Our news media seems to have daily stories of individuals who have been abused by clergy, church leaders, and even church organizations. Countless numbers of formerly faithful people avoid church because they were abused, while others, who are not religious participants, avoid experiencing faith communities because of what they have been hearing in news stories.How do clergy, church leaders, and congregations help in the healing of these abused people and assist them to move beyond the pain of abuse toward healing and even forgiveness?Although the names and places have been changed to protect the innocent, this is the true but tragic story of a Christian man who had been abused by both parents, who were elders in the church, but found enough healing to fight to keep his mother from being abused three decades later.It is a story of a woman who abused her son in response to her own abuse.It is a story of a Christian man, healed from abuse, who chose to be a rescuer instead of an abuser.It is a story of a Christian community uniting in prayer and action to support a son as he helped his mother escape from the evils of sexual abuse.This is a story of a son and his mother who walk out of the wilderness of abuse and into a better, safer, more prosperous place of healing, peace, and forgiveness.

--Rev. Mark William Ennis

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