Conversations in Heaven, the Journey Begins, explores the lives of five unique individuals whose deaths on earth trigger their arrival in heaven. They are welcomed by their ten-foot-tall guardian angel, Wisdom, who will help them navigate heaven’s splendors together.The five meet in the Garden of Tranquility and later encounter Jesus for the first time on Disciples Walkway. Wisdom then takes them by boat over the Sea of Reconciliation to the Other Side where each is reunited for the first time with family, friends, and beloved pets. A homecoming celebration and concert are given in their honor and each person will see, for the first time, the mansion that God has prepared for them.The narrator is Julie, a 67-year-old Italian who is murdered execution-style by the Mob in her family’s pizza shop in New Orleans. She is raised in the Catholic faith by her Sicilian parents and her life is marked by her intense devotion to God. She falls in love with Bobby at a Christian commune in the North Carolina mountains, marrying him in the side yard of her parents’ pizza shop and they later have a son named Bobby, Jr. As a sociologist, Julie works with hardened criminals and through one of them she meets Ray, a young man whose life she helps save; a move which later costs her her life.Rashid is a twenty-five-year-old Taliban soldier from Pakistan. He is conscripted into the Taliban army by his father, one of the leaders. Rashid does not believe in their unholy cause yet he is trapped by his father. He meets and falls in love with Fila, a young Afghani journalist who is hiding out in his village after her parents are brutally murdered by the Taliban in Kabul. Rashid comes to Christ through an Army chaplain when he is captured by U.S. soldiers while on a routine patrol in Kandahar. Both are killed when the post is destroyed by Taliban artillery.Tiny is a 46-year-old Black man who is a CPA and the first Black partner in a presigious accounting firm in Chicago. He is raised by strict, but loving parents, Cecil and Alma, in the middle of the Levee area in South Chicago. Cecil pastors one of the largest Baptist churches in the area and Tiny and his sisters grows up in the knowledge of the Lord. Tiny marries Juanita, a woman he meets in church, and they have three children. Tiny finds himself in poor health due to bad health habits. He dies from a heart attack at his son’s graduation party. Sophia grows up in South Miami, an only child raised by Auschwitz survivors Solomon and Estelle. As victims of the Holocaust, they lack the skills to provide the love Sophia needs and she suffers from it her entire life. She alienates her father when she drops out of college to become a comedian and turns to drinking and other women to help cope with it. A fan tells her about AA and she meets a woman who invites her to attend a Messianic Jewish church service where she falls in love with Yeshua. She is killed by a fast-moving car while jaywalking.Abbie is raised in an affluent Christian home in Santa Monica by Greg, her attorney father and Gisele, her French mother. She displays remarkable talent in all things musical and attends Juilliard. Abbie forms her own rock band, Righteous Rags in New York City and the band becomes extremely popular. She marries Andy, her drummer, and they locate to a mansion in the Hamptons. Andy dies in a plane crash when flying to be with his mother who is diagnosed with breast cancer. Abbie accidentally overdoses on prescribed medication and excessive wine while grieving him.After the homecoming celebrations, Wisdom transports the five to Mount Transfiguration, the highest mountain in heaven there they get their first glimpse of New Jerusalem, the City of God, a glittering and magnificent golden walled city which shines with the brilliance of millions of gems. From their vantage point, they marvel at the vista that spreads before them, captivated by its breathtaking beauty and vastness.
