SEXUALLY ABUSED. Those words strike terror and pain into the hearts of many people today. Fortunately they do NOT to me. I was never abused. Nevertheless, my heart goes out to anyone who has suffered in such an unthinkable way.
Two such people are a beautiful young woman named Candace and her loving mother, Kathleen. They both wandered into Our Little Market one spring day in 2011. Having been born and raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses, they at one time each wanted to serve God and do His will. That desire faded when both of them were, at different times, sexually abused as children by JW men who were held in high esteem and assigned to take them door-to-door to hand out magazines.
Candace and Kathleen Conti before their trial
The devastation was so great that Kathleen did not want to go on living at one point. When she finally got her life somewhat back to normal, the same thing happened to her precious daughter. With great concern they both tried in vain to wake up this cult to what their policies (which aid this abuse and even cover it up) were doing.
Many other Jehovah’s Witness children have suffered the same fate, but The Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters) has always managed to get the individuals to settle out of court. The Contis would not settle, however. They wanted to see policy change at the top to protect future children from suffering the same fate. But The Watchtower would not budge, so a court trial was scheduled, and 18 days later a jury found the Jehovah’s Witnesses guilty of criminal negligence and slapped them with a 28 million dollar fine (that’s not a typo). This is the largest single sexual abuse judgment ever awarded against a religious organization (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/calif-jury-awards-28m-in-_n_1602997.html).
You didn’t hear much about this story because someone more prominent, a football coach, was getting punished for the same thing at the same time. His trial simply drowned out Candace’s.
The amazing thing is that these two women did NOT turn their backs on God but chose independently to follow Christ. For some reason God’s abundant grace was poured out upon them, and for some reason God used Our Little Market as a vehicle of that grace. As Kathleen puts it:
“After knowing Stephen for 6 months and realizing that he was a sincere Christian (he even prays publicly for Our Little Market before it opens each week), Candace and I felt safe to tell him about our past and to alert him of our upcoming trial. Since it was only a few months away, both Candace and I were stressed and were seeking comfort and understanding. Stephen gave us this in abundance. He often met with us after the market to pray and to encourage us to put our faith in Christ. He could tell that I, in particular, was struggling with feelings of anger and betrayal; I needed much healing.
The final time he met with us before the trial started, we were in the kitchen area of Our Little Market and I was a mess, feeling a sense of abandonment and despair. I was crying, I was angry at the Watchtower for making us go through all of this by refusing to change their policy on child abuse. It was all so upsetting. Candace was crying too.
As I look back on that final time with Stephen, I still marvel that he remained so calm and centered in Christ, especially in the midst of our highly charged verbal exchange. Childhood sexual abuse leaves a huge, empty hole that is filled with nothing but pain and anguish. In the end he, again, prayed for us, and we left feeling a sense of hope that God would carry us through.
He even texted us throughout the trial and called us several times on the phone to pray with us and encourage us. In the end we won. And when Candace was asked by a reporter how she was able to get through such an ordeal, she simply said, ‘God was with me this entire time, and many prayers were offered up.'”
There’s a lot more to this story that I’ve left out, but I’m running out of room. Please pray for the Contis as they continue to heal and now reach out to other former JWs and victims of child abuse. And know that none of this would have happened without YOU. I know it sounds redundant because of the many times I say it, but please hear it again…Thank You, for all your prayers and financial support. We’re here because of you, and we’re so grateful.
Yours in Christ,
