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Way to Recovery
Introduction.
Child abuse has reached the headlines of all the national newspapers. It is in epidemic proportions in this country. In recent months children’s homes, schools, church’s have all fallen victim to this epidemic. There are six types of abuse.
Society and the church are seeing that it is critical to offer help to the wounded souls of abuse victims. For anyone who has experienced it, abuse effects and moulds the rest of your life, regardless of how many years have passed under the bridge, there is always a sense of rejection, shame and confusion. While helping to run a non Christian self help group, I noticed that regardless of what olgy they named it. Mans treatment and pills mainly only covered the wounds. It still left people full of fears and deep hatred, which like a cancer continues to grow and in fact the treatment often left them with many kinds of phobias, depression, low self esteem, fear of man and sometimes a fear of our heavenly father. It is only through knowing the truth and doing what it say’s - you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free (John 8.32) - can an abused person walk free of the devastation and destruction set in motion by abuse. Only Christ can get right down to the root of the problem, and heal you spirit, soul ( which is the mind, will and emotions), and body. If the son (Jesus) sets you free you will be free indeed.(John 8.36). It dosn’t matter whether you’ve been abused or an abuser, or if you know an abused person. I believe what I share with you can be used for a divine purpose in the life of someone you will have an opportunity to share to. This page has a twofold purpose. First, to share a few of my experiences with you to help you understand more about abuse. Abuse produces. Anger. Bitterness. Unforgiveness. Suffering. Evil.Only the cleansing blood of Jesus can eradicate these negative consequences from the life of an abused person. The second and most important purpose of this page is to give you some basic tools that will help you to minister and receive healing in the area of abuse. Initially in our personal relationships with the Lord, we usually come to Him in a time of crisis, for our own needs. But as we progress in our relationship and intimacy with God, we become more interested in the need to share Him with our fellow man in sharing the love of Jesus, through witnessing, ministering and prayer. I believe we finally reach a point where our utmost purpose is to honour God. It is very difficult to gain and maintain a stable relationship with the Lord when haunted by past negative circumstances. Even though born again, often a person goes fishing in the past. Simply "talking out" these experiences isn’t enough, because two, three, even ten years down the line, that person will still be talking about the same things. There must be a point of choosing to move forward and not look back. In Luke 9:62 Jesus was saying we must put our hands to the plough. If a person drives a car forward while looking in the rear view mirror, he will soon meet with disaster. Once we deal with the past, we must be determine to not look back. The memory of the experiences may still be there, but applying God’s Word will take the sting out of those old wounds. The memory of the righteous is blessed ( Prov. 10:7). You must learn that how somebody else treats you does not determine your worth. You are valuable, and any abuse can be conquered. My story will show you how I have been changed. My experiences had once kept me bound up and imprisoned for over thirty years. But I choose to let them be the catalyst that would propel me forward. I have used those experiences as a foundation, a cornerstone on which to build an unwavering, strong, stable faith, and a life which can lead others to that place of freedom. It’s so much more profitable for the survivors of abuse and everyone in their past and present life. Most of all, it is pleasing to the Father who would have all to walk in freedom and in faith.
Child abuse is death in the midst of life or life in the midst of death. A person, by the working of the Holy Spirit, can have the capacity to apply the knowledge of John 8:32 where Jesus said, Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Until then, the abuse continues, even when the abused person is free of his abuser(s), or tormentors. Isaiah 26:13,14 in The Amplified Bible says:
Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us, but we will acknowledge and mention Your name only. They [ the former tyrant masters ] ( I say, "bad memories") are dead,….they are powerless ghosts, they shall not rise and come back. Therefore You have visited and made an end of them, and caused every memorial of them [every trace of their supremacy] to perish. If you’ve been abused, applying this Word in your life is vital. It is a choice, and it is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. You cannot allow yourself the luxury of what the world permit in abuse circumstances. This includes all the things abuse produces: A-Anger, B-Bitterness, U-Unforgiveness, S-Suffering, E-Evil/ Emotional Emptiness. You cannot hold on to self pity, malice and hatred. You can justify all of these emotions, but the price you will pay for harbouring them is to high. Actually by choosing not to forgive, you allow yourself to be possessed by that spirit of abuse. The abuser will still have control over you and can cause further destruction in your life. The ultimate freedom is to conquer the abuse and the abuser by forgetting and letting go. You must choose the peace and freedom of releasing all the past instead of allowing it to consume your entire life. Once you have released the past, you are only robbed of the time you unwillingly spent at the hands of your abusers. But the Lord can erase even that destruction and use it in a positive way. Eight years of healing and preparation have gone by since I was born again, but it wasn’t until the Lord gave me a Word to say to my father, that I was to forgive him. Another year then went by before an opportunity arose for me to visit a sick sister. I stayed at my parents house, it was then that the Lord gave me the courage to calmly and lovingly forgive him, it was like a ton of bricks had been lifted from me. I had done what the Lord had told me to do, regardless of how my father reacted or the excuses he gave to this, I know that moment produced peace in me, and I’m so thankful the Lord Jesus allowed me to be set free. I still pray for him to come into the kingdom. It’s a decision, a choosing. If you’ve been abused, the greatest thing you can do for yourself is to forgive and let go. Don’t let the past swallow up your future. I chose to let the experience that had once kept me bound up and imprisoned, be the catalyst that would propel me on. I used those experiences as a foundation, a cornerstone upon which to build an unwavering, strong, stable faith, and a life which could lead others to that place of freedom. It’s so much more profitable for you and everyone in both your present life and your past. Most of all, it’s pleasing to the Father Who would have you walk in freedom and in truth. Extracts from the Booklet "Ministering Victory Over Abuse" By Cheryl Lynn Harrison House, Inc ISBN 0-89274-682-3 (Now sorely out of print)
My parents lived with my fathers mother in a small three bed roomed terraced house, in the heart of the East London. There was myself, a brother and two sisters in a small box bedroom. My parents and my baby brother had the other bedroom. Back then in the early fifties. We had no bath, running hot water and an out side toilet. My father was a hot tempered lorry driver and would often come home on Friday night, pay day, very drunk and would often last all weekend. My mother was the type of person the would always sweep things under the carpet to keep the peace, she was frightened of my dad. My grandmother lets put it this way, she had her favourites, and I definitely was not one of them. I would always stay out of the house as much as possible, or get to bed before he came home drunk and violent, that was the way of life for all of us. People would often stop my parents and say what a lovely family, but behind all of this lay a hidden secret of physical and sexual abuse of both I and my younger sister. We were threatened not to tell anyone and we didn’t, it was our secret. I was also later to be abused by an uncle. All this went on to the age of about eleven. My mum found out about this, but was to tightened to do anything about it. It was not a thing that was heard or spoken about then in the fifties, we were all fearful that the family which grew to eight by then would be split up in children’s homes. So all was sweep under the carpet again to keep the peace. We often went to Sunday school and scripture union club it was a place we enjoyed going to, It was peaceful and we had a sense of security there, but we still told no one of our secret. As I grew into a teenager I was very shy, full of low self esteem and a loner mixing with very few friends, but things still continued to torment me. Where ever I went, it was as if I carried a label on my head, I was molested by school boys, I would be walking along a road and I was confront by a flashed, this also happened when I started work. On the crowded trains I would always be the one next to a pervert, when would this ever end. At the fourteen I met Les it was love at first sight, I was engaged at fifteen and married at eighteen. We bought a house in Essex which was about as far from my past I could go. The early years were very difficult I would often have flash backs, I found socialising difficult and would not make friends easily. I would regularly reject my husband ,who was now commuting to London, while I worked locally. Things under these circumstances got worse because of my rejection. Les and I grew apart, nether of us, as non Christians could understand why this was happening. I was very depressed and put on medication. I was on the point of a nervous breakdown. While in this state I made a friend at work, she was married and had a child, she seemed so kind and understanding and I confided in her, while all the time she was trying to poison my married for her own motives, that label was still on my head. Les and I after a while came back together, the next few years we had two children and move yet again for a new start. Things went very well and Les built a good business, until his dad died and then the recession happened and we were losing the business, By chance Les phoned a man we have previously done business with. Les spoke with him and was invited to an evening meeting with the promise of a business chat after. They were born again Christians, the thing that hit Les was the warmth and love of the people, something happened at that meeting. He received no prayer, but the Lord had started something in him. Even the children remarked that dad was different. he gave his life to the Lord the following week. I and my two sons also gave your lives to the Lord the following week. Praise God our lives and cares were transformed from that time on. We still had the same problems, but Jesus helped us in every way and thing. As time went on God was dealing with areas of my past and preparing me for the big day, led me to meet with a Christian lady who was blessed with a ministry of healing deep wounds. I was told to fast for three days and to study the Word and listen to a set of audio tapes by Derek Prince ( See my resource list ) at the end of each tape was a prayer to deal with different areas of my life. When we next met and after a short while of prayer, I felt the presence and the peace of Jesus come into the room, He put His arm around me, at that moment I was totally set free from the past. Hallelujah. Six years on God spoke to me about forgiveness, He gave me the words to say and the opportunity to speak and forgive my dad. He may not of acknowledged it, I stepped out in faith and I did and said what the Lord told me too. I also have had two sisters and a brother in law, come to the Lord. My sister who was also abused, has been through a very unhappy time with a marriage break up. But now as a Christian and with the experience that I went through. I can see why her marriage broke up, she is still troubled, but refuses to acknowledge the root cause, locked away deep inside. We have been to many church’s, but I am very sad to say that many refuse or even accept that there is a great need, to minister God’s love and healing to a hurting people. The Church needs to wake up and be a doer of the Word and not just hearers. That's the whole purpose of our salvation, first to love the Lord our God and the next is to love your neighbour as yourself. It is God’s will that we feed, clothe and visit the prisoner. Matthew 25 v37:45. Also if say we are Born Again, filled with the Holy Spirit that created the universe, we are not are own , we have been bought with a price, and God has anointed YOU according to. Isaiah 61 v 1:3 If your Born Again and filled with the holy spirit add your name in, where it says me Isaiah 61 v 1:3 1.The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me ( YOU AS WELL), because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
Because of the effects of God’s mercy and His will for our lives. We have had a strong leading in us to firstly learn how to create this web site, I believe that this to be one of a few Christian resources on the subject in the UK, that it will open the doors, to reach out to the hurts of people and will aid us in starting a Christian refuge, crisis centre and self help group. For anyone regardless of their race, gender or religion. (In the planning stages. And as God provides workers and finances) Also to Network other Christian groups in any other area of work for the Lord. Thank you for taking the time to read through my testimony. I pray that it has been a help and comfort to you, that your eyes too have been opened to see that you to can be set free, and the years that the locusts have eating be restored unto you.
God Bless you and heal you in the Name of Jesus.
If you have never invited Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour, I invite you to do so now. You can pray this prayer, and if you are really sincere about it, you to can experience a new life in Christ.
Father God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son, the Saviour of the world. I believe He died on the cross for me, and He bore all of my sins. He paid the price for my sins. He took the punishment I deserved. I believe Jesus was resurrected from the dead and is now seated at your right hand. I need You, Jesus. Forgive my sins, save me, come to live inside me. I want to be born again.
Find a good church that is teaching God's Word and begin to grow in Christ. Nothing will change in your life without knowledge of God's Word. You are welcome to share your personal requests for prayer. Remember there is no distance in prayer. E-mail Les or Sue at www.prayer@chenan.screaming.net
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