Mary's Hope Workshops' Newsletter
THE JOURNEYER February 2008
In This Issue
Fairy Tales Can Come True
Mary's Hope Travels
Yearning for 'HOME'
Hope
Calendar Overview
Spiritual Support Groups
Welcome to our first e-newsletter.  We made the decision to go electronic for many reasons - time, energy, money and ecology.  It takes an enormous outlay of time and energy to get 2,000 copies of a newsletter ready for mailing; USPS mailing is not free;  and our office is commited to being as 'green' as possible.
 
Please let us know if this meets your needs & also email me with any suggestions and ideas for future articles.  deacondi@ecentral.com
 
If you want to send this to a friend, just use the forward button. 
 
Diane Moore           
Mary's Hope 'Kids' FAIRY TALES CAN COME TRUE 
 

            I was volunteering at Mary's Hope one Friday close to Christmas.  Diane's two darling red haired granddaughters were busy playing in the nearby playroom.  They came prancing out, holding a large cloth doll in front of them, and asked me if I had met Becca. 

           I acknowledged that I had (Becca was one of the large dolls used at Mary's Hope Workshops).  They then said, "We are running a home for children who have not been treated nicely and Becca just came." I told Becca (the doll) that she was very lucky to have come to this home, as these girls would be wonderful friends, and because there were lots of other kids to love them.  I asked Becca if she had met Amy, who was a particular friend of mine, and Jesse (other dolls).  The girls told me that Becca had indeed met them.  They then told me that they were all pretending to be fairies.  I asked if they were the kind of fairies that could fly, and they said that they were, and that they were flying off to find other children who were not being loved properly. 

            I found out later that these girls had been pumping their Poppa for information about Mary's Hope.  Clearly, they understood that children who are treated badly need support if they are to grow into healthy individuals. This is the message and gift of Mary's Hope Workshops: adult survivors of profound childhood trauma or abuse, and those who companion the survivors, are offered the awareness and support needed to facilitate the spiritual healing necessary to become healthy individuals.

 

This is one fairy tale that can come true.  

 

by Elaine Oxenbury

 
(Above is a picture of some of the 'kids' who work at the Mary's Hope Workshops;  Becca is in the middle, surrounded by her friends.)

MARY'S HOPE TRAVELED 10,747 MILES IN 2007
 
Sherry and Diane were in 19 venues, given 24 programs and workshops to 654 invididuals in Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas last year.
Girl Mute 
YEARNING FOR 'HOME'
 
I talked with a survivor of profound abuse recently.  She said that she had been in therapy for many years, but there was still something missing - the spiritual aspect.  She said, "After all the therapy, I feel like I am only on third base, and I WANT TO GO HOME!" 
 
As survivors we all yearn for Home - that place where we feel enveloped in the Creator's love and peace - feeling safe and loved.  For most of us psychological therapy was only the beginning of that journey Home.  We need help in knowing how we move from the yearning - to finding our Home.  We have to leave the safety of 'third base' before we can move into the unknown, towards healing. 

 

There is a first step on this journey home; the place of beginning is to give our silent child his or her voice.  The shame of the events of abuse or trauma kept us mute for so long.  When we give the child a voice,  the child can bring his/her spiritual secrets out of the darkness. 

 

Spiritual secrets are rooted in the assumptions we made about  who God was and how the Creator operated when we were children.  These secrets become the place of deepest shame;  a shame that survivors spend their whole lives trying to keep hidden.  The secrets usually involve the belief that when we were abused, that somehow God was implicit or explicit in the events or that the Creator was a silent witness to it or indifferent to what happened. 

 

How do survivors articulate their spiritual secrets?

  • "God wasn't there for me."
  • "I prayed and prayed, where did all my prayers go?" 
  • "If God knows everything, then God knew what would happen!"
  • "I am a mistake of God!" 
  • "I'm bad and God is mad at me!" 
  • "God doesn't care about me!"
Most abuse/trauma survivors have spiritual secrets that have defined their lives. The beginning of spiritual healing is naming the secrets and acknowledging the power of the secrets, thus exposing them to light and thus freeing us from their power. This is the survivor's  first step towards HOME.

           

The Dove 
"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all"
Emily Dickinson
 CALENDAR OVERVIEW
  • February 9, Silent Retreat - Lakewood CO
  • February 24, "Gossamer Winds" Concert, Fundraiser - Centennial CO
  • March 1, Silent Retreat - Centennial CO
  • April 19, Introductory Workshop - Tulsa OK
  • April 26, Introductory Workshop - Sundance WY

For full information about any event please click here.
 
SPIRITUAL SUPPORT GROUPS
 
In the Denver Metro area, there are two support groups for survivors that focus on spiritual aspects of healing. 
  • Beth Rietz is a Lutheran Diaconal candidate, a member of the Mary's Hope Board and can be seen on the latest Mary's Hope DVD.  She is forming a new support group for spiritual healing for survivors of profound childhood abuse.  Beth will determine the best time and place to accomodate the needs of those interested.  Contact Beth @ 303-806-9026 or erietz@iliff.edu. 
"Spiritual Survivors"  - an ongoing support group geared for childhood sexual abuse survivors.  Meets at Spirit of Christ Catholic Church in Arvada.  Call Marie Powell for information:  303-420-1022.