~Day 1~

Triumphing Amidst Adversity

Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Weeks before my first year of high school began, my family moved from Canton, Ohio, to Los Angeles, California. It was quite a culture shock, but I adapted to the new environment quickly. While in my last year and a half of high school, I worked at a local Burger King in the Los Angeles area. In October of my senior year, I had my 17th birthday, and ten days later my father had a fatal heart attack while watering the lawn. I was extremely close to my father, and this was a difficult time for me and my entire family.

Two months later, on a Saturday evening, I worked the evening shift at Burger King. It appeared as though it was just another Saturday evening, but in a short time, life happened, and everything changed. I had a disagreement with a co-worker, and after things cooled down, even though it was pretty late that evening, I decided to take a walk to a local convenience store. There were two in the neighborhood, and I decided to walk to the store located on the main street, thinking it would be safer. I was less than a block away from the store, and I noticed a man in a trench coat walking toward me. As he approached me, he walked directly in front of me, so I stepped to the left, thinking he would walk by me. Instead, he stepped to the left. I immediately stepped to the right and so did he. At that point, he pulled out a gun. For a brief moment, I looked at the gun, and then I looked out into the busy street, contemplating if I should run into the street and risk being hit by the passing cars and possibly shot. Then he grabbed me by the arm and forced me down the street to a parked car.

While we walked back to the car, I attempted to get someone’s attention.
In my mind, I felt that someone should notice that something was wrong with this picture, but not one person noticed. When we arrived at the car, to my surprise there were two other guys in the car. I thought, Wow, this really is not good. I was placed in the car, and I immediately checked out the demeanor of the guys in the car. I must say, they seemed to be somewhat clean-cut, not like the guy in the trench coat. After I was placed in the car, I was taken to a relatively close but remote place where I was raped by the guy in the trench coat. The other two guys were in the front seat and appeared as though they didn’t want to get involved, but the guy wearing the trench coat coerced them to participate, and they raped me as well.

During the entire time, I was afraid, helpless and I didn’t know if I was
going to make it out of this ordeal alive. When this horrible nightmare was over, to my surprise, they drove me back to a parking lot near Burger King. As they let me out of the car, the guy in the trench coat said, “If you turn around, I’ll kill you.” Even though I was dazed and traumatized, I immediately thought, If you were going to kill me, you would have done that already. But, I kept walking, and I did not turn around. Later that evening, I was taken to the ER, but Monday morning, I was back at school as if nothing had transpired over the weekend. Every day, I traveled down the same street that I was abducted on in order to get to school. I must say, initially I was extremely fearful, and thoughts that the perpetrator might find and attack me again flooded my mind.

The interesting twist to my story is that a few years after this event, I saw a therapist, who helped as I began my journey to being healed; but I was also led to attend a church that was located directly across the street from the Burger King, in the same neighborhood that I was violated in. I was a member of West Angeles COGIC from 1985 to 2015, when my husband and I were led to launch our church, Transforming Lives Community Church. My Life has been transformed as a result of sitting under the powerful anointing of Bishop Charles E. Blake. It has been an intentional study and meditation of the Word of God, and much prayer has enabled me to walk in forgiveness, courage, faith, love, freedom, and joy. Never would I have imagined that it would be in the place of my most distressing challenge that I would receive my greatest blessings. It’s our natural inclination to run from or avoid people or places that cause us pain. But the place where you experienced the most pain could
actually be the place of your greatest blessing. For me, it has been.
Even when life happens, the Lord will equip you to triumph in the midst
of adversity.

Declaration: I decree and declare that no weapon formed against me shall
prosper because the Lord is my strong tower and I am safe.