Wiping Away a Dark Secret
How Two Girls Were Rescued From Their Father’s Abuse
Dear Family,
As she told her story, Keziah laid her head on the table and wept. The long silences were labored; tears fell, leaving pools that dripped to the floor. A few words would be softly uttered, followed by another long silence.
Keziah was only nine years old when she was first raped by her drunken father, and recounting the story aloud was like reliving a nightmare.
Keziah’s world should have been filled with simple math facts and playing games with friends, but instead of a carefree childhood, she and her sister Colleen lived in their father’s prison of shame and fear. Their mother had gone to Kuwait to earn money while they stayed with him in the Philippines, unprotected from his drunken rages. They watched helplessly as he gambled their mom’s hard-earned money away.
During a phone call with their mom, it all came tumbling out—the secret they’d carried for so long. Their mother’s tears were like rivulets of bitter acid burning her cheeks as they streaked down her face. She now knew that her own nightmare of sexual abuse had been repeated —that her little girls had suffered the same fate.
Once the truth about their dad was out, things changed quickly. He was arrested and put in jail, and they were sent to their grandmother’s home as a temporary shelter. Shortly thereafter, our partner welcomed these two sisters into their home for girls in similar situations. They are now being discipled in an atmosphere of safety and love.
“This is a home God prepared for us,” Keziah said. Words of truth, spoken with a heart of gratefulness!
Colleen and Keziah ( on the right) at our partner’s safe home in the Philippines.
We loved the atmosphere of this safe home when we visited this past February. It is filled with young lives in the midst of new beginnings
All of these precious girls have come to this home with a government case of sexual abuse
Fear no longer strangles the hearts of little girls, because peace has taken its place. Thank you for making this possible!
For the “least of these,”
Burt and Patty Forney
Directors, Victims of Sexual Violence Ministry
