Friede Taylor was born in Czechoslovakia the third child of a Catholic family during WWII. The deprivations and unsanitary conditions brought about by the war left her severely ill with typhoid fever and cholera, reducing her prospects for survival as a child. Because of overcrowded hospital facilities, she was left to die. Her father had been taken prisoner by the US Army, leaving Friede's family alone without support. A nurse had pity on them and took them into her home, giving Friede blood transfusions, using her (the nurse's) own blood to save Friede's life.Her father was released at the end of the war, and the family moved to Germany where she suffered for years from rejection because her father had wanted her to be a boy. Her father, a tailor, lost everything in the war and died by his own hand without ever telling Friede that he loved her.At 19, Friede married a US soldier stationed in Germany and moved with him to Columbus, Georgia where they raised a family of three children. In 1979, Friede converted from Catholicism to Southern Baptist where she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.In 1983, after her oldest son, Gene, took his own life, Friede experienced what she calls an open-heaven experience with God's comfort and protection over her life-an experience which comforted her in future losses. Her husband died of cancer after 30 years of marriage, leaving Friede widowed for the next 11 years.In 1999 she had a life-changing experience with the Holy Spirit, discovering God to be the Father who loved her and Husband who provided for her every need. Her pursuit of God brought her to a commitment and a passion for a deeper intimacy with God.
