Comments for mercysurvivors

Comment on Mercy Ministries “guilty of false, misleading and deceptive conduct” by ladyluck

ladyluck — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:32:37 +0000

Even though i am the only girl in the uk to have reported a bad experience, i think that its so wrong to say that someone is qualified to council a vulneable youn girl just kos theyve gone through the bible academy at the local church. I found out that my councellor was only halfway through her councelling diploma. i know that now theyve changed the whole way mm uk is run now but that doesnt change the fact that for years they ruined my life, i went in for help and seriously came out much worse of than when i went in. they left me on my own in a terrible way just because i could not be brainwashed. i hope eventually these homes do et shut down, doubt ill ever get compensation as i was, as far as i know, the only mistreated girl in the uk, and i do often wonder why,but i am a very strong willed character, so maybe they knew they wouldnt break me, who knows, but they were definitely NOT qalified or prepared to do the work they promised so prefoundly to do.

Comment on Mercy Ministries “guilty of false, misleading and deceptive conduct” by ladyluck

ladyluck — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:23:55 +0000

i was the first girl to go into MM UK, i was in there for a total of 9 months. it was a nightmare one that took me 2 years to get MYSELF over after i came out. They took my JSA money of me each week even though they kept all the letters from me so i wasnt actually aware was recieving this money, hence i never had any spending money whilst i wa inn there. they kept all my mail from me, opened it without my coset to check who it was from. they performed excorcists on me, well they tried too, im not that easily brainwashed luckily. they never graduated me as they thought i was not ready and kicked me out with no where to live so i ended up living in accomodation on my own in quite a dangerous aea of bradford that i could not afford kos i didnt have a job.

Comment on Bad PR forces Hillsong counselling closure by E P A B

E P A B — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:05:47 +0000

God bless you all forn what you are doing for him i may like to be part of what the lord is doing in your lives.

Comment on Mercy Ministries home to close by MS Team

MS Team — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:24:32 +0000

Hi CSS.

It is odd that Mercy went to the trouble of renovating the home, after the majority of their financial partners withdrew their support after the abuse scandal broke. Mercy did not offer support from psychologists, psychiatrists or social workers, and the GP, dietitian and career counsellor were external services. So, it is strange that they would spend $100,000 on renovations but not on the essential services they promised the girls.

MS Team

Comment on Mercy Ministries home to close by counselling services sydney

counselling services sydney — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:09:01 +0000

Mercy Ministries, included support from ”psychologists, general practitioners, dietitians, social workers, [and] career counsellors”. Also did renovation of Sydney home, including the kitchen, carpets, light fittings, staircase and deck, painting and landscaping – all funded more than $100,000. then also it finally it came to an end..I am very shocked..

Comment on Mercy Ministries counseling and the casting out of demons by MS Team

MS Team — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:02:09 +0000

Hi Anonymous.

Your story unfortunately echoes that of dozens of other former Mercy residents. I know I shouldn’t be by now, but I am always shocked when I read another girls story.

If you would like to join the Mercy Survivors network, please drop us an email at info [at] mercysurvivors [dot] com .

MS Team

Comment on Mercy Ministries counseling and the casting out of demons by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:10:11 +0000

As a former resident who was asked to leave due to the lies of a volunteer and resident which they just believed and didn’t bother to investigate (consequently the truth came out 3 weeks after I was gone and they didn’t bother to correct the wrong they did!!) it is interesting to see the full material of the RTF folder in print.
We were decieved in many ways. We were handed a counselling folder at our first session and it only contained what they thought was relevant to us at the time section by section!
It started off with the easier to handle things such as forgiveness etc and then moved onto that stuff. Obviously done that way so we would be totally compliant to the program by the time they got to that stuff. By the time a girl came to that section in her counselling she had been there long enough that even if she was not comfortable or felt that something was off with that stuff she would feel guilty for even thinking and feeling that way. It truly was indoctrinated into us that mercy and their program was the only way and if we didn’t comply we were beyond help and would never change.
Because of this it took me many years to get help and even today I am still suffering the effects of mercy ministries and their treatment of me and its been over 5 years. The material we were given for demonic oppression was the bare necessity and I can tell you if I had seen some of the other stuff that is shown above I would have been out of there like a shot. THEY HID THAT FROM THE RESIDENTS UNDER THE GUISE OF IT BEING GUIDELINES FOR THE COUNSELLOR ONLY!!
The counsellors were trained as they went with a little training provided before they came on board as a counsellor. The rest was done in sections throughout the year.

Comment on Welcome to Mercy Survivors by MS Team

MS Team — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 07:29:42 +0000

Hi M80

Thanx for the feedback. We are still very much in the process of making changes. I do like the new lay out, it seems more clear and less busy. I personally am still getting my head around wordpress but am slowly getting the hang of it. I want to vamp up our resource page soon.

MS Team

Comment on Interview with Mercy Survivor “Sarah Mac” by No Mercy

No Mercy — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:37:59 +0000

Anonymous,
Hang in there and get some support. I know you are probably afraid that Nancy, staff, accountability partner or maybe even your church will find out that you have spoken negatively about them. No worries. Go to http://safe-mail.net Set up a safe-mail account. You can create blogs, Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts etc using this email address. You will receive a notice on your regular email account that you have a message on the safe-mail account. You can communicate using an alternate name to reassure you are not identified. You may want to create an alternate identity that includes a different location than where you live. Something that is meaningful to you and you can remember, but not recognized by Mercy and staff. It is important that your story be told and you should feel free to do so, but when you’ve been indoctrinated with the idea that Mercy was your last hope and that only God (implied Mercy) can help you now this can be very difficult. When you are told that God chose the individuals that work at Mercy specifically, you must be speaking negatively about God, if you are telling something that is negative about one of the staff or, God forbid, Nancy. If God spoke to Nancy and told her who to hire at Mercy, you might have a great deal of inner turmoil about speaking out about your experience.
Feel free to email me at mercy80s@safe-mail.net I was not real comfortable speaking about my experience using identifying information.
M80s

Comment on Welcome to Mercy Survivors by No Mercy

No Mercy — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:18:34 +0000

I love the new format on the Mercy Survivor’s webpage. Great Job!
I had not seen Crystal’s post until today. Crystal. Yes, they most certainly do use the same forms of thought reform as the Aussie counterparts did. I went through Mercy’s program in the late 80s and have kept up with their growth for twenty something years. I had been reassured by Nancy Alcorn that their practices at Mercy had changed. She stated that Mercy was “Professional” now. I was told of the physicians, licensed counselors and nutritionist on site in their facilities.
At the 25th year Gala, I was told by Nancy and a staff member that Mercy was “under attack by Satan”. They asked several of us to not watch any of the negative media on the internet because it would cause the search engine to bring them closer to the front when someone did a search for Mercy Ministries. Nancy stated that the Devil was trying to stop her from helping girls. I blindly followed her orders until I met a young lady in my town that had just returned from Mercy in St. Louis.
This young lady was a mess and went into the hospital within a week of returning home. The things she told me sounded too familiar. I was flooded with emotions and became angry that I had been lied to about how they had changed, “We don’t take girls off of their medication and we have doctors, licensed counselors and nutritionist on site”. I withdrew my support and began researching them online. This is when I found the information about Australia’s homes.
I had been in and out of psych hospitals and have remained in therapy since my experience in the late 80s, but was willing to forgive their early mistakes. Nancy and Mercy were off limits for criticism in therapy. I had learned that a Cult Awareness group was concerned about Mercy in Australia. I contacted them and was given a few references in the US. I gave this information to my therapist because she was now doing research on the use of Mind Control and cults. She had told me many times over the years that she felt I had been brainwashed, but that was an area that was off limits for discussion. I knew I had been brainwashed. Nancy told us that people would say that and that our brains needed to be washed. She quoted scripture about renewing our minds. I became more willing to work with my therapist on this area, but she felt that we needed assistance. That is when I got in touch with Steven Hassan. Steven Alan Hassan, cult counselor and mind control expert, is the Nationally Certified Counselor and licensed Mental Health Counselor. He has authored two books on the subject. His website is: http://www.freedomofmind.com. I truly thought I was crazy at this point. Because Steve Hassan did not have a facility and I needed to focus and figure out what I believed, I went to a place called Wellspring in Ohio. Their website is: http://wellspringretreat.org
I learned a lot about cult mind control and now have no doubt that Mercy uses these techniques to manipulate and control their girls. It is important that you know, at this point, that a cult is not defined by its beliefs. It is defined by the use of mind control. A destructive group can develop within any group of people. It has been a challenge to rebuild what scriptures were used to reinforce phobias that were established by Mercy and what they really mean within the context of the Bible. For the first time in twenty something years, I feel free. I attend a church and Bible study now. I no longer fear that Nancy is going to find out something I’ve done that she would consider a sin. I am truly free.