The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

Doris Emmanuel Johnson’s life story reads like the script of a Lifetime Movie of the Week. She survived a near death experience, escaped from a physical assault, and put up a bloody fight against a would-be rapist.

This all may sound fantastical, but it’s all true, and now Ms Emmanuel-Johnson is sharing her history with the public in her two new books, “Amazing God” and “Her Dreams of Flowers – The Mysterious Events of Lori Peterson’s Childhood”.

In the memoir “Amazing God”, Ms Emmanuel-Johnson writes about the “100 miraculous interventions of Christ” in her life during difficult times.

Meanwhile, “Her Dreams of Flowers” features 44 short stories about how a young girl copes with sexual, physical and mental abuse, and the accompanying feelings of rejection, hopelessness, and the struggle to continue living in her dark, silent, lonely world of grief and terror.

The book examines the lifelong effects of abuse and also questions the roles parents and teachers play, how they may be contributing to the death of a childhood, and how society can save a child’s life.

Although these are ostensibly the stories of the protagonist Lori, they are in fact based on the author’s personal experiences.

“The half of my life story still has yet to be told. I have been through so much in my life” she said.

“I have been through things that I did not even dream I would experience. But in every encounter God has certainly delivered me.”

Ms Emmanuel-Johnson told Tribune Woman she wanted to write “Her Dreams of Flowers” as a memorial to the young girl she once was, growing up in Acklins, and the trauma she experienced.

“I also wanted to increase the awareness and responsibility of parents towards their children, that they would really see them, and not only acknowledge them. I wanted to discourage the old adage that ‘children should be seen and not heard’, because it could become detrimental to a child,” she said.

The book deals with some of the cultural realities, difficulties and adventures of rural island life, including the negative impact superstitious folk tales can have on Out Island communities.

“These stories are interesting because we all have experienced some aspect of them in our lives that had made us feel inconsequential. The events in these books are emotional and sometimes humorous. Persons can use these stories as lessons in prevention, or to help them to fight on in times of struggles, against what may seem like insurmountable odds,” she said.

One of the encounters Ms Emmanuel-Johnson shares was when she was held by a man who attempted to sexually assault after a church crusade event.

A man she had only seen one time before the crusade offered her a ride home. She was in her 20s at the time and “had let her guard down at the church event.”

“Instead of taking me to the place I told him to take me, I realised he took a different turn and took me to an open lot that was far away from any homes. It was also dark, and I did not know where I was. At that point I was afraid and realised what was going on. He put his hands around me, start putting his hands between my legs.

“But it instead of fighting him off and causing alarm, I played his game and told him that he didn’t have to force himself on me and that I was interested in him. When I said that, he became more comfortable and revealed he had been in jail for a couple months and was looking for a piece of leg I guess,” she said.

Keeping up the pretence, she suggested to the man they go to a place where she would feel more comfortable.

“I was a virgin and there was no way I was giving up my virginity to this man. So, I started to pray internally. At the same time, he was speeding to get to the location I suggested. And out of nowhere a pack of dogs were running on both sides of his car, making him slow down significantly. While I was afraid of dogs, I knew that this was my chance to get out. So, I opened the door and jumped out of car,” she said.

Ms Emmanuel-Johnson said she picked up the biggest rock she could find to protect herself.

“He was shouting and cursing at me and telling me to get back in the car. I told him if he touched me, I would bust his car glass open.”

Ms Emmanuel-Johnson eventually made it a house in the area, knocked on the door and asked to use the telephone. The residents of the home saw she was in distress and kindly gave her a ride to a family member.

A few years later, however, Ms Emmanuel-Johnson had to live through a similar ordeal when she had to fight off a man while staying as a guest at a local resort on Paradise Island. The story is described in greater detail in her two memoirs, which were published in March and November 2020, respectively.

The author said her books were inspired by her love for the Lord and His unfailing desire to see her through each difficulty, “even when I didn’t know Him personally.”

“I want people to see the same God as I did...I wanted to share some of the very real, relatable and inspirational ways that the Lord is working in all of our lives, and to assure persons that the Saviour who never left me in the time of my troubles will not leave them,” she told Tribune Woman.

Ms Emmanuel-Johnson’s books are available at Logos Bookstore in the Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza and the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas on West Hill Street. For more information, contact 242-8241991 or email johnsondoris77@gmail.com.