USA (MNN) — For most of her life, Kim suffered abuse, sometimes in the form of molestation and sometimes as punishment.
"Because my abusers were authority figures, loved ones, caregivers, my sense of safety was compromised, my privacy and body violated, emotionally degraded, robbed of value and self-worth. I was rendered powerless," Kim said to Crossroad Bible Institute.
In a downward spiral, she married a man who beat her, and she started a family with him. Her children experienced a dysfunctional home, and alcohol and drugs were a constant companion.
When her marriage collapsed and ended in divorce, he received custody of their four children.
After this, Kim became delusional and vividly remembers the urge to take a knife from her kitchen and cut herself.
At this low point, Kim cried out to God for help.
"I got down on my knees next to my bed. All I could speak was, ‘God help me!'" she said.
However, the difficulties in her life were far from over: three weeks later she was arrested for hiring the killer of her ex-husband. Though she pled "battered-wife syndrome" as her defense, there was too much evidence against her, and she was sentenced to 115 years in prison.
Kim saw the numerous mistakes she had made in her life.
"Unfortunately, I am not alone," she said. "Harmful behaviors are blatantly evident in our society today, and prisons are full of women just like me."
CBI confirmed this statement, citing recent studies: "Not only do 93 percent of women convicted of killing their partner report past abuse by a ‘loved one,' 89% of incarcerated women who report being abused used drugs regularly before arrest."
Kim has now turned her life around, devoting herself to Jesus Christ instead of drugs and alcohol.
She realizes how much she damaged her children, and she constantly prays for them, as well as for reconciliation with her ex-husband's family, according to Barbara, her Tier 2 Instructor.
A high school dropout, Kim is now a student of The Center for Advanced Studies at CBI. She also oversees the One-Net-One-Life-Project, "where women in her facility make mosquito nets for women and children in Sudan to prevent malaria."
Kim is thankful for her second chance at life and recognizes how CBI has been instrumental in that.
"I have long admired Crossroad's dedication and determination in transforming the lives of incarcerated individuals. I believe that secular programs alone do not produce permanent results, and I have seen firsthand the broken people entering and reentering the prison system because they did not receive what they needed to break the destructive cycles of their lives," she said.
Please pray for Kim and women like her. Pray they can rise above their destructive pasts and find new life in Christ, even if imprisoned for life. Pray that they will in turn reach out to other hurting individuals.
Click here to help CBI in their ministry to battered women and other broken individuals.
