I Am Second, Sex Abuse, & Afghan refugees

Transcript

Monica Amanda Zuniga Bailey is sharing her inspiring story as a rape survivor through the “I am Second” series of videos produced by the Dallas-based non-profit that bears the same name.

She says for years she blamed herself, tried to cope with the trauma through what she called “empty intimacies” and vowed to never tell anyone about the attack.

A victim of date rape, Bailey said it almost happened a second time and that experience sent her down a path the led her to God.

It was then that she says she cried out to God for the first time in many years. She says the Lord reminded her that she was worthy of love. That reminder helped her surrender to Christ and find the healing she desperately needed.

After several years of counseling and therapy, she’s now speaking out to try to protect others from facing the grief she experienced.

Bailey sees a role for the church to play in helping rape survivors heal and in discipling young men and women in today’s sexualized society. Both professional counseling and Christian mentors have helped her recover.

She hopes other women who have experienced rape or abuse can see her life as a testimony and example of God’s faithfulness and ability to redeem and restore all things.

She also works to helps churches speak out against sexual abuse. According to Bailey, one in three women are victims of sexual abuse and many of them experience it in their childhood.

She launched the “We Are Unveiled” ministry to rape and sex abuse survivors in 2015, four years after she was raped. She placed the ministry on hold in 2019 to focus more on a speaking tour, but still receives and responds to stories on the website.

Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.

Afghan refugees in Minnesota and Wisconsin have received help and hope from the Minnesota-Wisconsin Woman’s Missionary Union, which has been meeting practical needs and building relationships through a ministry fueled by a grant from the WMU Foundation.

Organization President Gwendolyn Sutton said the grant has allowed them to partner with the Hanan Refugee Relief, to meet practical needs and develop relationships and community.

Since the crisis in Afghanistan began last fall, more than 150,000 Afghan refugees have been brought to military bases all over the United States with hopes to be resettled.

One of those military bases is Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, which Sutton said has taken in more than 10,000 Afghan refugees. Many of these refugees have already been settled in communities across Minnesota and Wisconsin, while some are still waiting at the base to be settled.

The influx of refugees to areas like Milwaukee is what Sutton said prompted the WMU Foundation to reach out to her about the HEART grant.

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