Brittany – 2017 Graduate

When I was two years old, I was removed from my mother who struggled with a drug addiction and was adopted into a new family. At the age of three, I became a victim of sex trafficking. Due to the circumstances of my life, I had multiple pregnancies that started at the age of nine. My pregnancies were lost due to miscarriage or were taken from me. I continued to be abused throughout my adult life, either by a distant relative or by my boyfriends. I sought perfection in everything I did, whether it was schooling or in my career. To run away from the pain of my past, I became addicted to self-harm and continued to harm myself for 16 years. I also began to withhold and binge and purge food. I abused prescription drugs and attempted suicide several times.

I learned about Mercy from my friends. They encouraged me and helped me apply. I knew after I started seeing two different counselors once a week and wasn’t healing that I needed to do something. When I first arrived, I suffered from phantom pains which left me crying and in pain for days on end. I was terrified and believed that my abusers were going to come to Mercy and get me.

I hated God when I decided to come to Mercy. I was told and believed that He was the reason everything happened to me. But while at Mercy, I saw the staff love God. They loved me despite how I felt or talked about Him. In time, their character helped me to see who God really was – that He was not mean, hateful, and sadistic. He is kind, gentle, and loving.

I have learned who I am and whose I am. I have discovered that I have a voice and authority that was given to me by my Father in heaven. The Lord has bound my wounds and healed them. He has taught me to rely on His strength and not my own. He removed the shame and guilt from my life and helped me to learn that what I have endured is NOT my fault. He helped me learn that I am no longer stained by the sin of man, but that He has restored my purity back to me. I am not a victim. I am a victor!

After Mercy graduation, I will be pursuing an opportunity to help men, women, and children find their freedom and build their relationship with Christ. In the future, I hope to get married and have many children of my own that will be blessed to me by the Lord. I would love to write and illustrate children’s books as well.

At Mercy I have learned that I am not what has happened to me, that I have value because I am a daughter of the One true King. I am no longer a slave to my past and my addictions. Because of your support of this ministry, I am free. Thank you.