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We all have heard of someone whose life is so messed up we just shake our heads, thinking there's no hope for them. Vicki Duffy had a life like that, and tried everything to get out of it. It was her last hope - praying to Jesus - that worked.
| Vicki Duffy |
Vicki was born in Pennsylvania in 1968. When Vicki was five, her mother's boyfriend raped her, then threatened to kill her mother and brother and dog if she said anything. When Vicki was 11, she was raped by her own brother, who was thirteen, who convinced her it was her fault. Raped twice by an Uncle at age 19. During those years, she was abused, told she would never amount to anything, and told she was stupid. She felt deeply that indeed there was something wrong with her. She became incredibly insecure and without any self esteem.
By the time she was in her early 20's, she hated men (imagine that!) and led a promiscuous gay lifestyle. She was into drugs and alcohol. She suffered from anorexia and bulemia, and had spent six stints in a mental hospital. But the worst compulsion was self-abuse. She cut herself with razors and burnt herself with cigarettes. The scars, over 250 of them, are still visible. She said "It was something I could control that nobody else could."
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| Scars from self-inflicted cuts visible years later |
She tried to get help, and despite regularly taking 17 psychotheraputic medicines, saw no improvement that lasted for long.
In despiration, she bought a Bible. She opened it and in front of her was a story of a man who constantly screamed and purposefully cut himself, and in Vicki's view, evidently had mental problems. Jesus was able to heal him (see Mark 5).
Mad at Jesus for not healing her, she swore at God and challenged him to prove he was real within three weeks. In those three weeks, she went to a revival meeting with Janny Grein and to a church in Florham Park, New Jersey. She never felt so truly peaceful. She knew it was real. She said that no medication ever made her feel that alert and alive. She made a decision to follow Christ in April 1995.
Within a year and a half, she had stopped all of the cutting and burning. She had stopped taking the medications. She was getting control of the eating. And amazingly, unbelievably, she had forgiven her abusers.
By 1999 she was married to a wonderful Christian man who was able to see past all her past troubles. She now has a son, and is still on the Christian path, openly sharing her story with others who also want to put a horrible past behind them.
Do you have a life situation that you think is impossible to overcome? You know what to try. Rather, Who to try.
See Vicki Duffy's full story in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaCImy92tg0
My commentary: Is God Real? I consider this more evidence.
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