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December 29, 2025 5 mins

Episode 197 - Testimony Series: Boundaries and Divine Intervention - with Donna Gafford

This episode is part of our December Testimony Series. Donna Gafford shares a gripping story from her experience on the set of a film in Atlanta. Hired to play an herbalist, she was surprised and troubled to find the set filled with witchcraft and Wiccan props, which conflicted with her personal commitment to God regarding the projects she was willing to accept. As she struggled with the situation and asked God to help her know how to move forward, a structural collapse unexpectedly destroyed the set and the witchcraft paraphernalia. Donna saw this as divine intervention affirming her commitment, and the replacement set was transformed into a beautiful, serene environment, illustrating God's protective power.

The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Donna (00:00):
I'm Donna Gafford and I was blessed to be on season four of Vindication and I have got a great story about how God took care of me on a set when I couldn't take care of myself.
I was hired for a job in Atlanta.
I wasn't gonna really make any money, but it was a great role as anherbalist, something that I kind of am naturally, I showed up for my scenes.

(00:28):
Um, the crew had been at it for a while, so we were the last day, I was the last scenes to go.
You know how that is.
I was just paying attention what was going on and peoplewere talking about magic and, uh, kind of different things.
I thought, Hmm, what is going on?
'cause I, you know, I don't remember any of that in the script.

(00:51):
And, um, I got to sit and the woman who owned the house ran up.
She said, oh, you're the witch.
And I was very taken aback and I said, no, I'm, I'm not a witch.
I'm, I'm an herbalist.
She said, okay, whatever.
Can I have your picture?
So I went inside and met everyone, and the props people, um, started talking, you know,before I actually go on set about all the witch and Wiccan related things that they had found.

(01:19):
Tarrot cards, bibles, candles, just real things from real witches.
And these people had been part of that actually.
Um, and they brought them to set.
And I just, I just kind of froze, 'cause I truly, my pact with God is I, I wasn't gonna do that.
I wasn't gonna be involved in any sets like that, any films like that.

(01:42):
I would've refused it.
So it was changed from what I agreed to, to this.
So I just sat there thinking, am I gonna talk to the director?
Who do I talk to about this?
Because I, I mean, here I am, you know, here we are in this place.
So I went back, they told me, come look at the set.
I went and looked and it's got, you know, a witch bible, tarot cards, all these kind of candles.

(02:06):
And I just, I, I was so, so unhappy and so uneased.
Um, and I just thought, you know, Lord, you just gotta take care of this.
'cause I, I got nothing.
I got nothing to do here.
So we started filming, went back in and sat down and um, Ihad to get up during the scene so my knees hit the table.

(02:30):
It was a little precarious.
Um, and they were lighting candles and they were standing, tall candles.
And I kind of turned around.
I said, you know, I don't think you can do that because I'm hitting the table.
And about that time, the floor literally fell out from under my feet.
The wall caved in the everything, the cabinets, the everything thatwas in this tiny little room just fell to the middle of the floor.

(02:57):
I bolted out and, um.
After the dust was kind of settled, we kind of saw who got hurt and got bumped.
We had people that were bruised up a little bit, but I wentoutside and people were, you know, crying and so upset.
And these two young girls who were taking care of all the props were just kind ofhysterical because all that real stuff for all their witch friends was absolutely destroyed.

(03:25):
And I just realized.
Wow.
You know, God, you, you took care of it.
You literally took care of it for me.
I was just, I was just wiped out and it's such a incrediblestory of how God just deals with things in our favor.
Especially, it was, um, a commitment between he and I about my work and I didnot agree to this and just didn't see a way out and he just took care of it.

(03:54):
It was probably within an hour.
Um, they got everything kind of taken care of and all the people situated and another room set up.
The new room they had set up was absolutely beautiful.
It had soft lights and, um, just, just a very, very different set.
As opposed to the one previously.

(04:16):
So what I know is that God gets you outta anything, and I'm very grateful for that.
And he took care of his part of our commitment of me not being involved and a story like that.
So I haven't really said this story out loud because I don't want the, you know, I don't wannaa production company think, oh Lord, we are bringing, you know, Jesus voodoo or whatever.

(04:41):
We're gonna get a set distroyed.
But anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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