Robert Russell, preaching minister of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, tells this story:

A couple years ago I received a letter from a mother in our church who told the moving story of her 15-year-old daughter.

The daughter had become increasingly rebellious, wore dark clothing, and ran with the wrong crowd. Finally, the mother discovered a folder in the girl's room with this note: "Leave this blankety-blank alone. This is my life." With trembling hands the mother opened it. She found a series of the most disturbing letters she'd ever seen, and she is not naïve. One of the notes even had blood smeared around the edges. They discovered that this girl, even though she'd grown up in the church, was involved with witchcraft and the occult. The parents were devastated as they realized their daughter was rebellious beyond their ability to control her. So they took drastic action.

Within 24 hours, they whisked her away to her aunt. The aunt, a dedicated Christian, insisted the girl go through a program called Bondage Breakers. She took her niece with her to Precept Bible Studies. She home-schooled her. One day, this young girl devoted her life to Jesus Christ.

She was gone for three months, but she came back a new creature in Christ. Today she's active in youth group, and recently gave her testimony.

Her mother wrote me: "Bob, encourage the people to be obedient to God even if it's embarrassing, even if it's drastic. We are thankful we did."