For the first time in my life, I was open to God’s healing love and forgiveness. The Rachel’s Vineyard retreat gave me a new life!
RV Retreatant
What is Rachel’s Vineyard?
Rachel’s Vineyard is an extraordinary opportunity for any person who struggles with emotional and spiritual pain of past abortion(s).
Rachel’s Vineyard can help you
The weekend is a unique and effective process designed specifically to help you experience the mercy and compassion of God. The weekend will help your soul find a voice, and transform the pain of the past into hope. Rachel’s Vineyard is a “therapy for the soul” which combines a unique and creative process for psychological and spiritual healing.
Rachel’s Vineyard is therapy
There are many exercises to help you grieve your loss and an opportunity to understand and release the deep feelings of anger, shame, guilt, and grief that frequently accompanies an abortion experience. This process is extremely helpful for those who struggle with forgiving themselves or others.
For the first time in my life I was open to God’s healing love and forgiveness. The Rachel’s Vineyard retreat gave me new life!
RV Retreatant
To Find More Information about Rachel’s Vineyard:
Please call Evelyn at (215) 317-5752 or email evelynwalsh59@gmail.com
Read more about our retreat online at www.rachelsvineyard.org
Do not continue to live in the shame, fear or numbness – call toll-free national hotlines:
Rachel’s Vineyard: 877 HOPE 4 ME (877-467-3463)
National Hotline for Abortion Recovery: 866-482-LIFE (866-482-5433)
Testimonies
“Part of my faith journey was the painful process of facing my sins. But I knew I had to make things right with God. I went to confession for the first time in a very long time and confessed something that I buried deeply inside. You see, the reason why John & I broke up was because I found myself pregnant by another man while John was away in the Army. It was a fling and so I had an abortion. I immediately knew I had done something horribly wrong. I hurt John very much and when we got married, we never spoke much of it. vMy penance from that confession was to attend a Rachel’s Vineyard’s retreat. If you are not familiar with Rachel’s Vineyard, it is a beautiful retreat filled with God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness for those who have experienced abortion in their lives. It is a beautiful, safe and loving environment. I feared bringing up the topic with John and my wish to go to this retreat. When I found the courage to tell him, he lovingly said, “You should go”. And for the first time in 22 years of silence, I acknowledged my baby in heaven. I was able to share my grief, my guilt, my shame and also was able to honor, love and mourn my baby. I could almost imagine holding my baby. And I felt Jesus holding ME, loving ME, calling ME, wanting ME, forgiving ME . . . I felt His presence within me for the first time in my life, being showered by His fountain of mercy. On the last day, there was a beautiful Mass to finish the retreat. As I stood in that chapel, feeling completely renewed, I felt someone take my hand. And there was John. He drove 2 hours to the retreat to stand by me, as if God just wanted to make sure I knew how much He loved me and forgave me. With God all things are possible!”
“Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats, what do I say about this experience? My experience, the retreat house, the environment, the facilitators, the volunteers, my fellow retreatants, and all the LOVE I felt that weekend will be with me forever. The Holy Spirit was so obvious to me IN EVERYTHING that weekend. For me, since my Rachel’s Vineyard weekend it has been a journey that in every step of the way and every day since, my faith has been growing and a peace has been within me. My Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat has been a life changing experience for me!”
“My story begins with losing my virginity when I was thirteen years old. I was raped. After this traumatic event, my primary reaction was to pull back and withdraw from everyone, but ultimately that unresolved trauma of rape led me to be very sexually active which resulted in an unplanned crisis pregnancy at the age of sixteen. It was decided by my parents that I would have an abortion. I claimed I wanted to keep the child, but I was taken to the abortion clinic against my will. I asked for help from the staff at Planned Parenthood and stated that I was not there willingly when I sat down to be counseled. To my surprise, my cries for help fell upon deaf ears. No one came to save me. I was degraded by the adults there and was told that I was acting like a child. During the ultrasound, I heard my baby’s heartbeat loud and clear. That was it for me. Halfway through my ultrasound I stood up and ran out of the room and found myself up against a door. That is the last thing I remembered as I struggled to wake up in the recovery room. I had imagined that I was drugged to keep quiet because I was carrying on quite a bit and very loud. The staff at Planned Parenthood were concerned that I would scare the other women there preparing for their abortions. I woke up in the recovery room feeling empty and in a state of total shock. I was slumped over in a chair in a group with the other girls and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was blood; I knew right then that my baby was gone. I felt small, weak, powerless, and violated. The shame, guilt, and pain I felt in the following days left me suicidal. Everything around me was a reminder of the betrayal and murder of my baby. So, not much time passed when I found myself turning to opiates to numb the pain. My boyfriend at the time took advantage of my brokenness and he would physically and emotionally abuse me. I felt so degraded and worthless that I allowed the abuse to continue. I felt like garbage and that I deserved it all. My mother confided in a friend about my abortion and she expressed how it was affecting me. By the grace of God, she recommended to my mother that she take me on a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat. During the weekend of my retreat, I was touched by God’s loving embrace and His Mercy and forgiveness. I was finally able to grieve the loss of my child and entrust his soul to Jesus. Our Lord showed me that with and through Him I would be healed, and that I was to go forward to live my life in honor of my child. I believe Rachel’s Vineyard saved my life. I tell you my story so that you can know what the real impact of abortion is. I am now happily married to a wonderful man and we are blessed to have a beautiful little boy and girl. Please consider attending a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat so that you, too, can heal from the wounds and trauma of abortion.”