1 /5 Atlas: I was 14 years old when my mother married a man from Aransas Pass and moved us there. The man was a drug user and an alcoholic, he started beating my brother, sister and I almost immediately when we moved to Aransas. A few months later I woke up in the middle of the night to him standing over me with my guitar before he started smashing it on me while I was in bed. I ran away that night to start walking to Victoria to my grandparents house because I knew they would save me. I walked back roads with a backpack full of clothes. I came across this church when I made it to Rockport. You were having services and I was exhausted and had a big bloody knot on the side of my head. I came inside, put my bag down, used the restroom and took a sip of water before sitting in the back of the church while the service was happening. About a minute into me sitting there a man who was sitting by the door handing out pamphlets when people came in, walked to me and asked me to leave. I did of course because I was a kid, I thought I did something wrong. I started walking again towards Victoria. A few minutes later I seen the traffic line of cars that were coming from your church as services had ended. No one stopped, no one waved, no one offered water or a ride. I was a child who had been beaten and needed help. Yet you asked me to leave?
The reason I am writing this is because these events still live in my head. I do not understand why I was treated this way and question the legitimacy of your church. I really think you need to pray about this and talk about helping people in need as a congregation. I needed your help once. You let me bleed and suffer on my own. I guess I wasnt clean enough for your church?
I didnt lose faith, in fact I went to Rabbinical school learning Hebrew and Yiddish. I then studied and tested becoming ordained as a minister. After that I went to college becoming a nurse and learned Spanish. I did these things without a building, without a congregation, without a family, without money. I did this for my own soul, to be able to pray with my patients in whatever way they needed me to pray. I believe that all monsters can seek redemption. You obviously seen me as a monster, yet I feel the same about you.
