Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2240

Tonight's special guest is Deborah Ling from Sacramento, California, a survivor of child abuse. "During my childhood and into adulthood, I was sexually, physically, mentally, and verbally abused," she says. "I hid behind my 'smiley' good-girl mask, and no one knew what was happening behind the closed doors.” Although Deb does not remember most of her childhood – which is a means of keeping her from losing her mind – she does have memories of a series of abuses starting when she was 2 years old. One of her abusers was her step-grandfather, who also abused Deborah's mother. Deborah says, “My mom was abused but had never faced her abuse, so when I told her on various occasions about being abused, she called me a liar. She was in denial where I was concerned.” Looking for love, she got married at 17 and had a son at 18. That marriage lasted 4 years. Deborah's second marriage, still looking for approval and love, lasted 2 years. Beaten while she was pregnant, she lost her daughter. When she was 32, Deborah was given a workbook to “heal her.” However, having read the workbook 3 times with no healing, Deborah cried out to the Lord. The Lord spoke to her saying, "You have done it man's way, now do it my way." Deborah met with 3 sisters from church every week. Between prayer and scriptures, they walked through her past, with healing as they went. Three months later she was healed. She relates, “I was healed of my past by the Lord, and am now an ex-victim of abuse. The Lord had me document the journey I took, and it became my first book, ‘The Walking Wounded.' Deborah is now a self-published author and currently works with authors as an Author Coach/Editor to help them prepare their work for publication.