That is what we have on our Christmas wish list here at Mercy Ministries of Canada. It is a great-big-audacious-over the top goal, but we know that
“What is impossible with man is possible with God”
Felicity needed the time to get on the road to transformation
…and we know only too well what each of those days would mean to a hurting young woman. Every day spent at Mercy Ministries brings a troubled young woman closer to transformation - just like they did for Felicity, our most recent graduate.
Felicity had grown up in Ontario, with loving parents in a Christian home, but after some trauma at a young age she began to believe that she was “worthless, stupid, boring and unlovable”
“In high school I began doing anything to stay in the popular crowd: drinking, sex, drugs, fooling around with girls, whatever it took to make other people like me and to numb the pain of hating myself at the same time.”
After years of rebellion and depression Felicity finally realized she needed help and applied to come to the Mercy Ministries home in British Columbia. Each day Felicity spent at Mercy Ministries moved her forward along the road to transformation:
“I took a step of faith and flew five and a half hours alone to Mercy. When I got here I realized just how difficult this was all going to be. I really wanted help but I didn’t know if I could face my problems head on so far away from anything familiar to me, but that’s where I found God. I finally realized I cant do anything and I don’t have to, God wanted to help me! So I decided to stay no matter how scared I was and to trust God again little by little.
At first I didn’t trust anyone here. I didn’t trust the staff because I had so many professing Christian people in my life lie to me and let me down, but God softened my heart. I began to feel the love from the staff here, God showed me that they really were here because they wanted to help me and love me back to God. Once I trusted them I became like a sponge, trying to learn all I could and apply it to my life.
One day here, a scripture I had heard many times before finally impacted me , I applied it to myself and realized… I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, oh my gosh! I am made in the image of God , I’m the head and not the tail, there is no way if I am created in his image that I am worthless or boring, I am a favored child of God! I began discovering my new identity in Christ, forgiving and cutting off soul ties. I revisited the dreams in my heart like moving to England – because of my heart for British people and my ancestry – pursuing cosmetology, competing with my horse and also new dreams he had placed in my heart, like one day helping girls who had been in the same dark place I had been and speaking to them about God’s love and their worth in Christ.
After slowly rediscovering who God created me to be and letting him in to do what he needed to do, the fear just left, my depression lifted and the feelings of being dirty and guilty were gone, I was redeemed! The love and acceptance of God changed everything.”
Every one of the days Felicity spent at Mercy Ministries made a difference! Young women like Felicity – who come to Mercy needing time to work through their difficulties – spend about 200 days in our free of charge program. Each of those days costs $165 and every day of Mercy is chock full of God’s word, Biblical counseling, loving support, prayer, challenge, nutrition education, food, shelter, medical support, hope and love!
2000 days of Mercy would provide the funds to take 10 young women through our entire program of restoration and hope!
So how many days of Mercy can you give? You could not give a more important gift to a hurting young woman this season. Just ask Felicity. This year her Christmas will be filled with hope.
“Thank you for creating a safe place for me to come and walk this journey out with God … God has truly restored me and redirected the entire course of my life through Mercy Ministries and I will never be the same!”
Click here to make a donation today.
by Marnie Titus
“Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
1 Corinthians 12: 15-19
Marnie with Mercy Ministries’ Board member Andrea Ross
It was a snowy February evening and my first Saturday night shift at Mercy. After spending a few hours with the girls, praying with them, and saying goodnight, I remember lying in bed watching the snow falling outside my window and wondering how I had been so fortunate to be working at Mercy. Only five years earlier, I had heard about Mercy Ministries and felt a need to be involved; now, here I was, half a decade later as its newest employee.
During the next few weeks at Mercy, I met all the staff members, observed many of their interactions with the girls, and soon began comparing myself with the other staff and thinking that, in order to work here, I needed to be just like them.
I lost sight of the fact that God had chosen me to work here and He didn’t need me to be someone else. He needed me to simply be me and offer what makes me unique to His work at Mercy. God has made each one of us unique and the value of each individual member of our team at Mercy, or any Christian anywhere in life, comes out when we confidently live our lives as God created us to be. Are we perfect? Not by any means. Can we learn and grow from one another? Yes, of course. However, in trying to be someone else, the world misses out on you and the abilities with which God has gifted you.
Today I understand that I am part of an incredibly gifted and unique team that God has knit together for His work. We are all valuable to and important in the plan God has for each of the girls’ lives at Mercy. Our different individual abilities and gifts are the strength of our team as a unit.
I love knowing that another staff member may be able to describe something to a girl, in a way that I could not, so that she understands God’s heart towards her… and that God could use me specifically to reach one of the girls as well. One person is no better than another, but rather each person is placed perfectly by God to do His will. We are many individual members working together as one body both here at Mercy and throughout the world.
Each individual part of the body works with the other parts to make the whole work. We all have individual strengths and weaknesses but together we are stronger and more able to pursue God’s calling. The body of Christ is truly an example of how a whole can be much greater than the sum of its parts.
Recently we received an email from a supporter that left us so amazed at how God works, that we just had to share it with you!
One of Nancy Alcorn’s favorite scriptures is “give and it will be given to you,” that is why Mercy Ministries is committed to giving 10% of every dollar raised to other ministries. Yet even we were surprised by the testimony from one of our Treasure Builders who’s transformation came, not from coming to Mercy Ministries but by giving! The Lord never ceases to amaze us.
“I am writing to share with you how my donation to help these MERCY girls has actually transformed MY life. When I started my $100 monthly donation I chose Mercy because I was struggling with an addiction to cocaine. I felt alone, hopeless, helpless and that God had left me. This went on for two years. I saw my life slipping away. I had even become friends with a good dealer and he would bring sandwich bags full, for free- almost daily.
But God never left me – He started taking people away from me so He could be near me. At one point, my dealer went on vacation and I had a hard time getting my hands on drugs. I started getting horrible withdrawals and felt like I was going to die. I thought the craving would never leave. When I was in withdrawal, I would take all kinds of prescription drugs (anxiety pills, sleeping pills…) I don’t know how I woke up, I tried so hard to take as much as possible so I wouldn’t wake up. My behaviour got very strange. I was very paranoid and my mom thought I was becoming mentally ill.
Reading Nancy Alcorn’s book gave Amery hope
After I started making my donations to Mercy Ministries, I went from not leaving my room, not eating, to being around people and my family, watching movies in a common area. I turned my $300-$500 a day habit to $180, down to $120 and now NOTHING. I read two of Nancy Alcorn’s books: “Mercy Moves Mountains” gave me hope that God can restore the worst of the worst. He never lets go no matter how far gone we are and we are meant to share our stories to give others hope. Reading “Echoes of Mercy” about how Nancy was saved and Mercy Ministries was started; her character and integrity became an example to me.
NOW, I have no craving or desire AT ALL for cocaine (THAT IS 100% GOD). I actually got violently ill the last time I drank and threw up when I smoked. God is a good God! I never thought I could escape any of these TEMPORARY highs. Now I wake up to a new career that I love. I know I get favour at work because I give. I was unemployed for 8 months but somehow always made my donation. Please tell these girls that I love them and I pray for them. They were strong for me when I couldn’t be; I am strong for them when they can’t fight anymore. Don’t ever think God is ignoring you; He is just getting people and things in place.
I want people to know they can come out of the pit bigger & better than before. If my past touches one life or brings change- I know God uses everything for good! My decisions nearly destroyed me but His grace is sufficient!
Love Always,
Amery”
“He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. (psalm 107: 14 – 16)”
Last Sunday, under sunny skies and a cool breeze, board, staff, supporters and graduates of Mercy Ministries gathered to celebrate and thank God for everything that He has done over the last year. After enjoying delicious barbequed delicacies and cool drinks, supporters settled in to hear ministry updates from Executive Director Nicola Bartel.
Supporters enjoy a delicious barbecue and each other’s company
Of course the biggest reasons to celebrate are the lives that have been transformed and the hope that has been restored, to broken lives. 8 young women rededicated their lives to God and 7 were water baptized in the last year alone. Graduates (one who came from Edmonton for the occasion!) and current residents stood to applause for their courage.
Graduates and residents look on in support as Jenn shares her story
2012 graduate Jenn DuLong shared her moving story of freedom, from sexual promiscuity, and an eating disorder through the counseling, care and biblical teaching at Mercy Ministries. Then she told of a miracle God performed in her life as part of her journey, just as she was beginning to blossom within the security of the Mercy home:
“At 17, I had started having severe panic attacks, and I developed obsessive-compulsive disorder. I was so afraid of germs that I would wash my hands until they would literally bleed; I would never touch doorknobs; I would never shake hands; and if someone at my mother’s house got sick I would go stay with my dad for a couple of weeks until the sickness was out of the house. When I first came to Mercy I had to wear gloves in order to participate in meals and wouldn’t shake hands.”
The Christmas after I came to Mercy Ministries, someone anonymously donated a plane ticket to me so I could visit my family in Nova Scotia for Christmas – I don’t know who they are but thank you if you’re here. At first, I was really concerned about being away from Mercy; however, God surprised me with a very special Christmas present. While I was home, God randomly took away my obsessive-compulsive disorder. Out of no where, I was able to eat without washing my hands, shake others’ hands, and take communion for the first time in over 10 years! I was initially in shock; all I could do was cry and worship God for the two weeks I was home. Imagine Mercy staff surprise when I came back after Christmas and had a bite of an apple without washing it!”
“The fact that this happened while Jenn was away from the Mercy home is a reminder that, it is God who does the work, not us.”said Nicola after the testimony that followed her report to supporters. Nicola reported on the many ways God had provided and worked through Mercy Ministries since the first anniversary celebration last August. Some of the highlights include:
Nicola Bartel Shares highlights from the last year of ministry
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (psalm 11:25)
Thank you for the refreshing you’ve brought into the lives of young women who need Mercy!
Anne Marie with Mercy Ministries founder Nancy Alcorn at the gala celebrating the opening of the first Canadian home.
This month’s advocate on the move, Ann Marie Davison, is one of the most inspirational advocates for Mercy Ministries of Canada.
Since she first heard about Mercy Ministries and decided she wanted to be a part of the ministry, she and her husband Mark have never wavered in actively supporting the ministry. Together, they have given time, money, talents, and prayers to see young women’s lives transformed.
Ann Marie had heard about Mercy Ministries before the vision had been cast to build a home in Canada, and her determined prayers and active work helped us realize the dream of completing the first Canadian home in Surrey.
This is how she explains the incredible journey:
“I first saw Nancy Alcorn on TV on the Life Today program in April 2000. I was incredibly impressed with her integrity and the quality of Mercy Ministries, and I wanted to be part of it. I emailed Mercy Ministries that very day to ask if I could support the ministry in Canada, and they replied that Mercy Ministries was not a registered charity in Canada. So I asked God to bring Mercy to Canada.
I’m sure many other Canadians said that prayer after seeing that program with Nancy. A few years later, I saw on John and Helen Burns’ TV show that Nancy was coming to the Life Women Conference. I registered, believing I would get to meet Nancy. At the Conference, Nancy shared her story and testimonies of Mercy grads. I was completely committed to becoming a Mercy supporter. I signed up to be a Treasure Builder the first night it was announced that Mercy would be coming to Canada. I was overjoyed when I heard about the Mercy Advocate program because it gave me a way of supporting Mercy Ministries other than just financially. I was blessed to receive training as part of the first group of Mercy Advocates, and later to participate as a trainer myself.”
Anne Marie takes registration at Run for Mercy 2012.
Since taking that training as an advocate of Mercy Ministries, Ann Marie has served tirelessly to spread the word about Mercy Ministries serving at over 40 events in the last seven years alone! She has used her gift of connecting with people to help bring healing and hope to hurting young women, and she has been blessed in return for her commitment.
“I most enjoy knowing that I’m serving God in a place He wants me to be. All of the Advocates are wonderful to spend time with. I’ve attended events as an Advocate that have blessed my life. Talking is something I’m good at, and I just love telling people about how wonderful Mercy Ministries is.
Mercy Ministries brings freedom, not just recovery, because it is based on biblical principles.
Two verses that jump to mind are when I think about Mercy Ministries are:
Ann Marie with her husband Mark
Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)”
and John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. (NLT)”.
Thank you, Mark and Ann Marie!
The entire team at Mercy Ministries of Canada honours you!
By Nancy Alcorn
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He proclaimed what was written about Himself in Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1 KJV)
When people hear about trouble youths, runaways, teen drug users, and victims of physical and sexual abuse, they commonly assume that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of them and restore their lives. Even Christians sometimes overlook their biblical responsibility, leaving it up to the government.
The state cannot bring restoration to broken lives – it is not equipped for the task. The reason is simple: God has not anointed the government to “bind up the brokenhearted” or to “proclaim liberty to the captives.” He has anointed the church. We are to set them free.
Though my five years at the correctional facility gave me invaluable experience, they were also extremely frustrating years for me. One of the most significant lessons I learned was what not to do to help troubled girls.
Many of these girls thought God did not love them because of all the horrible things they had experienced. They needed to know that Satan, the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), was at work. He was the one bringing death and destruction to them, but Jesus came so we could have real life, abundant life. First John 3:8 says: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
Only by Jesus, the name that is above every name, can the works of the devil be destroyed in the lives of people.
The system wasn’t working. I did not feel I was contributing to any real improvement in the girls’ lives. I had had a heavy dose of the government’s way of dealing with all these problems – the results were disappointing.
I thought I might make a greater impact and see better results if I worked with a younger age group. Thus, I asked for and received a transfer out of Corrections and into the State Department of Human Services, working with children suffering from neglect and abuse. I felt that it might be possible to intervene in the lives of these children before they reached the point of being committed to a correctional facility. I hoped to become involved and see lives restored, but I was headed for even more frustration.
For the first year, I supervised foster care placements in the Nashville area. Then I had an opportunity for more challenging work with the Emergency Child Protective Services Unit. I was on call twenty-four hours a day, investigating charges of child abuse and neglect. Often my work would take me on a case with an investigative unit to a dangerous part of the city at any hour of the night.
…
I had many experiences with degraded and broken lives. Such incidents caused me to feel the same frustration I had felt at the girls’ correctional facility. I deeply desired to see the broken lives of those I was dealing with restored to wholeness. Instead, I saw children being brought up in horrible situations with no hope of a new start in life. I saw cases of four-and-five-year-olds who were sexually molested by adults. It was heart wrenching.
The first five years of my state work, I was given an in-depth look at the teenage products of abuse, abandonment, neglect, and broken homes. The following three years, I was given an inside look at what small children experience growing up in abuse situations. God was showing me the whole picture – a sad picture – one that I will never forget.
As I reflected on the course my life had taken and my eight years of service with the State of Tennessee, I realized that God had purposely shown me the futility of trying to bring restoration to hurting humanity apart from the delivering power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Looking back on it all, I now see that it was part of God’s plan for me to know and understand that secular programs and secular treatment centres cannot produce lasting changes in the lives of people. They cannot forgive sin. They cannot heal broken hearts. They cannot restore shattered lives.
It was necessary for me to live out those eight years, regardless of the frustration, so that I would not be tempted to look to the wisdom of the world when I came up against difficult cases.
First Corinthians 1:19-20 states:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (NIV)
No matter how many academic degrees a person may have, the real power to change a life is in the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Although I was one of those people with degrees, I longed for the freedom to teach what I had learned in God’s school. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, God was listening to the cry of my heart.
(excerpted from pages 30-37 in Echoes of Mercy by Nancy Alcorn, founder and president of Mercy Ministries International. All material is copyrighted. You may purchase a copy of Echoes of Mercy here.)
