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One of our
precious volunteers, Pam, a survivor of abuse, was
willing to be interviewed about abuse and child abusers.
Please take time to R click on these audio links and save
them in your audio library. Her first passion is to
encourage survivors to believe that there is hope for
radical healing and restoration in Jesus. She also strongly
encourages friends and neighbors who suspect abuse to take
time to report it, even if they do it anonymously. What a
shock it was to her when she found out that all of her
extended family and friends knew she was being abused and
not one reported her abuser over a period of several years!!
The Center for
Sexual Assault reports that 1 out of 4 females and 1 out
of 7 males experience unwanted sexual contact. That means
that in any church or group of people, probably at least 1
out of 6 people have needed or still need healing prayer for
sexual trauma.
In our last
Issue-Focused Workshop, at the end of our session on
prayer for survivors of abuse, a teen voluntarily came
forward and tearfully told how difficult her life had been
as she tried to find safety, self-worth, will power,
initiative, identity, trust, control and comfort during her
years of child abuse. (Her testimony will be shared -
probably in July - with the DVDs of the "Issue-Focused
Workshop 06/01/09".)
What
is the Profile of a Child Abuser?
The news if full of stories
of missing children and accusations about abuse
and I am concerned that we do not panic and begin to
be suspicious of good upstanding men (or women.) On
the other hand, we need to become more aware of the
ploys of the devil to kill, steal and destroy our
children.
Many a man (or woman) has
attached themselves to a family and then their
little children. They may have volunteered to solve
all her childcare problems. It sounded too good to
be true and it was. Sure enough, law enforcement
verified that they were a convicted pedophile. While
I will be the first one to believe that anyone can
be forgiven and restored, they still had no business
trying to spend days alone with anyone's children.
If they had truly repented, they would not have
asked to be trusted with childcare.
How can
we tell if such "helpful generous" people are
grooming children for abuse? How can caring
prayer ministers learn to discern true serving
helpers from perpetrators with a perverted hidden
agenda? We have to ask God to give us spiritual eyes
to see and discern.
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What you do
see:
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Neighbors, teachers, youth
leaders, day care workers, fathers, uncles, brothers
(who maybe respected in the community.)
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What you
don't
see: |
Dark, menacing, evil-looking
people. |
*Sexual
abusers appear as average members of your community,
they are most often the people in your
lives, not the stranger in the bushes.
92% target those they know.
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What you do see:
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A charming, intelligent,
helping person.
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What you don't
see:
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Usually immature, socially
inadequate individuals who seek positions or people
that trust them with access to children.
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*What abusers really seek are non-threatening
situations where they can feel expansive and in
control.
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What you do see:
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A very helpful, giving person
who spends his energy and money to help meet the
needs of our family.
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What you
don't
see:
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A master manipulator who
ingratiates himself to others to trap them.
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*Convicted abusers reveal that single-mother
environments are prime targets, explaining, “I would
always be there for them."
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What you do see:
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A very attentive person who
goes out of his way to spend time with your child,
giving them money or gifts.
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What you don't
see:
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A deliberate, methodical plan
to build trust and break down barriers little by
little. |
"Convicted abusers admit to spending months,
even years
"grooming"
their victims with normal behavior that
progresses to accidental touching (i.e., while
wrestling), gradually seeing how far they can go.
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What you do see:
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A normal-looking, caring
adolescent or adult.
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What you don't see:
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A person who
is (unconsciously ?) motivated to meet selfish needs
through the children. He does not care about the
effects of the abuse on the children. He denies
and/or blames the child if he is caught.
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*Most abusers admit they count on the child's
inability and unwillingness to tell. They convince
themselves the child will not remember or was not
hurt because they are a sexual being and they are
enjoying it.
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Myth: You
can tell an abuser by looking at them.
God is ready to heal the abused
and abuser as well. We stand read to partner with
Him to provide the healing, freedom and restoration
that you need. If you need healing, please
Contact Us.
Copyright Carlotta Waldmann
Cross Walk Life, Inc. 501 (c)(3)
Cross Walk Life, Inc. is here to provide insights, healing,
teaching and training,
so that you can develop a more intimate relationship with
Father God and
have the passion of Christ, to be equipped to fulfill your
God given destiny.
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