"Obedience to the principles found in God's word bring about healing." This was the resounding message sent by six Carolinians formerly caught up in the homosexual lifestyle at a seminar January 26th-28th at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fountain Inn.

Beverly White, a member of the church, was the driving force who inspired Pleasant Grove to address what is viewed by many as a volatile issue. Several years ago White found herself in a job where she worked daily with 10 openly homosexual men. White, who was at first disturbed by the open displays of affection and talk among these men in the office and on business trips, soon realized that what she was seeing was no different than the sin rampant in today's churches. White realized that the church has created a hierarchy of sin but that in God's eyes it is all equally detestable.

White began witnessing to these men using parallels in her own life to help them understand that all have sinned and are in need of the redeemer. Her friendship and obvious concern for the welfare of all of these men led to three of them accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. White eventually left the job but still has an ongoing friendship and regular contact with 2 of the men who are still in the lifestyle.

One of the men who received Christ, Bill Smith, was among the six formerly homosexual/transgender Carolinians who testified at Pleasant Grove during the seminar. Smith gave moving testimony. He described White as a Baptist Bulldog. He said that he had been particularly moved when White had enough faith in her God to take her 13-year-old son into an apartment for the weekend with four gay men.

People in the audience openly wept as Smith described how he came to the Lord on the very day that unbeknown to him, his name had moved to the top of the prayer list that he and the other men were on at Pleasant Grove's weekly prayer meeting.

Three months later Smith's former lover came to know the Lord at a Joyce Meyer conference he attended with Smith in order to keep White from going to the conference with Smith. Up to that point Smith's former lover was of the opinion that White was the antichrist.

Reverend Tim Wilkins (CROSS Ministry) become part of Smith's story when two members of Pleasant Grove Church, who had attended college with him, saw his picture in the paper for getting fired from his job because of his involvement in X-gay ministry. He became Smith's mentor after he walked away from homosexuality.

Wilkins, who used the principles found in God's word to heal his own unwanted homosexuality, helped Smith learn to read and apply the principles to his own life.

All six of the Carolinians who testified, emphasized that their homosexuality fell away as they began to apply the principles found in the Bible to their lives. Problems, which included one man's healing of a desire to be a woman, began to peel away as they began to live what the Bible teaches.

The speakers emphasized that they walked away from homosexuality but it was the healing found in being obedient to God's word that led to homosexuality finally leaving them.

Wilkins says that for years he had prayed for God to heal him but it wasn't until he told God that he could be obedient to His word even though he didn't know how to be heterosexual that his healing came. Wilkins is now married to the girl of his dreams and they have an eight-month-old daughter. Wilkins is the Director of CROSS Ministry Inc. in Raleigh, NC. He and his wife Lisa have dedicated their lives to helping others find release from unwanted homosexuality.

Approximately 74 people attended the seminar at Pleasant Grove. White stated that her goal is to have a conference in 2002 for pastors from all over the state.

This article was originally published by The Times Examiner, on February 7, 2001 on page 3 and is reprinted here with permission.