Image via Wikipediacould be one or more deaths.
In a follow up to the explosive story about Mercy Ministries in the United States Caleb Hannan has penned an update with concerning news from Australia.
Today we learn that the backlash against Mercy in Australia is growing. "Madeline," an anonymous blogger who runs a Mercy support group, called from Down Under to tell us that more than 30 girls, nearly 1/3rd of the total who’d been treated in Australia, have reached out to her for help.
I new there were far more than repeated in the media but even this is a revelation for me. But what has shocked me more is the death of a former Mercy patient,
It’s a number that promises to grow, both here and abroad, with increased scrutiny of Mercy. But unfortunately, it doesn’t mean everyone is getting help. Madeline also called to tell us that one former Mercy girl had taken her life last week.
Now I am loathe to place the blame at Mercy’s feet here because I understand that the no program has 100% or 93% success and sometimes you lose people no matter how hard you try.
But Mercy’s line is that if you fully accept Jesus then you’ll be safe. If the girl was a program dropout I am sure that mercy would claim( behind closed doors) it as a validation ie the girl chose not to go with Jesus. If she was a grad, well that is interesting isn’t it.
The thing is Mercy puts the responsibility squarely at your feet, if you are not coping, it’s your fault. So while you may graduate fine, when your problems return you are left with
- self loathing and hate
- self blame
- no techniques/tools to help youself.
I heard Tanya Gordon, a christian singer , mental health survivor and advocate speak on her troubles. She still lives with mental illness but the techniques given to her by a qualified pschologist enable her to get through the bad days.
So while Mercy helps many – pregnant single moms or girls from the wrong side of the tracks it also scars some women beyond repair.
What we as citizens must ask and what I am sure many a survivor has asked is: What price are we prepared to pay so that some may succeed? The death of another human being? The destruction of another’s self esteem worth?
What are the acceptable losses we are prepared to take? When are Mercy going to be open and transparent? When are they going to admit that they are simply recruiting souls dead or alive?
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My next video will be an angry video.
I can’t wait
I really hope they didn’t take her off medication like they did to some girls in the Qld home – antidepressants and and other meds. The staff took them off it without consent from the doctor even tho the girls were asking to be kept on them because they knew they needed them.
They took me off my sleeping meds when I was there and for months and months I struggled, only getting two or three hours of sleep a night, it made things so much worse.
When I was dissmissed from the program I was given no support or help.
I just hope that people are stating to pay attention to the fact that this is obviously not an isolated problem, and that Mercy Ministires’ program needs to be looked at sooner rather than later
You hit the nail on the head. No program has even close to a 93% success (including Mercy, as we know) but failing after graduating is attributed to not “walking out god’s plan for your life.” Other programs don’t suggest your struggles are related to moral failings, etc. This is a particularly horrible thing that they do. This way they do not have to accept any scrutiny, b/c obviously the girls who are still “living in Christ” are happy, successful, etc. which is somehow a direct result of their program. Those who can’t manage a miraculous recovery are simply not following the rules Nancy sets out for them. If only it were so easy to just follow rules and advice! If that were the case then nearly every program would have a 93% success rate.
Hi there,
I am a very close friend of the person who past away last week and i know for a fact they did not take her off her meds in fact she was still on them after she completed the program. Mercy is not against medication AT ALL, I know from experience.
She loved Mercy and was extremely thankful for all they had done to help her.
Her death came as an extreme shock to all. I spoke to her days before and she was going GREAT!
This is a terrible situation and has been very hard for many people who loved her including myself.
I know she would really HATE that her death is being used against such an amazing program that she fully believed in. In fact she despised blogs like the one i am reading now.
Thanks for reading and i hope that one day you will see the truth.
Much love to you all xx
anonymous I’m very sorry for your loss, it must be a really difficult time for you. It’s just a very sad situation all around.
I’m not sure which staff you had, but I know girls who were taken off their medications (antidepressants, sleeping pills) without agreement from the doctor.
I agree that your friend’s tragic death may not have had anything to do with Mercy.
I disagree with you about it being an amazing program because I experienced the program for myself and so I know what it’s like, but as Sean The Blogonaut said we can’t blame Mercy for what happened with your friend because we don’t know if it was something else that caused it.
I do know from experience that Mercy left myself and many others a lot worse than we were before we went there because of the things they did to us there and the lack of treatment or access to professionals.
Thank you for posting and I also hope that one day you will see the truth.
Anonymous,
On page 397 of the RTF: Integrated Approach to Healing Ministry by the Kylstras, they list mental problems as ancestral generational curses. How can this not have a bad effect on some one’s mental health? Please, read Sean, or Cynic, or my own writing on the RTF model. It’s very dangerous. In fact, I think the most dangerous thing about Mercy is that it uses this model. If Mercy was offering true psychiatric care from a Christian perspective, no one would have a problem with it. But telling a mentally ill person that they are infected with the demon “of schizophrenia” (397) is not going to help them.
John
Sean,
Mercy just got covered on Ex-gay Watch.
http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2008/10/in-brief-nancy-alcorn-of-mercy-ministries-struggles-to-keep-closet-door-closed/#comment-39939
Ex-gay Watch gets a lot of traffic, so that’s definitely a good thing (sorry about not being able to post a real link here.
Hey Anonymous,
Welcome to the blog. Please read the comments policy.
I didn’t lay the blame at Mercy’s feet for her death, but suggest very strongly that it’s a possability due to their treatmant model and beliefs.
You see the problem with Mercy is that there is no oversight so they can use any treatment model they like, no questions asked.
As to using her death, no don’t even try going down that path with me – I will not feel guilty for helping women get back on their feet and preventing another death like your friends.
As I said no program is even close to 93% successful – yet Mercy claims this. They continue to inflate the success of their program putting more women at risk.
For your friend Mercy was helpful for a time, for quite a few others it caused them nothing but pain.
I hope that one day you will realise that the world is not black and white.
Now I suggest that you spend you time greiving with friends, remembering your friend in happier times. Stay away from online coverage of Mercy because it will cause you more harm than good.
After reading the Nashville City Paper about Mercy Ministries, I never knew so many girls had the same feelings about Mercy as I did when I stayed there in 1999. It is nice to know I am not alone.
anonymous, you are not alone.
how are you now, are you doing better?
thanks for posting, i hope you come back.
HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT OUR FRIEND. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT. NONE OF YOU. SHE IS A PERSON, A BEAUTIFUL GIRL WHO LOST THE FIGHT AND YOU ARE USING HER DEATH AS ONE OF YOUR RIDICULOUS “BLOG” TOPICS. YOU ARE DISGUSTING.
I am keeping you comment despite it violating my comment policy because I want to answer your point.
I have every right to talk about her death. The more we talk about suicide and mental health the more aware people become of the problem
This is what I have said:
“Now I am loathe to place the blame at Mercy’s feet here because I understand that the no program has 100% or 93% success and sometimes you lose people no matter how hard you try.”
and
The thing is Mercy puts the responsibility squarely at your feet, if you are not coping, it’s your fault.
At the most I am suggesting that suicide could be a very realistic outcome of Mercy’s methods, not that it was specifically in this case. Perhaps I am a tad cynical
Was your friend anymore important than these other women who were abused by the service? What about the possibility that some of the women abused have gone on to commit suicide? Do you want to ensure that nothing Mercy does results in further pain?
I am sorry for your loss, I am concerned that Mercy’s treatment will result in a similar situation to that of your friends.
I am sorry that you can’t see this.
Many girls who were treated at Mercy have gone on to attempt suicide. It’s not a surprise, because these girls have their original illnesses or issues to deal with, and after Mercy they have cult abuse on top of it all to try and work through.
Mercy is aware of some of the girls, but not all, because obviously many girls want nothing to do with Mercy after their so called ‘treatment’ there.
It is just really unfortunate and sad that this girl succeeded
I feel so bad for her friends and family.
I’m glad this was mentioned in that article because more people need to be talking about the topic, to get it out in the open and to hopefully prevent more tragedies. The girls need to be re-taught that if they are struggling it is NOT a sign that they have failed or don’t have enough faith or any of that rubbish.
btw, I sent an email to Mark and Darlene Zschech asking about their early involvement with MM. I still have not received a response. I had emailed them before and got a response within a few days or so.
Crystal,
It might be something they want to distance themselves from