I was born in a poor, improvised country in Nicaragua. The eight years I was there were full of some great things but mostly a lot of bad things. All kinds of abuse you can think of was done to me there. I was neglected and not nurtured the way a kid should have been. I was deprived of the motherly affection that a child would need in her formative years. Fortunately, I was adopted by a wonderful family. They first taught me about who God was. My relationship with Him was fine, but not enough to go to Him for help.
Things were going well until I moved from private to public school. I don’t do well with change, so it was a hard transition for me. I felt so many negative emotions that I didn’t want to deal with anymore, so I attempted suicide, and I ended up in the hospital. Later, I was also hospitalized for self-harm. I used self-harm to shift my inner pain to physical pain. It only worked for a bit, and then it disappeared quickly. The need for more relief got greater and I repeated the cycle over and over again. I went to a few facilities to help me through this, but they didn’t seem to work for me. I went back to the same patterns. My mom heard about Mercy through my sister-in-law. I almost didn’t go because I was scared but I am so glad I did. I had high hopes that Mercy would be my salvation to stop my destructive patterns.
When I got to Mercy, I remember being nervous but excited to get started on my healing. The first month was hard and I even wanted to go home a few times, but I pushed through. I have learned a lot through my time at Mercy. The most powerful thing I learned is to replace the lie the enemy says about you with the truth using God’s Word.
While at Mercy, I learned that I have so much more life in me and that God has a plan, and He needs me on this earth to do it. I also learned that God is the true healer. Not self-harm, not people, and definitely not the enemy. I have been through some mental hospitals and none of them seemed to work. But since I came to Mercy, I figured out what I was missing: God. He is the reason I found true freedom and healing. Earthly things could not help me, but the true power of God did. Even though I know I will struggle, I now have the tools I learned at Mercy and my heavenly Father to be there whenever I need them.
After Mercy, I plan to go to college. I want to get a degree in Criminal Justice. I have always had a passion to help others and make this world a better place. I would love to share what God has done for me and share about Him with others. Hopefully, I will impact the people I tell my story to because I think my story can be an inspiration to many.
Thank you so much to all the donors! It wouldn’t be possible to have Mercy without your generosity. If not for you, I wouldn’t have gotten the healing I so desperately needed.