Danville resident Sallie Dawkins self-published a three-part book series Nov. 15, all three of which have made best-seller lists on Amazon.

Dawkins described her Awakening Christian book series as a missional guide that tells her personal testimony of going from a complacent Christian to a Christian healing evangelist. The books’ titles in order are “You Can Hear the Voice of God Through All Your Spiritual Senses,” “You Can Know the Heart of God for Your Life,” and “You Can Share the Love of God with Others.”

This series is Dawkins’ first experience in book publishing. Exceeding her expectations, the three books sold 243 copies in the first 16 days of publication, and ranked highly in multiple categories on Amazon.

“That’s a supernatural miracle; that’s all I can say,” Dawkins said.

Amazon rankings are updated every hour. On Nov. 29, the first and third books were numbers one and two in the Adult Christian Ministry category. On Dec. 1, the books took up rankings one through three in Pneumatology Christian Theology. On Dec. 6, the first book was number one in Christian Bible Handbooks, and the third book was number three. The books also ranked in the Christian Leadership, Christian Liberation Theology, and Christian Sacraments categories, among others.

Unconventionally, Dawkins published all three books the same day. She said the recommendation for self-publishers is to wait a month or two to publish the second book, and so on, but that God told her to release them at the same time.

“I woke up on [the publishing] day, and the Lord said, ‘go ahead and publish all those books today;’ and I was not expecting it but that’s what I did,” Dawkins said. “My part of that commission was to write the books, and it was always [God’s] part to put them in the hands of people who need to read them.”

She started writing the books in October 2020. With plans for just one book, it turned into three books 10 weeks into writing.

Dawkins is an intercessory missionary commissioned from a church in Belleville, Illinois. An intercessor is someone who prays on behalf of someone else or someplace else, like nations or people groups, cities, governments, the education system, etc. As an intercessory missionary, Dawkins travels out to pray wherever she feels God is sending her.

In the summer of 2020, Dawkins visited 16 states and prayed through every state. She also speaks to women’s groups and at conferences, and is an expert at teaching people how to hear the Lord’s voice. Her book series helps people practice listening for God’s voice.

In September 2015, Dawkins had a spiritual encounter that led her to become a missionary. She had been a Christian for 24 years, but had been dealing with a multitude of health issues and began to doubt her faith.

She had a cancer diagnosis, multiple surgeries, chronic pain that led to depression, PTSD, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative joint disorder, lupus, fibromyalgia, and other problems. Doctors could not help her beyond prescribing numerous medications.

But when she visited the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, a group of children ages 5 to 12 years old laid hands on Dawkins and prayed for her healing.

“I felt immediate healing, and that spurred me to jealousy,” Dawkins said. “These children were prophesying over people, and laying hands and healing people. I said, ‘Lord if you can do this for these children, you can do it for me, too;’ and he has.”

Dawkins’ first book tells more of this testimony and answers frequently asked questions from other Christians. The second book teaches people how to grow in their faith and know God better, and the third book teaches people how to share their own testimonies in evangelism.

Dawkins said the books are not for everyone, they are for Christians who want to grow in spiritual maturity. In addition to telling everyone in her life about the books, Dawkins is affiliated with several churches which are helping spread news of the books.

Dawkins came to Danville in September 2019 and it’s the 48th place that she’s lived. She is a part of Faith Church on the Danville bypass.

“I’m already receiving testimonies from people who are reading the books, saying how they connected with it, and they believe that because

I have been so transparent in sharing my testimony and my journey with the lord, that they are receiving healing,” Dawkins said.

The books are currently only on Amazon in the formats of eBook, paperback, hardback, and large print. Hardbacks will be available to book sellers worldwide in the next couple of weeks.