A 13 year old boy prays to receive the Lord in a chat room. His mother later thanked us for leading her son to God. He was baptized soon afterward and is active in his church youth group.

Chat Room Ministry: Testimonies

"Tomorrow is Going to be the Most Awful Day of My Life!

A 13 year old boy announced this is our chat room one night. I'll call him Tommy. We talked with Tommy for a while in the channel, then I talked with him more in private chat. He shared with me that he had, until recently, been a victim of sexual abuse.

I often have people talk with me in chat rooms who have histories of sexual abuse. They are hurting so deeply. They are reluctant to divulge their history, yet need to tell someone. Most of them have a hard time opening up or sharing about anything. You have to be able to "draw them out" into conversation, and it takes a long time sometimes. They want desparately to talk, get help, yet they are so scared. Even after they tell you about the "secret" they bear, they still have problems communicating.

They so desparately need to be touched and hugged, yet they are so repulsed by that too. They feel guilty, inferior, worthless, despised. Some of them turn to homosexuality, some remain single, some get married but have problems with the physical side of it. Many of them struggle with this long after they accept Christ. Some of them make progress, but the ugly past seems to haunt them from time to time. Most of them I've referred for professional counselling or at least to their pastor, but they are so reluctant to go. The hardest thing in the world for them to do is tell their secret face to face.

Unlike most others, Tommy shared his "secret" with me almost immediately when we began chatting. "I'm in such pain," he said. He shared how he had been molested over and over by a family member for several years until he finally got the courage to tell someone. He felt guilty because he had "told on" the family member. The family member was in jail now, and the next day Tommy would have to go to court and testify against him. He agreed that in his mind he knew it was not his fault. But he could not shake the guilt feeling. He said, "I feel guilty because even though I didn't want it, it felt good."

Tommy shared how he would often awaken in the middle of the night with nightmares that this family member was trying to molest him again. He would awaken shaking and go to the chat rooms to find someone to talk to until the fear subsided.

After we'd talked a few minutes I asked him if I could pray with him. He said, "Yes." I prayed with him and asked God to help him through this, then I said "Tommy, I need to stop and ask you something. Have you accepted Christ as your Saviour? Do you understand what that means?"

Tommy replied, "No but I want to. Yes I understand."

I was able to lead Tommy to a relationship with Christ that night. He visited our channel often after that, sharing with others what God had done for him.

I was especially blessed when his mother came into our channel one night and thanked us for helping Tommy. Tommy had been raised in church, and his parents were active there. He had shared with his mother the log of our conversation and the prayer he prayed to receive Christ. She thanked me for leading her son to Christ.

Tommy was baptized soon afterward. Each time I've talked with him he has remained excited about the Lord and very active in his church youth group.