Debbie's Story

February 14th 2001 is no ordinary date for me.  To me, that date signifies the day my life began to turn around. 

My name is Debbie Harvie and 6 years ago, I walked through the doors of a place called Mercy Ministries in Nashville; a lost, broken and very angry girl who had run out of all other options.

Born and raised in a Christian home, I was taught that God was my protector, my provider, my Father. I grew up listening to and learning about God. I knew the Bible stories and I believed that God was everything the Bible said about Him.

But when I was 12 years old, it seemed that all I had been taught was a lie. I was manipulated into a full sexual relationship with a drug dealer 10 years my senior. He introduced me to the ‘benefits’ of getting high on cannabis and gradually he groomed and seduced me into a sexually abusive relationship with him.

Everyday for three years was the same- hidden with the same lie that all was fine, but it wasn’t. I got into fights, began cutting myself and even tried to commit suicide, but it didn’t work. I felt I couldn’t tell anyone because I thought it was all my fault.

I was caught in a spiral of helplessness and shame, and my anger burned against a God who should have protected me, who could have stopped it or told someone about the abuse I was suffering.  I renounced God and vowed to live my life outside of Him.

When I was 15 years old, I left home to live with my older sister. Eventually, I began going to church with my sister, and my life gradually began to change. But my drug dependency heightened as I moved onto higher dosages and stronger substances. I dabbled with ecstasy, cocaine and even heroin.

I had no hope, no future, no peace, no Truth; just pain, despair, shame and the lies of the enemy tormenting my mind constantly. The root causes of my pain were not being dealt with and I desperately needed help.

I remembered a book my sister gave me about Mercy Ministries, and as I read it I knew there was hope; I knew there was a place that could help me. A few months later, I was on a plane to Nashville, Tennessee, hoping that this place I had read so much about could help me interpret the pain inside and get to the root cause of my anger, drug abuse, rebellion, and self harm.  That day a new season in my life began.

Mercy Ministries has been established in America for over 20 years and has seen thousands of girls suffering from self-harming, eating disorders, depression, and multiple forms of abuse, set free from their tangled lives.

Mercy Ministries now has three homes in the US, two in Australia and is expanding into many others nations across the world, including Peru, Canada and New Zealand.

I know more than most how important the work of Mercy Ministries is, as 6 years after my own graduation, I find myself the Programme Manager of the first UK Mercy Ministries’ house, which opened in September 2006.  Our first girls have already graduated like I once did.

When I look back on all that has happened to me, I thank God that His mercy found me and now I have the chance to show others His mercy too.