Regina Swarn Audio Series Presents - A Veteran’s Journey Through Trauma, Faith, And Service - Dr Katherine Dayson

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

Fan MailA seventeen-year-old learns to march, sing, and lead—then faces a bomb blast in a German bunker that changes everything. Dr. Katherine Dayson opens up about the years that followed: PTSD that lingered, faith that steadied her, and the mentors, chaplains, and family who refused to let go. Her story moves from Tops In Blue stages to computer consoles, from master drill commands to the quiet work of healing, and finally to a calling that now spans cities and countries.We talk about the moments that mark a life: the first lonely night in basic training, the pride of mastering a craft in the Air Force, and the fear that comes with sudden loss. Katherine shares how mental health care, prayer, and community can coexist, and why PTSD is not a weakness but a wound that deserves care. She also tells a vivid quitting-smoking testimony—one drag, a car filled with smoke, and a conviction that ended decades of addiction—which now fuels how she supports others fighting their own habits.Today, Katherine serves as the International Supervisor of Women for Joshua Kingdom International, traveling to Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, Saginaw, Tuscaloosa, and beyond. With a Doctor of Divinity and ongoing counseling studies, she mentors women, builds retreats, and brings practical hope to people navigating trauma, depression, and change. If you’re a veteran, caregiver, or anyone seeking a way through hardship, this conversation offers both candor and compassion—and a reminder that purpose can outlast pain.Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs encouragement, and leave a review to help more listeners find stories like this. Got a question or a takeaway to share? Message us and join the conversation.Reaching for 🌟  A message from me to all my wonderful  followers.  Please  feel free to share your feedback. Click fan mail and leave me comments.  The end of my showSupport the showContact [e-mail]

To Regina Soaring, audio series presents bringing you stories of people from all walks of life. If you would like to support this podcast, feel free. Your support helps keep the channel running. You can also support the channel by becoming a monthly subscriber. And last but not least, feel free to share with your friends. If one of these podcasts touch your heart and it resonate with your heart, please share with your family and friends. Now let's take you into an episode of Regina Swarned Audio Series. And welcome back to another episode of Regina Swarn Audio Series presents.

Today I have a very, very special guest on with us. She's a retired Air Sergeant in the Air Force, but she's so much more than that. She's a missionary that travels the world, sharing the good tidings of great joy to every soul. And I truly thank God for her because she is my sister. and I thank you for so much. So I'm going to introduce you to her and she's going to tell you something about herself. Welcome to the show, Missionary Catherine Dason, Sworn.

Maybe you can correct that for me. How are you? Oh, thank you so much, Regina. It's good to be on the line with you today. It is a pleasure to be here today. Wonderful. Now, you know, you got a story to tell. I mean, you got so much that we've got to do several podcasts. We've got to do several, you know, versions of it, part of one, part two, possibly part three. Because people, let me tell you, her story stands decades. And she's so smart. She's in our family, and she's been a lesson to every one of us in a family. but the kind of person she is, her generosity, her love for the Lord has just reached out to others. So she don't just help the family.

She helped everybody as God. And I say this very, very clearly, as God leads her, because he can't help everybody, but she helped them as God leads her. And so missionary day sent, I don't know what you want, how you want me to refer you, but would love for you to tell us something about yourself because you've got a great story. And again, I'm so happy to have you here to share it on the podcast. Thank you. Thank you.

Regina, I just want to say that I give God the glory. I am glad to be here to be on the show this morning. My title is Doctor. I'm Dr. Catherine Dason. I got my degree in Divinity a year ago. And I am very happy in the station that I'm in. I am the fifth of a family of 13 children that was, you know, from my family, the Swan family. And, yeah, so I am, let's see, I was trying to check, make sure I was giving you the right number.

We have a lot. It's a lot in our family. It was a lot of children. Mama had a lot of children. Mom and dad had a lot of children. Yeah. So just to give you a little bit about myself, I graduated from high school there from Macon, Georgia, at Ballot Hudson Senior High School in 1969 and decided to go into the military.

And I can tell you a little bit about my military school. when I first got there and so forth. Right. And we would love to hear about that. Can I hear about the Bell Hudson, if I can recall, which I can't recall too good, but it used to come down the street and have bands. They don't do stuff like that anymore. The band would come down the street, and I want people to listen to this,

the band would mark physically down the street through the neighborhood playing music And you do? I know you remember that. Oh, yes, I do. I remember this was, you know, I went in at an early age. I just graduated in 1969. And I was only 17 years old. And my band at Ballard Hudson High School, Senior High School,

would, you know, go through the neighborhood. And, you know, just to have the people come to know that we were, we existed at Ballot Hudson, the Tigers. We were told all the Tigers, the Ballot Hudson. the ball of my tigers, that was the band. And we would go through the neighborhood so that people would see what we were actually doing at the school so the parents would see their children were actually learning something about me. So it was a good time for me.

You know, that's the portion of the good times in the pixie for me in school. And I truly enjoyed that at that time. My sisters and brothers were there as well. And so I really enjoyed that time, you know, when I was in school and when I graduated and going through the neighborhood in 1969, 70 in that area. All right. And now we going to speak a little bit about, can I say missionary, Dason? Can I refer to you as missionary? Of course.

Yes. Excuse me, doctor, doctor, doctor, missionary. Dr. Dyson. Dr. Jason, I think that's going to go with that one. Yes. I want to talk a little bit about your life in the military because you got several strides. You know, you are, you're on up there. You're not just down there.

She really ranked really high in the military and several of my family members that was in the military. But we're so happy that she was in the air. I think she was the only one that was in the Air Force in the airport. And can you tell us a little bit about your military life, please? Of course. Well, like I said, I was only 17 years old at the time. Mom and Dad had to sign me in, you know, because I was considered a child, you know, at 17. So I went out.

I, you know, had other things that I was getting ready to do, but I didn't pursue those. But I came across this one guy. He was telling me about going into the Air Force. He was the Air Force recruiter. And I just happened to be at the airport that day in Atlanta. And so what happened is he told me a lot of things about the military. He said, you can do the same job in the military that you're trying to do here at Delta Airlines to be an airline students. So in the military, I went to Lackland Air Force Base here in Texas where I retired here.

And while I was in the military in basic training, it was. a very difficult time for me because I'd never been away from home more than, you know, staying in the country with an aunt or aunt or uncle or whatever. But when I went in the military, it was completely different. You know, it's a different thing. I was scared to death, basically. Wow.

So why were you so scared? Because I know you, I don't want to talk about the bad stuff, but I know you, were you just scared because you, you missed the family and things like that. Exactly. Exactly. I missed my family. I was, you know, I was,

then when you were in a family with so many people and all of a sudden they're not there, you have people that you can talk to in your family. And, you know, I didn't feel that I hadn't gotten any friends that I hadn't had any, I didn't have any friends at that time in the military. When I was, the first place you go when you're in the military is through basic training where they train you to go to your, you know, to your duty station. So what happened, I remember the first day that I arrived at La Cala Air Force Base.

It was in the evening. And that's why I was really afraid. I was afraid of what was to come. You know, I had so much. And I was, you know, what time I was going to have to get up in the morning. And I can tell you about that. What time was, you know, I didn't eat a lot of food at that time. It was very thin.

Yeah, you were very thin. Those pictures, man, you see those pictures? I was very thin at that time. And so when I got to basic training, the first thing they did was to feed us. They would feed us and come on in, you march in. And, you know, you didn't have to march. You walked basically because they had to go to march. So they said, come on.

We're going to feed you. They took us to what they called the meth hall. That's where they go to feed everyone. And went there and they fed us. And then they, you know, marched us to the dorm. where we're going to be staying for the next 30 days. Actually, it was more than 30 days. We were there for six or eight weeks.

But anyway, when we got there, of course, the instructor, they have two instructors there, female instructors, over the dorm, over the 50. It was 50 of us, 50 soldiers, airmen in the dorm. And so they give us our bed and so forth. And, you know, I can give the whole rundown on it, but I just want to take it a little bit of time because it's a lot. We have to do a lot.

Yeah. Did you have any challenges while you were there? I mean, this is the beginning of it, but did you have any, like, things that you went, you know, went through or problems. Problems they're going to see. I know. When you're in a new environment, a new situation, and you're in here with, let's see, how many of it was. 45 to 50 other female in the dorm and you have your own space, you have your little bed, your own space, two to a room,

sometimes three to a room, depending on the space that they had available. And so what would happen is, you know, there was assigned by the instructor of the team chief, you have two people, a team chief, and you have a team member who was in charge of us. And so they would choose someone within the flight to be, like the, you know, to help them when they're not there to, you know, make sure we got everything done. This is one of our peers, you know, would tell us, you know, what do you have to get up at this time and we've been told to get up at this time or whatever, you know. And so we, that's the way it was at first when I was there.

I was, you know, you're going to a new environment, of course. Right. As a young child, you're going to be, you know, apprehensive at first, but, you know, you learned the routine, you know, time you have to go to breakfast and you have to get out of breakfast and go get, you know, your shots because we had to get shots, we had to get clothing, you know, get fitted. And I was wearing a size zero at that time. I was so thin. Yeah.

I still see those pictures, too. They were, I'm like, wow. Like a model, like a seat. Well, you were a singer in the military. You did sing too. Yes, I can get into that, but I was trying to take myself to take. you take it through the military, you know, training for us first before I got to, you know, just sing and so forth. But they used to have something in the military when I was there at Lackland

called Topps T-O-P-S in blue. These are the top singers, dancers, convenience, and so forth, in the military. So I just happened to be a singer because I'm from a singing family. My mother and my sisters, they were, you know, we used to go to different church and sing and so forth. in the church also. So they had Thompson B in the Air Force. And I have volunteered myself to be a part of that. And if you can remember, they had the song, The Age of Aquarius, I forget the...

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We were... Fis and mentioned, the 50 milhap. Yes, we were always singing that song. That was one of the songs that we were saying to open up our show. We didn't fall. It was beautiful.

That was a good time for me. Those were wonderful times at that time for me because I was doing something that I was familiar with. And, you know, I got to meet a lot of different people. And those who won there in Lackland, won the first show in Lackland, they were sent to California. I went to go to, I forget the name of the base. They had a base. Travis Air Force Base, I think it was. They have since closed that base down.

We were able to go there to continue the show. But there were little children coming up. And I remember the song that I sang, Love on the Two-Way Street. I did a good job on it, too. I enjoyed it so tremendously. It was beautiful. And, you know, it was singing. It was a band playing behind us and everything.

It was quite nice, actually. And so those were the good days in the military when I first graduated from high school to go there. And to move on to the military portion when I got my first, I had to take a test, they call a bypass specialist test. And I was very good, you know, it's really good in numbers and so forth when I was in the military, even in high school.

And I took the test and scored up in the upper 90s on the test. Wow. So guess what? They said, okay, so since you did so well on the test, we're going to send you on to your first duty station. I didn't get to go to basic training. I mean, to tech school. They have a technical school.

And they sent me, I end up being my career field, they call the MOS or whatever you're going to be doing in the military. I was going to be working with computers. So I ended up being a computer operator. And then I can tell you about my duty station that you know know about this. Yeah, please do. We love to hear about that. Okay. So I left Lackle of the Air Force Base.

My first duty station in the Air Force as, you know, out of basic training, I went to Scott Air Force Base, which was in Illinois and, you know, in the St. Louis area. And that's where I was stationed. there for, let's see, I was there for three years, I believe, at Scott Air Force Base. That's where I learned my trait, you know, my skill, working with computers and so forth. And I really enjoyed, I had a supervisor and had all the other people. And I was just like a little kid, you know, because, I mean, I was the youngest thing in there. Everybody else was, I thought, you were 30 and 40 years old, that's old.

You know, to me, that was very old. I'm in the old, these old people. But I was just 15. And so I had just done 17 in December. So anyway, so I had another year to go before I was 18. But anyway, I got to Scott and I just really learned my trade, learn how to, you know, say yes, ma'am and yes. I said, yes, ma'am, and yes, sir, to everyone. You know, I was just a little.

Wow. That was part of the training, too, when I was in basic training. You know, you got to say, yes, ma'am, yes, sir. Come to attention. You see a military officer. you got a salute. That's something that they taught us in basic training when I was there. And let me just tell you something.

I love basic training so much. I got to love it so much. I'm going back now, but I'm going to go back to where I was. I became a military training instructor myself. Oh, boy. Yeah, I loved it. I loved it so much, you know, but they found that I really liked it, and they asked me to come out of my career field from St.

Louis to go to be a military train and instructor. So I say, oh, really. Okay. And I had to teach everybody else how to march, how to salute. But the main thing, I was in my, you know, I was still young. So, you know, I guess they were experimenting with me. I don't know. So how old were you at this particular time?

Still 17 or? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I did three years at Scott Air Force Base. And after I did the three years at Scott Air Force Base and learned to trade, and I thought I was going to get ready to go somewhere else. Yes, I was. I got a notice from my commander, and he said that, okay, at that time, I was just Airman.

Airman Dyson, you're going to be going, we're going to need people at Lackland Air Force Base as instructors. And that just happened. I wasn't too angry with that because I liked the area. because I like Texas. I like, you know, basic training. Right. I love teaching other people. And I went back.

I was only 18 at this time. I was 18, a little old 18. I was young. I was very young. Wow. It was a good experience for me to go back as a training and stuff. And I was, they used to call me, I was a master. I became a master drill instructor in those four years that I was there.

The ones that wear the rope to teach. Oh, no. Yeah, you teach the trainees and the officers, so I was able to teach the training. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I was a master drill instructor, so I enjoyed that. That wasn't Michael Wilfield, but I really got in and I mastered that test, you know, at that time. Wow. Well, I know this is crazy.

I know this is not even when I say crazy, but I'm kind of jumping in here now a little bit. did you were there things that you just really didn't like why you were there I mean I know you don't like to talk about it but this is something that can help people you know and I don't know what a static is coming from I'm trying to all my being back

well the main thing that I did you know the only thing I would say the only thing that I didn't it was like a vacation when I first got there when I first got there you know we were able to go to town and so forth on the weekend. And that's when we'll go and spend our money. We got a check and got paid and it was good to get paid. But I always used to send, and I tell everybody this,

and I'm telling God under the truth. God knows my heart. I would send most of my money back home to my mom and my dad to take care of the other children that was out there. And I didn't mind it. I loved doing that because there was a gift that I had of giving. God gave me a gift of giving, even at that early age. And I was like, well, Mom said, you got all those children back there. So I'm going to go ahead and send, you know, something back to the family. And that's what I did. I wasn't asking to do this.

I volunteered to do it. And I enjoyed doing it. I did it cheer for me. Yeah, you really was because I remember a lot of the times, even when you didn't come home, you would send boxes of gifts for us. I remember tape recorders and dolls and all kinds of beautiful gifts. You would send and things for mom and everybody. Everybody had something that you would send.

And boy, when you came home, you came home like, excuse my first question. You came home like Santa Claus because when you came home, you really brought a lot, you know, for everybody. I mean, you just, those were some wonderful dates. I remember the other days. And I really missed them. There were beautiful, beautiful days. Everybody was kind of together and, you know, it was really great to have you come home. I don't know why the static is coming from, but hopefully it's not, we're not too close to the thing.

You're static a little bit, but please, please explain by the, you continue when you came home. I love those stories. Oh, well, when I got the chance to go home, they would give us like, you know, leave time. They call it leave to go home, you know, to vacation. Most of the time it was at Christmas. I would always select Christmas time. Now, we're talking about when I was in basic training when I went home.

When I got back to my duty station to go back there, when I went back to my duty station after basic training, the time that I went home was during the time I was at Laughlin. And I was home, and they were going. give us time to go home, you know, go home to visit after we got out of basic training. This was after training, though, actually. And that's when I would go home and I would get a bunch of, go to the PX, what they call it, post-exchange where you can get things without paying any tax. I wasn't used to that.

And I would go in, I was like a little kid in a candy store. So I went in and I bought all kinds of gifts for everybody in the family. You know, I just looked in and I said, let me get them this. Nobody made any request, but I just would go in and just get different things. And my baby sister, Regina and Laura, Laura and Regina, I would always make sure I got something like a baby doll or something that I know they wouldn't have some roller skates or some. Oh, my God, roller skates. I remember the roller skates? We were in the neighborhood, right?

Yeah. skating on those plastic skates. People were laughing at us, and then by the time their skates tore up, we had our dipskates, and we would skate down the street and our dipskates for, and we were so glad to get those dipskates. You know where I shop?

I shop a ride online, right from the comfort of my own home at Duno's perception. For the latest, in fashion, clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, and so much more.

Shop www. Dunamisperception.com elevate your vision. Tell them I sent you. Oh, yeah. Yeah, those were good times. Those were some of the good times. I didn't have any bad, bad times until I went overseas.

when I was stationed over in Germany. I was stationed in Germany for about four years, and that's when I had the bad times. But at Scott Air Force Base, I was there. I was playing tennis, and I was playing all kinds of sports. And that's where I met my husband, who I was to be married to. We stayed married for a while. And Herbert Jason, he's gone on, he's passed on.

But the thing about it is, that's where I met him is Scott Air Force Base. and then, of course, you know, trying to go in chronological order here from basic training, from basic training. I went to my duty station at Scott Air Force Base, and I got an assignment to go to Germany. I went to Germany, Ramstein base, Germany. And that's some trauma. That was some trauma times. So, you know, I had some traumatic times there. We are talking about depression, too.

So, you know, you may want to talk about, you may or may not want to talk about some of that. Well, I did experience that, you know, because my husband didn't go to Germany with me. He stayed and we were still married, but he stayed in America. And so I was in Germany alone and, you know, that made it even more stressful. But anyway, we were at work one day. And we were at war during the time. I went in during the Vietnam War, but that war was had passed because it was in 73. I think the Vietnam War.

ended. President Johnson, I think, signed it. But anyway, we were in the bunker. I think we were with Iraq war, a war from the Middle East type war. But anyway, that was going on, and we would have threats of bones and so forth, and they had training gear that we had to wear and so forth and be ready at all times. And so we would take our helmets and our backpacks and our rations and stuff. We had to take that on us at all times whenever we were threatened with war. When we had, you know, the commander would always tell us to make sure we had all those things that you needed. So I was at work one day with the other team members, the other soldiers at the, you know, airmen, we'll call airmen. Right, right. And the bunker. We were on a bunker,

underground bunker working on computers. I was in the computer field, so we were doing our job. and there was a bomb that exploded next door to us. And that was, you know, one person died in that bomb, you know, lost their lives in that bomb. And that is the time when I, you know, really had a lot of depression and trauma. And it was in that time. And so, you know, I went through a lot of depression because we all could have been, you know, healed at that time. but, you know, God's share our lives, and the bomb went off and they found. That was loud.

Oh, my God. It was very loud. But we were on a bunker now. We were underground. We were underground. Right. And I know at this time I can talk about this. I mean, you know, it's classified information back then, but it's not now.

It's been declassified. But, you know, anyway, I had those records, my military records. It was in my military medical records and so forth. And my records were still in St. Louis, Missouri. That's where they kept all the Air Force military records, the medical records and so forth. And they had a fire there in St. Louis that burned up the records from the time I came in the military in 1969, all the way up through 70 something, 78 or 79. They burned those records.

There was a fire in the, you know, an area where they had to. the medical records. And my records were burned at that time. So any, you know, they didn't have them archived at that time. So that my records might, not the military records, but the medical records, now only is what I'm talking about. But my medical records, to this day, I don't have all my medical records because of that.

And, oh, wow. I don't do a lot of depression back then at that time, you know, because I end up seeing a psychocas and so forth. And I went through a lot of stuff and I was diagnosed with a post-traumatic stress. Oh, my goodness. PTSD. It's pretty serious. Yeah.

And I was depressed and I had to take medication for it. But I, you know, I knew at that time, even at that time that, you know, I had a prayer mother. I went to a church that, you know, I had a prayer. I went to a church that, you know, had a praying pastor at the time. And I knew somebody was praying for, especially my mom and my dad and my family. So it was a trying time for me. So if anybody is going through depression because of PTSD, post-traumatic stress syndrome, that is something that lasts a lifetime.

It doesn't just go away. Certain things trigger it for me. Oh, I didn't know that. I didn't know that. Did it last like a long time? I didn't know that. Oh, yes, it does. I mean, you know, you can last, you know, your lifetime, actually.

I still have it. I would take all kinds of medication for it. And when I got back to the States from Germany, my husband had bought me a German shepherd. He bought me a dog. And, you know, that helped me out a lot, just having my dog. And I trained in my, I had to train in myself. I trained him. Oh, well.

That's what, you know, stress can, you know, can kill. People know that stress. It can kill you, though. It can kill you. Yeah. So I was in pretty bad shape. I ended up in. And I'm going to say this, and it's, you know, this is my own business.

But I ended up in the mental health ward at the medical center for about a month or two up there. They, you know, they medicated me. and so forth. But, you know, I'm telling this because all the people have probably been going to go through some of the same things that I'm telling you. And some people don't know about it. Some people won't tell it. But I will tell it because it's something that I've gotten, you know, the medical part,

I've gotten over. I'm taking medicine for, you know, depression right at this moment, you know, right now. Well, you know, at this time, 74 years old. And I'm still, you know, suffering from and taking medicine for it. But anyway. that's, you know, that's what happens to me. That is something. I don't know where this static is coming from. And we can talk about that too.

But every time you talk a little static there, but I don't know why. But the devil is a liar. He's a liar. Yes, he is. I don't know what I have. I have my overhead fan, but I don't think that would interfere. I don't think that's the matter of the math. No.

But that's just a portion. of my military life. I mean, you know, I was in the military for 20 years. I just told you to be getting in. You know, I can't, I'll be sitting here for hours to talk about. That was very interesting when you were telling about, you know, about a person and how you, you know, did they have like a church that you can go to or did you just in your room, did you, or how did you do, how did you go about that?

Yes. Okay. So what they would do. I mean, if they found that you were religion, because they ask you what religion you are when you go in the military, you know, when you get finished basic. I did have access to, they would have what they call chaplain. They would have a chaplain or, you know, Christian chaplain, Baptist, Catholic.

I wasn't Catholic, but they would send chaplains, you know, to the hospital to visit or, you know, volunteer. A lot of people would volunteer, civilians would volunteer to come and visit the patients or even when you got out of the hospital and you went back to your home, you could still have appointments to go to see the mental health people and talk to them, sit down and talk to them to let them know what was going on in your life, you know, with your mental health. And that was, you know, back then that was very important because there was a war, a war still going on, you know, at the time. I didn't go to Iraq or anything like that. I went to, I was just in Germany.

And, but anyway, it was a trying time at that duty station at Ransom, it was very trying time for me. That's when I got all the time. Showing that God was always with you. He always had his hands on you and prayer showing that prayers really work. Prayers really, prayers are the rights available very much. I believe that. I believe that to this day now. But back then, I was not in the church, you know, going to anybody's church.

I would have people come to me. But had I been in a church, I probably would have been, you know, better off. Right. But I didn't have a church home at that time. The Chapman would come and visit the patients at the hospital or, you know. Right. But I know this is, I don't know if this got anything to do with the interview, but a lot of people, they smoke and they have a hard time,

quitting smoking. I was talking to somebody last night and she was asking me like, what do you do to stop smoking? I don't know. I do. Yeah, that's why I'm asking you. So can you hear that because I know she's probably going to listen to this and I

would love to hear your perspective. Hello there, I'm Regina Sworn. Thank you so much for enjoying my podcast, Stories, Live True Stories. people from all walks of life.

If you are interested in being a part of my show, my podcast, please write to me at sornigina.com. Now, stories from all walks of life means I cover everything. That's religion, politics, everyday life, music. You know, once a point of time, I just covered music, but now I cover everything. So again, contact me at Swerin Regina at gmail.com. And thank you so much for taking out my shows right here at IHeartRadio.

Take care. I started smoking when I was back to, I saw other girls smoking, some of the boys, young boys smoking, when I was in basic training. But I didn't smoke because I thought it was just, you know, I thought it was a filthy habit until I started smoking. But anyway, I started smoking. smoking back in the 70s, I would say, the early 70s after I got to my other duty station that I didn't mention, do that later on.

But I started smoking and I would smoke sometimes. I would light up a cigarette and while that cigarette is still burning, I would light up another one while I was talking. Oh, why? Let me keep smoking. And so when I started to cough, I had smoked by this time from, you know, after I left basic training, went to my duty station, I really started to smoke. It would calm me down. It used to calm me down quite a bit, I thought.

And the way I stopped smoking, it took me years. I haven't smoked over 40 years now because I'm 74. Oh, boy, it was hard. It was very hard. I don't care. Would anybody say, oh, you just put the cigarettes down? No, it doesn't happen like that. It's just like any habit that you have.

if you don't have, you know, the power of God in your heart, you're not saved and sanctified and feel with the ghost, then you're going to do what you do, you know, and that's what I did. And so I would go to the club and I was smoke, you know, and never ran out of cigarettes because I could go to the commissary and buy cardins and cardinal cigarettes. But the way that I stopped, let me just tell you that, how I quit smoking. Okay, the years had gone by. I was in my 40s in my late 40s and I'm 74 now as I said one day I just decided you know I just decided I was in a restaurant and I saw this man I was working at

Golden Corral Restaurant and this man came in and he had a he was smoking through his trache he had a trache and he still had this I saw the smoke I said what's wrong with him and I saw that. He had the cigarette and the smoke was coming out of the hole in his throat. And that right there just, that turned me. I mean, that turned me all kinds of ways off.

And at that time, I took my cigarette and I tried to stop at that time, but I didn't stop then. I didn't stop then. What I'm going to tell you, it was years past from then. You know, I was getting on up in age in 1989, no, not 1996. is when I eventually stopped smoking. I went to this church. And then I saw this preacher. I called him brother.

Brother preacher, you know, he puts some oil on my head because he had done that for another woman in the church. And I hope I'm not talking too much. But anyway, I'm telling this because I'm going to tell you how I stopped smoking. And I mean that's the reason why. But anyway, I was coughing a lot. I started coughing. And I was scared because I thought maybe I had cancer. And, you know, I got cancer.

No, I didn't have cancer because I went back to get it checked. I didn't have cancer. But I saw this man with this smoke coming out of his throat. That was the first thing. And I stopped smoking for about a month or two. But I went back to it. And then when I went to church that day, you know, the pastor was praying for people. You know, they prayed for people in the church.

And I saw this lady. She went up. She was a change smoker. And so she went up. she got prayer for her smoking. And I was a doubting Thomas at that time. If anybody know the Bible, I didn't believe until I could see it. But anyway, she went and she came back the next Sunday.

She said, well, Pastor, I don't smoke anymore. I stopped smoking. I haven't had a cigarette in two or three weeks. I thought, oh, my God, really? When she was testifying, what they call testifying, telling her, you know, what was going on in the life. And so I said, well, brother, Pastor, can you put some of that all on my head? Because I want to stop smoking, too.

And so I want to stop smoking because, you know, I was caught. I had been coughing a lot and I thought, like I said, I thought, like I said, I had cancer. So he put the oil on my head and this is a testimony, y'all. This is a testimony. Right. This is very carefully. And I was working out at Kelly Air Force Base. They sent close that base down here in Texas.

And I was working out there at the time. So what had happened is, Once he put that oil on my head, I went to work that next day at Kelly, and I was sitting in my car listening to a show called the Tom Joyner Morning Show, and anybody out there that they'd be about them, they probably would know what that show was all about. So I was sitting there, I was listening to that show, and I was still smoking now, Marlborough 100, the lone cowboy.

Wow, a storm cigarette. Wow. And I was in my brand new car. I bought a car for the first time. I was in my brand new car and lit up the cigarette head all the way because it was wintertime. I let the window up and I was sitting in there and I was smoking and forgot about the pastor putting the oil on my head. And I had asked the pastor and they prayed for me that God would heal me and, you know, that I would stop smoking. And, you know, I halfway believe that would happen and I halfway didn't believe it.

But I'll tell you what happened. I sat there, I took, and they had the cigarette lighters that come with the car. Okay, so I lit up my, took my cigarette and I lit it. And I hadn't had a draw out of it. Yeah, I was getting ready to take a draw out of the cigarette to inhale. You know how you're doing it. Well, you're not a smoking, so anybody in smoke would know what I'm talking about. You take that first big draw of the morning.

I took that big draw of the morning in that cigarette, the Marlborough 100 cigarette. And I forgot, and something hit me in the chest. I felt a deep push in my chest. Like it hit, took my breath away, and all of the smoke that I had inhaled in my throat at the time in my mouth came out in the car. And the whole car was completely flogged from the smoke. And, you know, I don't know if you know the movie Cheech and Chong when they used to smoke in hour long. And it was just a little bit of that. That was just like that.

All the smoke in the car. It was in there. I didn't let the one to stay up. You know, I didn't let the one down at all. But anyway, when I got out of the car, you know, I didn't even let the one that I just, you know, I didn't, I didn't have it. God took the taste from my mouth. That's the one of the mouth. He took the taste out of my mouth.

Oh, dear. I haven't had a cigarette. I didn't have a cigarette from that day on. I was stationed at. Oh, my God. I was stationed at Kelly Airport's base. Never will forget that. And I testified for that.

Oh, my God. I went back to the doctor to see if I had any cancer in my throat or anything because of the cough. I did not have any cancer in my throat. Wow. I was healed. I mean, you know, God took the cigarettes away. That's a great testimony. My God.

Yeah, but it's the person that smoked. Anybody that smoke out there, give it up because, you know, they put on the packages now about smoking, you know, for your health. And it is, you know, it is. That's why I wanted to ask you about it, because one lady, well, she actually has cancer. Well, I work out, and she begging people to give her a cigarette. She don't work there now, but they bring in the emergency system, tell me that she's always begging for cigarettes. I need a cigarette. I think that's, I don't know what you think.

I think that's nerves. It's got to be her nerve. It's bad right now. It's probably having anxiety and stuff. You know, what do you think? That's what I think. I don't know. Okay, so when you're a smoker, and I had smoked for so many years, when you're a smoker,

it's like any other habit that you may have. Some people eat a lot, you know, and some people drink a lot. My habit was smoking. And so one of them, I would smoke, and then it comes the first thing in the morning. You know, that's the first thing I used to do, light up. You know, I light up a cigarette. And that's what I used to do. And it's hard to give, you know, you got to see something traumatic and you got to have people

praying for you. And, you know, it's a lot involved. And, you know, they have classes now in the military, you know, I'm talking military because that's what I know. That will help you to, you know, try to help you to stop smoking. And, you know, it's hard. It's real hard. Don't think it's easy.

You get some people that don't smoke. You all are just laid the cigarettes. Don't, it's not easy. I think it's easy to do. That's why I wanted to ask you, because you know, I didn't know that, really know that you were a smoker, but now that I know that you've used to smoke in that testimony about all that stuff that smoke in that car,

oh, my God. I wonder what that was. Do you think it was God in there? Oh, you mean as far as me smoking? What was the question on turn? As far as all of the smoke that was in the car that had... Oh, oh.

When I didn't know what that was. I have no idea. I was not... At the time, I wasn't in the church. I had just gone to church probably a couple of weeks. Three weeks. I forgot about the pastor at play. Put oil in my head and prayed for me,

and this lady stood up and testified, too, that she hadn't smoked in three or four weeks. I did not go back to it. I did not go back to it. Oh, good. And cut them up, threw them out. I just threw them. I didn't even cut them up.

I just took them, balled them up, threw them in the trash, and stayed in there in my office. I started reading my Bible. I turned to God. I parked to Christ at that time, believe it or not. And I didn't feel like to go. I turned to Chris at that time. I said, he's the only one that really, you know, when that smoke came out of my mouth, he was telling me, stop it. Because, you know, I stopped it.

That's the only explanation I can say. I never went back to it. That's the most of the most. Oh, God, it's a great testimony. I know someone's listening out there. Please grab hold of the face right now because that testimony she just told about smoking and how hard it is to give up. I mean, oh, my God.

It's hard. I just thank God for that. Oh, thank you for that testimony. I'm glad I asked that question now because the lady asked me the other night. She wanted a cigarette and she, like, has cancer night. I won't be going to give her a cigarette. I just wasn't going to do that. I don't have one to give her anyway,

but definitely wasn't going to go out and buy her cigarettes when she's actually, you know, dying of cancer right now. So I, ugh. When, you know, Regina, when somebody asked me now, they wouldn't ask me now because they know I don't smoke. But when I was smoking, they're trying to stop smoking, and I had stopped smoking when I had that experience with that smoke in the car. People would still come up and ask me for a cigarette,

and I would tell them, I'm just testified to them. That was my way of witnessing, you know, to a soul. And God was pleased with that, I think. And that's what helped me. Yeah, he was pleased because I stopped. I haven't picked up a cigarette and, ooh, man, at least 45 years. Right. Yeah, it's been a long time.

What a miracle. What a miracle. At that time, cigarettes were cheap. At the day, you can get a carton of cigarettes probably about $40. $12 for $40. I said, oh, Lord, I'm glad I don't smoke now. But it's a hard thing to do. You know, you've got to have your mind made up.

You've got to be telling me for that song through it and been there. I used to do some really terrible things when I was a smoker. I would light up a cigarette because we could smoke in the building, in the dining area where people would eat. And I would just blow my smoke over there as non-smoking areas on purpose. There were some lean things back then, but God took that nasty habit from me. I mean, you know, that was a nasty habit to have. And I thank you every day for that for taking it away.

I do appreciate you giving this space here to talk about that because I needed to, you know, talk about that. Yeah, heck, I wasn't going to even bring that up, but it is, I'm so glad that I asked that question because a lot of people out there are struggling with smoking. They're struggling with that habit. A lot of people are, but we're going to have a part two and possibly a part three. But what I want to talk about now is, you know, I know I'm jumping way ahead of myself, but we're going to be talking about more about cancer and depression in the next podcast, part two, possibly part three. But what I want to talk about now is you are with the ministry.

I think you call it Chikai, Chakaya. Yeah. Yeah. And you tell me a little bit about that ministry because you are very dutiful, I guess you can call that in that ministry. And we'll want to know more about it. Hey there, I'm Regina Sword. I always leave my email in my podcast. But now it's super easy to leave me a message through fan mail.

Just press the button and just type away. That easy, guys. So this message is included in every last line of my podcast. Click fan mail. Send me a message today of your favorite podcast. Or if you'd just like to send an encouraging word or feedback, I am waiting. Hit that fan mail and I'll get your message. Thanks a bunch, guys.

God has blessed me to join a group in Dallas, Texas, or Bishop Richard Brown. He's over it. He's the pastor for Jekai, meaning Jesus. It's called Joshua Kingdom International. I mean, it's an international ministry. We also have churches overseas as well. So I joined that organization in 2022, at the end of the end of the United States. the 2022 and I've been there.

And what we do is we minister, we have a church now, home church. We have the edifice there in Dallas, Texas, urban Texas, actually, getting ready to do an appreciation for our bishop. And so this is an argument that is the church, actually is a church home. And that's not my only church home.

I have a church home here in San Antonio. That's where I live. But it is a church home where we are, serving God, and we, each year we put out a calendar where we go to different states, and we praise God and serve God, and, you know, people are saved and realize the turn to Christ. But right now, I have been selected last month, I think it was. Actually, it was this month. It was this month.

I was selected as the international supervisor of women. Oh, boy. Yeah, the international supervisor of women in Jukai, and it's a job where you are in charge of all of the women in the organization. So I am getting ready to set up a retreat, a women's Christian retreat. Okay. That's the next year. We're going to start it next year so that way we can get a really nice place.

And I will be inviting people to come and join us at that retreat. So that's basically Jukai International and, you know, our bishop, Bishop, Richard Ricardo Brown is his name. Yeah, he has a son. They live there in Urban Texas.

We have a church, beautiful church in Urban Texas, which is not that far from Dallas, Texas. It's right there. It sounds like he just traveled a lot with the ministry. Oh, yes. A lot of traveling.

For a whole year. I traveled a whole year. I went to New Orleans. I went to Saganah, Michigan, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Let's see. I went to Atlanta, of course. That's right at home. I went to Atlanta. And, of course, here to San Antonio. We have services here in San Antonio and Dallas, Texas as well. So I've been all around for the whole year, the first year I joined. I went to everything that they had in every state. And a lot of people can do that. God has blessed me to be able to do that. And I've learned so much. I've learned so much in the ministry. And I learned quite a bit here in San Antonio with my own local pastor, Pastor Rubin Robinson, She has a everlasting Life ministry.

That's my pastor here in San Antonio. But my pastor in Dallas, of course, is Bishop Brown. So you want to hear about the chocoticons. You're a doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, Yes, Dr. Divinity. Doctor of Divinity. Dr. Divinity. I never heard of it quite like that before.

Dr. Divinity. No, that's my, that's what I do. You know, I talk about the Bible, teaching of the Bible. Right. That's called Divinity, Doctor of Divinity. And I'm still working on counseling as well. So I'm learning quite a bit. Wow.

that's amazing. Boy, you, like I said, you got so much history in your life that we do cancel it all in one podcast. So it's going to be a part two with missionary

Catherine Dyson this morning. It's going to be a part two because her life, as you heard, oh, my God, I feel thinking about all that smoke in that car.

I feel, oh, no, that's going to be in my mind. all day. Oh, my goodness. I don't know smoking that car. That was divine intervention. Stop.

That was God saying. Stop. Yeah. Telling me to stop. Divine intervention and, you know, came in for me to stop smoking. Otherwise,

I would have been sitting here with cancer as well because I was smoking a lot. Oh, what. Oh, what a miracle. At that time. Oh, my God. What a miracle. What a miracle.

And on that note, we're going to get ready. to close out part one, but that will definitely be a part two with Dr. Nation, missionary dot nation. That would definitely be a part two, sorry.

Okay. I'm eating candy. I'm sorry. But that would definitely be a part two because, like I said, her life story is just too great for just a part one. So it spans, as I said,

in my other interview, my other guest, it spans multiple decades. So when you got history like that, part one is just not going to be enough. So there will be a part two. There will be a part two. But I would like to give you a chance to give the people somewhere that they can write to you, if they need to write you or write your ministry or write chick-pie or, you know,

they need something about them only know how they can write you. Oh, if you want to write a letter, I would prefer an email first until I get to know the person. Emails are okay. But when I know the person, then I will give my address for them to send a letter. But at this time, I just will give my email. My email is my name for all letter. Catherine, K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E- D-A-Y-S-O-N-N-5-3. at gmail.com.

That is my my Gmail address. And you can anytime send the, you know, Gmail to me at any time

and I will read it and respond to it. You can see me, you can see me on my page there on Facebook. Right. You're on social media,

Facebook, and do you have Instagram to you? No. Okay. Yes. She is on Facebook, so you can find

your own Facebook and then And that email is probably the best thing because, you know, people can write to email and go from there. And if they need to know, they'll find out. But thank you so much for coming on a podcast. Thank you so much. And I always see, I always guess the last thing they want to say. They might want to say hello to someone out there.

You know, give them something that they want to say. So they close us out. But do you like to say you have a last word here? I would just like to say I want to appreciate you, my sister, Regina, my baby sister, for having me on your podcast show because the things that I said, some people, a lot of people need to know about it. And I just want people to just keep the faith and be encouraged because we are in some really tough times in this country right now,

all over the world, actually. Yes, we are. Yeah, so that's, you know, I look forward to getting on here again to do another podcast with you. And I want to send a shout out to my family down in Macon, Georgia as well. I do have some family in Atlanta. And so I just want to say thank you. Oh, you're so welcome. And on that note, I think we're going to close out this part one, but Dr. Dason will be back.

So don't for it. I knew you out there wondering. When, we, went. She will be back for a part two because her story is so exciting. Don't she? Don't you agree? Oh, my God. So she's going to be back for a part two.

Thank you. Going to be back for a part two. And on that note, I think we'll close out. Thank you so much, Dr. Jason. And on that note, we're going to say goodbye. Bye. God bless you. Goodbye.

Bye-bye. Okay, that concludes another great broadcast. Thank you so much for joining me for Regina Swarine audio series. If you like to be a part of this series, please send me an email at Swarine Regina at gmail.com. I want to thank all of my wonderful friends, fans, and guests for being a part of this show. Most of all, I'd like to thank the Lord. Until the next time, take care of yourself and be safe.