had a roster of females. I knew I had to change, but I didn’t know how to. Then two things happened to change my life: I met a wonderful lady named Karen from Southern Pines, and several months later I had a heart attack and was in the hospital for ten days. I was only in my mid-forties at the time, so this was a big wake-up call for me. I stopped drinking hard liquor at first, and then I got married to Karen. Shortly after that, I completely quit drinking. (And by the way, since I have been married, I haven’t chased another skirt!) In 1987, I went back to the Bay Area in Richmond, California. This time, my family and I went to see my father, who was in a hospital in Richmond. On this trip, we also spent some time in LA and Las Vegas. A little less than a year later, my father passed. On September 22, 1987, I went back to Richmond to my father’s funeral. I haven’t been back in the Bay Area since my father’s funeral. After talking with my wife and one of my neighbors, I decided to go to this church I had heard so many good things about. The night I went, the church had a guest speaker who also was a great recording artist. She really simplified her points and how God would accept you, even a sinner like me. This resonated with me. Somehow, for the first time in my life, everything seemed to come together. I could hardly wait to repent from my sins and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. One of the ministers took me into a room and prayed with me. I was filled with the Spirit and happily became a member of that church. At the end of the service, the guest speaker made a call for anyone who needed prayer to come down to the front, and she would pray for his or her needs. I carried our youngest daughter, Charlene, down for prayer. She had nephrotic syndrome disease, a form of kidney disease. Her stomach was very large from this disease. In fact, she was taking steroid medication for it. The guest speaker, Candi Staton-Suswell, prayed for her, and as she was praying, she stated she could feel Christ moving inside Charlene’s stomach. That night, Charlene’s stomach went down tremendously. Shortly after being prayed for by the guest speaker, my daughter was completely healed and taken off all medication. Her doctor said it was a miracle, and it truly was a miracle, thanks to God. On September 21, 1994, my mother, who lived in LA, became very ill and was unconscious, unresponsive, and had a very high temperature. She was rushed to the intensive care ward, and the doctors didn’t expect her to live. She stayed in the hospital until October 13, 1994, but through prayer, she was healed. I was there by her side daily, praying for her, and my church back in North Carolina was praying for her, as well as some of the churches in LA. I can vouch for the fact that prayer works. After she got out of the hospital, I moved my mother from LA to Fayetteville to live near me. She joined the same church that my family and I were in and that we are still in. I later returned to LA, going through the court system to sell my mother’s property. I told my wife, I would only be gone for six weeks. I also stated that I was being healed as we spoke, and that I would get a good report when I returned home. Five and a half weeks later, I had gone to LA, went through the court system, and got permission to sell my mother’s property. I was back in Fayetteville in six weeks. Through prayer, everything worked out great. No problems are too great for Him to overcome. I went to see my heart specialist for a checkup. My doctor gave me a computer cardiovascular check. Afterward, my doctor told me that by looking at my EKG, he couldn’t tell I had ever had a heart attack, which I had in 1983, and this was May 1995. God is good. I was raised up in a church where the pastor did very little teaching, but lots of loud preaching. You went away feeling great, but what did you learn? Very little. In the church my family and I are in now, we receive the best of both worlds— teaching and preaching. Our pastor is a great speaker, teacher, and preacher. He is a doer of God’s Word. He has God’s wisdom. He is peace loving, courteous, considerate, gentle, and willing to yield to reason. My family and I are blessed to have a pastor who is controlled by the fruit of the Spirit. Today is Charlene’s birthday. She is the picture of health. She has been blessed through prayer and God’s healing. She is a senior in college and a Christian. She and I have a lot in common now. Both of us are Christians, have lots of faith, and have made Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Now we are new creatures in Jesus Christ. I am very happy that neither of my daughters ever knew the old me. I was an alcoholic, womanizer, street runner, and many more bad names. So if God saved me, He can do the same for you. Please don’t wait until it’s too late. You might not be as lucky as I was. God has plans for me, and He has a purpose for you also. I have come to the realization of what God’s plan for me is, and that is helping people. Also, I know I was put here for giving of my time and leading others to Christ. I hope this book will enlighten many of you as to what was and still is going on in the Far East. I apologize to the many women I have lied to, deceived, and misused. I have repented; Jesus Christ has forgiven me, and I have forgiven myself. Charles Mathews Since I became a Christian, my whole life has changed. My health has gotten better, and I am having a lot of clean fun that I overlooked before. My advice for you is to not be like the old Charlie, but be like the new Charles. If you are not a Christian, become one. Repent from your sins. Ask God to come into your life and Jesus Christ to become your Lord and Savior. Get into a good church, one that teaches the whole Bible. Learn about Christianity, which is a way of life. Start living a good Christian life. Then God will bring people across your path, for His will and purpose. God bless.