Malorie – 2011 Graduate
My life before Mercy was a masquerade. I was a pastor’s daughter and felt I was being watched under a magnifying glass by everyone. I used self-harm to cope. Out of curiosity, I got involved with pornography at age 11 and it damaged my view of everyone and everything. In high school, I was sexually abused and became very confused. I still pretended like everything was okay on the outside, but on the inside I was dying. I heard about Mercy from a friend and decided to apply.
While at Mercy, God has shown me true love and grace. I have been brought back to life by a Savior who said I am worth it and my heart that was once stone has now been turned to flesh. Before Mercy, I was a walking corpse, but now every moment has meaning and purpose. I have a choice and I choose life!
After graduating from Mercy I have walked through many processes to truly find out that I didn’t have a thriving relationship with Jesus, only religion. God placed a beautiful family in my life who has helped to give me a safe place to grow and make mistakes. They brought me in and adopted me as their own and made it legal in 2013. Along the way I have been serving in my local church and helping to lead worship. I found that prison ministry became such a beautiful outlet for my testimony to bring hope to many. Job after job left me just wondering what I was called to in the work place and unsatisfied because I didn’t want to work within my field of study. March of 2014 God called me to a season of preparation for ministry school. I never thought pursuing ministry in school was an option since I had already been through college. Against all odds and against my own fears I went and completed a year under some dynamic men and women of God. I graduated with such a genuine hunger for the secret place, a heart positioned for purpose, and a desire to see America turn back to God. I am now on the young adult and main service worship teams at my church. My pastor asked me to join the leadership team for the young adults in which I help to counsel, disciple, and encourage women in our group. If you asked me what my heart burns for, it would be to see the body of Christ truly become a people consumed in the secret place.