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Hi I'm Victor, a male survivor of sexual, emotional, physical, verbal and spiritual abuse. My physical birthday, and spiritual new birthday are the same day - So I'm 47 years old and I've been a Christian 24 years. The call from God to be a pastor came soon after my new birth, & I have been a local church pastor for about 20 years. In Bible college I met my wife, a wonderful & supportive Christian woman. We have been married 23 years - and we have two daughters, both Christians, in college. We live in North Carolina, USA, where I serve as a part-time pastor, on medical incapacity leave through my church - to give me time for recovery. The support of my family and church is much appreciated. |
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The abuses I suffered throughout my childhood and beyond have resulted in my having to survive & struggle with things like Complex PTSD; depression; OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder); dissociative disorders; panic attacks; flashbacks & body memories of the abuse; and chronic pain which expresses the abuse. While I had 14 years of Christian counselling therapy, as well as psychiatric care & medications, I've really only been in recovery since starting to have flashbacks that brought back my abuse memories a little over 2 years ago. |
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Since I live in a rather out of the way area, and am relatively incapacitated - it is hard for me to find, much less get to - real life support groups ... So I'm really grateful to have found CS on the web, and I'm glad to be able to be active, and help where I can here. My vision is for ministry and advocacy with survivors, especially in & through the Church - including hopefully writing some books & articles that will be helpful to survivors and to churches. My desire is to move more & more from just survivor - to thriver; becoming whole & healthy as who I really am, and am meant to be - in God's image. |
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