Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1294

Tonight's special guest is Charlie Tinsley from Harrisonburg, Virginia, a returning NAASCA family member who's a child abuse survivor and Seminary student heading into ministry. Charlie's parents divorced when he was 2 years old. "I was taken in by my father and stepmother as my mother was deemed unfit to be a parent. What happened for the next 17 years of my life was quite traumatic. My father and stepmother had three other children which my stepmother always used to remind me that I was not her child and I was the child of a deadbeat." He did poorly in high school but escaped the family when he unsuccessfully tried to join the military. Migraines were his downfall. Things began to turn around when he got a BS in Religion, graduating Summa Cum Laude. "I am a Seminary student at Eastern Mennonite Seminary studying for a Masters in Divinity and on track to become a Licensed United Methodist preacher. I am married to a woman whose family took me in when I left my home and have been married for several years following many years of dating." He writes a BLOG on Theology, Book and Bible Reviews, and Bible Study. "Now, I am a survivor," he says. "That means I made it out of a hostile and abusive environment and have a story and experience to share so I can help others. Being a male makes this even more important, because men are reluctant to share their experiences with abuse, inadequacy, depression, and suicide." Recently Charlie has been studying the roles of faith in trauma, the ways trauma affects children into adulthood, and the anger that is pronounced in the lives of survivors serving as a role of invitation for grieving in appropriate ways.