Singer shares gospel around world
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Waldena (Wendy) Cleveland is a member of the In Focus Ministry Church in Evans. She has produced two gospel CDs. Her first, He's Changing Me, was made in 1993 under her maiden name, Nevers. She says she plans to continue visiting and performing in countries around the world.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Waldena "Wendy'' Cleveland, of Thomson, says her road to recovery has been a long and laborious journey.
But through the power of prayer and singing gospel music at her Evans church, In Focus Ministry Center on Old Evans Road, Cleveland said she has been healed.
"My testimony is that the Lord set me free from depression," she said.
Cleveland said she has since realized there are more people in need of hearing a message of hope.
These days, she's continuing to offer that message through song.
In addition to visiting churches and performing songs on her freshman and sophomore albums, Give Him the Praise and He's Changing Me, Cleveland said she has appeared on television stations locally and in New York and Atlanta.
She said she also has made many trips to other countries, spreading the gospel through her music, giving performances in lands as far away as Jamaica; Aruba; Guatemala; Colombia; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; St. Vincent; Curacao, the Netherlands Antilles; Ghana; West Africa; and Nairobi, Kenya.
Born in the Canal Zone of Panama, she said she began her singing career in a Baptist church at an early age.
She said it wasn't until she was 18 that she moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., to attend Long Island University on a music scholarship.
Waldena (Wendy) Cleveland has produced two gospel CDs. Her first CD, "He's Changing Me", was produced in 1993 under her maiden name of Nevers.
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"Once I got my bachelor of arts in music, God began to open doors," she said.
Before she knew it, Cleveland said, she was inundated with invitations to perform her songs at local and foreign churches throughout the world.
People who heard her sing, she said, began asking for copies of her music.
"After I saw the need for mission work, I began to take tapes and CDs back overseas (to the people there)," she said, mentioning that she plans to visit and perform in more churches and countries in the future.
"Jesus' message is love, peace and joy," she said. "That's a feeling people can feel in their life all year-round."
To purchase one of Cleveland's CDs, she can be reached at 597-8306.