Source Ministries International

Q & A

SEXUAL ABUSE

Dr. Lewis Gregory

Q. As a teenager, I was the victim of sexual abuse by a minister. The church and denominational leaders did not deal with it correctly, so it was never resolved. It is still very painful to me.  My faith in God has been greatly inhibited and my self-image has been damaged. I believe something must be done to rectify this atrocity in our churches. Anything you can do to address this situation would be greatly appreciated.

A. I am so sorry that you were abused by a trusted leader in the church.  It saddens me very deeply to hear how this hellish experience has marred your Faith.  But what you have described that was presented to you, by so-called “ministers” is not true faith, but religious manipulation, distortion and guilt motivation.

I am very sympathetic and understanding of what you are telling me.  Satan is the deceiver who takes the TRUTH and corrupts and perverts it.  Then he uses it against us.  Of course he uses other people to get to us.  Satan does appear as an angel of light to deceive, as he tried to do with our Lord when he used Scripture to tempt Him.  And yet these same scriptural words of God, in their proper context, when spoken in LOVE can and will bring healing.  I know, because God used them in my life!  I have shared these truths with many who have been abused over the years and our loving Lord has used them to bring healing and restoration.  This is the grace of God at work.  What a precious opportunity we have been granted as ministers of reconciliation!

Take comfort in the fact that you are on the road to recovery.  From what you said I sense that you genuinely desire to be made whole.  Good for you!  Please don’t let anything deter you.  Give me a call sometime.  I mentioned your plight to another victim of child abuse with whom I have ministered named Gary Brown.  Gary requested I pass this on to you.

“My name is Gary Brown. Like you, I was abused sexually.  It was not by a minister, but a neighbor…I was nine years old.  For 20 years I walked in a fog of confusion and darkness.  Personal relationships were very difficult for me.  Like you, I found no help in my beliefs about God.  As a matter of fact, all I got was hurt and rejection from the ‘People of God.’

Now get this…I have been a pastor for over 29 years.  Can you believe it?  I am a pastor and yet when I tried to get help from the church all I got was ridicule and rejection. I was on my last “belief in God” leg, when in desperation I went to a pastor’s conference to “pray” about leaving not only the ministry, but also faith in God completely.  How could people who claim to know God treat someone (me) so rudely? I had always heard that Christians shoot their wounded, now I was experiencing that “shooting” myself. It was there that I heard of Dr. Lewis Gregory’s ministry.

When I got home, I looked him up.  At first we just visited and shared over lunch.  I wasn’t an easy nut to crack!  My bitterness had grown so much that I was literally numb to the touch both physically and emotionally.  I finally became a client of Dr. Gregory.  As a result of the healing power of God in me, I no longer walk in darkness and I no longer have my hatred of the church.  Since then Lewis has become a close personal friend.

It took me four years of counseling with Dr. Gregory before I could trust anybody, much less God and Christians, but learn to trust is what I have learned to do.  I would say trust “again,” but to be honest, up until that time I had never truly trusted God before.

I think I understand your intentions in warning people about the bad apples.  Personally as a result of what I have gone through, I am now committed to helping protect people from sexual predators of all kinds.  My primary way of doing this is my abstinence work with youth.  I have become known across America as the nation’s abstinence pastor. God has truly blessed me.  Now, He uses the deep hurt caused by my past abuse as an example of His healing power.  As a result, 1,000’s of people have been set free.”

Gary Brown, Pastor

The sexual abuse of Children/Teens is a growing problem worldwide. We see reports of it almost daily in the news.  It is a blight on society.  In Matthew 18:2-7 Jesus spoke very strongly about God’s view regarding the mistreatment of children. Please make this gross atrocity a matter of prayer!