When my son was 16 months old, I woke up in the middle of the night and found myself on my knees crying and praying

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘When my son was 16 months old, I woke up in the middle of the night and found myself on my knees crying and praying. I realised that I had to leave my marriage, which was full of domestic violence, or my son would be killed. We escaped shortly after that and were in a refuge.

‘I spent a lot of time talking to a lady who told me about God’s love. That was a big part of my recovery, understanding that I’m God’s daughter. She gave me lots of verses from the Bible that I keep on the walls. One is Jeremiah 29.11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 

‘The bit about “not to harm you” really spoke to me. I realised that I didn’t have to be hurt. I had become so conditioned that I thought I deserved the beatings. I had been called every swear word under the sun. There was a lot of rape involved. It was very disturbing. I had a gun held to my head. We were in police protection for a while.

‘The church helped save me. I have been able to change. Now I invite people to church, everyday people like me. My friend came. She had been in prison for running a brothel. I have this habit of bringing in people to church, all the rough people. It’s amazing.

‘I’ve had a hard time, but his plan for me was always to show people how Christ can be in your life. Now I can reach out to people and bring them into church.’

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