When I was a child, I was sexually abused by a family friend. He threatened to hurt those close to me, so I didn’t tell my parents. To deal with this abuse, I started pulling my hair out. As I got older, I started skipping meals, cutting, drinking and sleeping around. That eventually turned into prostitution. As a result of the prostituting, I got pregnant and had an abortion.
I found out about Mercy when I was searching online for free treatment centers. I was struggling with my relationship with God, but I was too desperate to care that Mercy was a Christian treatment center. When I got to Mercy, I was scared, ashamed and overwhelmed.
A turning point came as I began asking for help. I didn’t trust anyone and felt like I had to do everything by myself. It was humbling to have to trust people and rely on women I didn’t know. Once I started to trust the staff, my walls started coming down, brick by brick.
While I was at Mercy, God changed my heart. He healed me from the inside out and carefully put together the shards that had become my life. He didn’t take the shards from me, but asked me to lay them down at His feet.
When I graduated from Mercy, my goal was to start school right away but I was able instead to minister to hurting girls while I worked with a Christian organization that cared for women with eating disorders. God has blessed me with many opportunities to share my testimony with teenagers, women’s groups and congregations. I have started taking classes towards my Nursing degree and I am aiming for a BSN in Nursing, with a focus on forensic nursing. God has placed a deep desire in me to become an S.A.N.E. (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner). I want to help women who have been where I have been. To speak life and hope into these women is my greatest desire.
I want to say thank you so much to all the Mercy supporters for sowing into Mercy, and for praying for me. Thank you for blessing me, for your heart of giving, and for making a difference in the lives of women you may never meet. Your donations have given me the tools to deal with life issues in a positive way. I am so thankful for you!