For the first part of my childhood my family attended church. Around the 3rd grade, I began to be bullied. A couple of years later, I started a new school and began hanging with the wrong crowd. I was introduced to the occult, and the bullying got worse. Attending another new school, I fell in with the wrong crowd again, and I began to feel more invisible, especially with the bullying. I would sit in the back of the classroom as far away from people as possible. I began to isolate myself at school. I didn’t feel noticed and was consistently picked last in gym and for projects. A friend introduced me further into the occult and later molested me. I became afraid of physical touch. I began to feel very insecure about myself. The bullying increased from verbal, to cyber, to physical. I was followed and was shoved into lockers. The bullying got to the point where I was even threatened to be killed. I felt scared going to school. I would go home every day crying, but I continued to keep it all a secret. I moved schools again, but continued to keep all my pain a secret. That summer my best friend committed suicide. I decided that I was done with faith and God. I became depressed and began to wear only black. I also began to self-harm and became promiscuous. I downloaded phone apps to sext random people. My self-harm grew worse and worse every day, and I still hid my emotion from my parents and family. My family became suspicious, but I didn’t stop my behaviors. I developed an eating disorder and my life was just shattered. I attempted suicide twice and began to pray God would let me die. During my last suicide attempt, I heard the Christian song, Redeemed, and fell to the floor crying. I was hospitalized the next day for about a month and a half. I was diagnosed with major depression and anxiety.
When I came home from the hospital my mother told me about Mercy. I decided to apply because I realized that I really needed help. However, I told myself that if this place didn’t work, I was going to kill myself once and for all. I got a call from Mercy with my entrance date one afternoon while contemplating how I was going to commit suicide. I came to Mercy broken, angry, insecure, depressed, and anxious.
While at Mercy I learned to actually pray and listen for God’s voice. I slowly began to smile, and I later opened up about everything with my family. God was with me each step of the way. He really transformed me. I now know I am a woman of God, and I have a bright future ahead of me.
After graduating from Mercy, I plan on finishing high school and getting a job. In my future, I would like to study either cosmetology or music, and I would love to audition for America’s Got Talent.
To all the Mercy donors, thank you so much for supporting the program! Because of you I was able to go to Mercy for free, and my life has been saved!