A skyrocketing 105-degree fever and an equally spiking shame made Larrikay Mahoney pray that God wouldn’t let her die.
Her older boyfriend had constantly pressured her, a virgin, for sex. On her 17th birthday, about a year into their relationship, she gave in. Three months later, she was terrified to learn that she was pregnant.
“Because of my (conservative) background, and because that I grew up in church, I never ever thought I would consider an abortion,” she said. “But the thought of telling my mom and dad was so difficult.”
So she went through with it — and fought its traumatic after-effects for years, thinking that God could never possibly love her after her decision.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
But today, she is emotionally healed, forgiven and free after the help of the Columbus-based, Christian-oriented Clarity and one of its Bible study restoration outreaches. She still remembers one line a leader told her, still heavily guilt-laden at the time, during the program.
“She told me to get off the Cross — that Christ already had gone there for me,” Mahoney said.
Hearts Restored
Mahoney’s story, marked by early childhood molestation that marred her identity and self worth for years, was among the dramatic and emotional elements of Clarity’s recent area fundraising banquets before an estimated 1,600 people. The gatherings are especially important for the nonprofit’s work since money raised at the dinners constitutes 33% in sponsorships and cash of the Christian agency’s $1.4 million annual budget, according to organizers.
Part of this year’s event focus was on the ministry’s Hearts Restored program under the theme “Hope Realized.”
Through Hearts Restored, Clarity offers support groups for both men and women who have experienced abortion or sexual abuse. Men and women meet separately with a small group or one-on-one, and process the emotions like shame, anger, regret, fear or depression that often come after these experiences.
Tim Bond, Clarity’s executive director, mentioned that the agency’s leaders have learned through the years that its work had to include more than teaching about the sacredness of an unborn child’s life. It had to include the preciousness of ALL human life, especially since those who have been abused often view their life as worthless, even amid a pregnancy.
“We recognized that often the women and men coming to us didn’t truly understand their own value enough to value their children,” Bond said at the year’s first fundraising banquet at The Commons. “They had often been involved in destructive activities that devalued and diminished their own lives. Their unhealthy choices often came on the heels of abuse and neglect they had experienced from others.
“What we noticed is that often hurting individuals, reeling from terrible experiences in their past make the devastating decision to abort their baby. In so doing, they harm themselves even further.”
Bond, like every other speaker at the gathering, emphasized grace and healing for those who have suffered abuse and trauma.
“We serve a God whose compassion never fails,” he said.
Wounds and the light
The Rev. Mark Teike, pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Columbus, told the painful story of a man he had lunch with recently. The man told of how his own mother molested him age 14 — and how the shame and anger and low self-esteem still plague him today, more than 60 years later. Teike told the audience he had the man’s permission to share his experience while keeping his identity private.
The man’s emotional memory of the abuse “is still very raw,” as the pastor put it.
Teike looked out at an audience filled with clergy and other ministry staffers.
“We need to encourage our people to find a way to bring these very painful wounds into the light,” Teike said.
Others such as licensed mental health counselor Dana Bowling, a counseling adviser to Hearts Restored, talked of the need to bring sobering statistics to light — such as the fact that one in six boys has experienced at least one form of sexual abuse by age 18, according to the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse. For girls, the figure is one in three by that age.
By the age of 45, one of every three women have had an abortion.
“For every woman and man who steps out of the darkness and shares their story, we know that there are many other people filled with brokenness, with loss, and pain,” Bowling said. “Our families, our communities are filled with people who are suffering. But no one’s talking about it.”
Bowling asked people to look at the ceramic bowl centerpieces on each table. They were made by Hearts Restored program participants. It was clear the bowls that had been broken in various spots and then restored via the Japanese art form of kintsugi, literally meaning golden repair.
“So,” Bowling said, “these bowls represent the wholeness each woman and man is able to experience through the help of Hearts Restored.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About Clarity” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Services: Ranges from sexuality education to pregnancy testing and counseling, emotional and spiritual restoration programs and more.
Areas served: Columbus, Greensburg, Nashville, North Vernon, Seymour and Shelbyville.
Clients: Served without regard to age, race, income, nationality, religious affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other arbitrary circumstances.
How you can support the Christian outreach: The donate button at claritycares.org
[sc:pullout-text-end]
