Why I Shout

Imagine that you grow up in a middle-class home, both parents working full time. You go to church on Sunday; you become a leader in Sunday School. But thedouble-standards of home life find you confused and conflicted. As a sixteenyear-old girl, running away is the solution. Your dreams of freedom find you ending up in the inner cities of Newark and Paterson, New Jersey. This is Sharon Nzwalla Ryan's story. A short-lived dream and a twenty-year nightmare. Staying withuser-men and abusive men. Self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. Self-supporting as a go-go dancer. And then on February 15,1984, prompted by her eighteenyear-old son's early morning challenge to get some counseling, Sharon finished her breakfast of marijuana and Heineken. Her son's words still ringing in her ears,"Ma, there's this cool new pastor up at Second Baptist Church", she walked uptown to the old Victorian parsonage. Sitting across from the recent graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Sharon heard Pastor Hilliard's prognosis, "The Deliverer has come to bring you freedom". Two hours later, Sharon headed back home.Past the bars. Past the guys on the corner. Opening the door to her apartment, she flushes the drugs and alcohol down the toilet. Never to be pick up again. No withdrawal, no cravings. That remarkable recovery from addiction was only the beginning. Join Sharon in Why I Shout on her long journey from brokenness to wholeness.Thirty one mini-reads of story, book-ended with thirty one writings of age-old wisdom. And for you, reader, thirty one interactive opportunities to explore your story, to consider your present life, to configure your future. Get your pen, a journal, or your tablet. Discover and shout!
Sharon and her husband Christopher live on the border of Pinelands National Reserve in New Jersey. What thrills her soul? - creating a spiritual home environment, journaling, singing, and spontaneous praise/worship dance. Sharon's passion: to bring healing and freedom to other women (as well as men!) so that they would become carriers of God's glory. The Ryan's tag-team their lifework in jails and prisons, in churches, and the marketplace. Come visit them at .