Righteousness Must Reign !!!
Righteousness Must Reign!!!

I pose this question to you? Has the church lost its stand for righteousness and truth? God is the God of righteousness and the God of truth. Do we as the church, the body of Christ exemplify God’s spirits of Righteousness and Truth?

In October of 2008 I was raped by a fellow minister at my local church.  The charge escalated from rape to assault with a deadly weapon because my attacker has AIDS. The case was finally settled July 15th of this year. Unlike most survivors of rape and sexual assault I went public with my story. When I first learned my attacker has AIDS I was very much concerned about other women with whom Tumbwe had sexual encounters. That was my reason for going public. Since then I learned much more about the secret code of silence in churches. Silence allows evil to multiply and prosper. Silence kills souls.

When I was assaulted by Nathaniel Tumbwe that opened a door to a society I would have wished to remain closed. However since God in His infinite wisdom allowed the door not only to open but escorted me through it to a silent world of pain, secrecy and deception I had to continue down this path. This door is the door that reveals the  acts within churches, the hidden, dark, multi faceted sexual sins. Has the church lost its stand for righteousness? I must continue.

The church of God is a wonderful institution full of people who reverence and love God.However when a few men and women in leadership allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life to warp their reasoning and overpower them, and when a few more men and women in leadership choose to ignore or overlook the sexual misconduct of the others, and fail to give proper correction, that gives the perpetrator a license to continue defiling and damaging souls in the congregation.

My case wasn't such.My case was that of a predator disguised as a man of God who deliberately sought out victims of his vile plan, to fulfill his lustful appetite at the same time kill, steal and destroy souls.

Whether it is a called man or woman of God who strayed or a predator lurking within the church the results are the same, destruction of life. It must stop!

Sometimes the trauma caused from the actions of church leadership cuts deeper than the actual assault. From a survivor’s view re-victimization can have the same psychological effects as the actual rape or series of rapes. Many victims of child sexual abuse by clergy that are now adults have the same distant, bewildering and sad look in their eyes. The pain is very visible. Many survivors of clergy abuse cannot walk into a church. These are people who love God and loved their church. But many have left church altogether and will not return. It is too difficult. Where is God in this?

Any assault by church leadership whether it happened on church property or somewhere else is traumatic to the victim. Whether it is a  is pastor, priest, deacon, minister, elder, choir director, school teacher, youth pastor etc the emotional, mental and spiritual damage is tremendous. The victim needs to be embraced not ostracized. The victim needs to be supported not distanced or dismissed. When a victim of clergy abuse leaves their place of worship the church not only looses a member, it looses a family and future generations. 

If the church would ever acknowledge a member was violated, a crime was committed, accept  accountability for errors, oversight or neglect on the churches part and apologize to the victim who was violated by leadership, then so much healing would come to the victims, their families and the congregation. Left unchecked the victim suffers for years, sometimes the rest of their life. Just a little visible Christian love and ministry would make all the difference in the world to survivors. Restoring a broken soul is what Christianity is all about. Yes we so often focus on restoring the criminal. What about the victim? Righteousness, truth and love must be exemplified in our faith communities for all. Victims are dying.

There may be faith establishments in our communities that have a zero tolerance level for sexual abuse and assaults in their church. I want to hear from you.There may be faith establishments that have internal services that minister to the congregation member that has been abused by their church leadership. I want to hear from you. I applaud you for your efforts in correcting a horrible practice that has been hidden within the church for centuries. I applaud you for taking a bold step to right the wrong committed by church leadership.

Now I ask you to do even more. I ask you to stand for righteousness. I ask you to publicly stand against clergy abuse, sexual abuse in the faith community. I ask you to stand for righteousness and truth. Support the victims of sexual atrocities by church leadership. Don't shun them out. Embrace them. Make your voice heard! If you know of persons who are committing  these abuses within the church please don't close your eyes and turn your head. Please do not justify your silence. Speak up and speak out against these crimes.

There is a price to pay for going public. There is a price to pay for standing for righteous and truth. Is it worth it? YES!!!  Righteousness must reign in the faith community. I ask you now to do the right thing. 


Min. Carolyn J. Hudson
8/2010
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The VICTIM SPEAKS SERIES