Sarah Anne Sumpolec: Ex-witch turned Christian novelist
One wonderful thing about writing a book is that fascinating people are willing to talk to you and answer your questions. Especially in the inspirational market, Christians want to help and are excited about sharing their stories and allowing God to use their painful experiences.
Recently, I connected with one of these fascinating people. Her name is Sarah Anne Sumpolec. She writes great novels for girls (the Becoming Beka series, which my 13 year-old daughter adores), she connects with and inspires girls through her popular blog called "Girls and God," and she was just interviewed by Tyra Banks on a show called "The Mysterious Lives of Witches." Believe it or not, Sarah is a former witch. You can read her story at the CBN website.
I interviewed her to get her thoughts on how to reach out to women involved in Wicca or goddess spirituality. Here’s what she said:
Q. Why do you think young women are turning to Wicca and goddess spirituality in ever-increasing numbers?
A. My opinion: Traditionally and practically, the church has been a very male-dominated place. Women are not always given a place to exercise their God-given gifts, nor are they nurtured and
released the way males often are. I think women are drawn to these pagan religions where they can feel powerful and independent … where they feel they have some control over their lives.
Q. What does a relationship with Jesus offer that Wicca does not?
A. A relationship with no strings. Jesus does ask us to lay down our lives but He gives us more than what we gave up in the first place. That fabulous paradox is only true with the living Christ. He not only offers to rescue us from sin, but He is willing to reveal Himself to us. He offers us His unconditional love and friendship.
Q. As a Christian woman, how can I effectively reach out to women with the Truth?
A. Being authentic and living out an authentic faith is the most powerful weapon we have. The pagan community is hard to evangelize because the words we use have different meanings to them. But love and truth walked out in flesh is hard to argue with.
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SUSY FLORY is a writer, speaker, and journalist who inspires and challenges women to embrace a life of passion, boldness, & adventure. In your own unique way, YOU can change the world, starting in your own backyard. 
I was wondering if girls and young women pursue wicca because it’s “empowering”. Kind of like extremist feminism.
I’m glad Tyra Banks has found meaning in Jesus. However, I have to disagree with something she says, above.
There are about as many varieties of “Wicca” as there are people who profess it. I don’t know what Banks experienced; but my experience has definitely been of a Goddess who gives of herself, fully and freely, with no strings attached. She reveals herself to me, and gives me her unconditional love and friendship.
I was raised to fear hell. Later, I learned that God could be loved as well as feared. But eventually I was moved to learn whether that spiritual reality Christians call “God” might manifest itself in more than one form. If true, then rejection of other people as “lost” and “deceived” for the sake of mere appearances was an abomination of the first water. In order to find the answer to this question, I felt I needed to take the trip myself, trusting a loving God to rescue me should the need arise.
I found out what I wanted to know. And my best evidence of the goodness of the Goddess is this: I have suffered from OCD for most of my life; and when, at one point, I was overwhelmed by my anxieties and fears, she stepped in and made them go away. It was an astonishing experience, and one the Christian devil would never make happen — remember Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, who said that he cast out demons by the prince of demons.
I sometimes read what Christians write about Wicca, the Goddess, contemplative prayer, and so on, and regret that there seems to be no bridging the gap between us, except for one or two souls, here and there, who, for whatever reason, make the journey themselves. But maybe that’s as it should be.
I just wanted to say that Banks’ experience of Wicca was not mine, and the things that she says distinguish it from Christianity have not been distinctions in my life. The Goddess is incredibly real in my life, and incredibly good. I have been 18 years in her company, and she has brought me only good things. A Christian would think the opposite would be true, wouldn’t they? But there is a limit to what Satan can counterfeit without working against himself; and some things he cannot counterfeit at all.