Before the age of seven I was molested by a man who served as an elder with my father. My parents have never accepted that this really happened to me. As a young woman, in the early70s, I went forward asking my church for prayers as I found it necessary to divorce my husband after he had beaten me into an abortion. The elders told me they wouldn’t say I shouldn’t get the divorce because there was adultery on his part as well, however; they would prefer that I find a different church home as they wanted him to have a place to come when he became repentant.
God is so very good. I now work with a ministry that reaches out to women who have been abused. We look at the barrier such abuse places between the hurt person and God. We also work with churches to bring awareness of the ways congregations can minister to the hurting.
Wow, my heart is sad for you. That must have been pretty traumatic. It is good to see that you are doing well and God continues to bless you.
For those reading this a tragedy here is that the church did not "respond to the needs of the afflicted." So often we worry about helping the oppressor (in case or if they may repent) rather than the victim. Maybe it shows our fear and desire to make the bully like us--rather than protecting the ones hurt by him.
2 comments:
Before the age of seven I was molested by a man who served as an elder with my father. My parents have never accepted that this really happened to me. As a young woman, in the early70s, I went forward asking my church for prayers as I found it necessary to divorce my husband after he had beaten me into an abortion. The elders told me they wouldn’t say I shouldn’t get the divorce because there was adultery on his part as well, however; they would prefer that I find a different church home as they wanted him to have a place to come when he became repentant.
God is so very good. I now work with a ministry that reaches out to women who have been abused. We look at the barrier such abuse places between the hurt person and God. We also work with churches to bring awareness of the ways congregations can minister to the hurting.
Wow, my heart is sad for you. That must have been pretty traumatic. It is good to see that you are doing well and God continues to bless you.
For those reading this a tragedy here is that the church did not "respond to the needs of the afflicted." So often we worry about helping the oppressor (in case or if they may repent) rather than the victim. Maybe it shows our fear and desire to make the bully like us--rather than protecting the ones hurt by him.
Thanks for sharing this story.
Post a Comment