A miraculous healing inspired lakeside resident Janice Paul to work as a missionary in India, care for lepers, travel to remote villages, marry an Indian man 25 years her junior in secret – and write about it.
Her recently published memoir, “The Secret Wife,” recounts these experiences in all their detail.
Paul was 47 and living in Prescott, Arizona when her legs started giving out. Due to a combination of fibromyalgia and an illness with Parkinson’s-like symptoms, she became wheelchair-bound and was told she’d never walk again.
“During those four years in a wheelchair, I kept having visions of India, seeing myself sitting on a chair talking to people seated on the ground,” says 67-year-old Paul.
As these visions kept getting stronger, and her troubled marriage continued to deteriorate, she started planning a move to India, despite her debilitating illness.
Online she met Varun, an Indian man whose family worked at the Leprosy Missions hospital in India. “Over those four years, we talked constantly and I researched all I could about leprosy, a new interest of mine.”
Paul’s marriage ended in divorce, while her relationship with Varun grew from a friendship into a long-distance love affair.
Not a particularly religious or spiritual person, Paul found herself hungry for answers about her illness, so she dusted off a bible on her shelf and started reading it.
Says Paul: “Nurses from Catholic Services visited me. One of the nurses, Linda, took me to her Pentecostal church in Prescott. At first I was quite shocked at witnessing their style of worship, but they ultimately helped me learn to worship freely, without holding anything back.”
At a particular church service in February 2005, Paul rode her scooter into the church and up to a pew, finding a seat next to Linda. Soon, out of nowhere, she heard a commanding voice telling her to stand.
“I experienced a tingling sensation in my legs,” she says. “As I stood up, holding onto the pew, my legs were shaking. The tingling feeling was getting more powerful. The feeling in my legs was akin to reverse lightening, going from my feet on up. In a split second I felt an energy come through me and voice say, ‘Go forth and walk.’ At that exact moment the pastor directed us to walk around the church, while the song playing was, ‘I Will Walk With You.’”
She continues: “When I got up and stepped forward, Linda told me, ‘Don’t forget your scooter.’ I turned and said, ‘I don’t need it.’ I began to walk, to cry, to praise God, and congregants were standing and crying with me. I haven’t used a wheelchair or scooter since.”
Later that year, Paul arrived in India and united with Varun. Because of their age difference and the fact that marriages are arranged, he knew that his family wouldn’t accept her. Thus, they got married in secret.
“The reason we could live together,” says Paul, “is because of an Indian custom where an older woman is not left to live alone. A younger male friend or relative would move in, acting as her protector. That’s what his family thought was happening with us. They also saw how we were working together on the same projects. That first year we started building a church in a remote village.”
Paul’s ministry involved going into villages and praying for the Christian people. They would have prayer sessions over the sick, holding them and giving them support. Traveling as a group, Varun was one of her interpreters.
“I spoke at numerous gatherings,” says Paul. “In Nepal I spoke to thousands, sharing my healing story.”
In 2013, due to Varun’s addictions and his love for another woman, their marriage ended after ten years. Devastated, Paul stayed in Katmandu to heal. The couple had already lived and worked in the Nepalese capital, and she had many friends there.
A few years later, when Katmandu experienced a devastating earthquake, Paul was at the heart of it. “I was thrown against concrete steps and falling bricks landed on my foot. My whole left side was bruised and my foot was broken.” With no electricity or medical help for three weeks, she dealt with her pain until medical help arrived. Eventually, she was evacuated to Texas, where her daughter lived.
After suffering two heart attacks and a stroke during her few years in Texas, she arrived at lakeside last August, ready to retire. Settling into her new residence east of Chapala, she’s writing a novel and a sequel to “The Secret Wife.”
Although her memoir is mainly about India and her “secret” marriage, Paul didn’t write it to bemoan what her husband did or to demonize him.
“We accomplished much in our ministry,” she says. “We touched many lives. I believe that, in spite of our weaknesses, with a strong faith we can change the world.”
To contact Paul, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">.