Finding Healing from Abortion
Finding Healing from Abortion—Part 2: Crossroad Clinic’s Abortion Recovery Program—A Testimony of Healing Through the Gospel
Story by Barb Maher
Photos courtesy of Crossroads Clinic
The following is the testimony of Sheila Fullbright, director of the Passages Abortion Recovery Program at pro-life Crossroads Clinic in Oklahoma City, OK. Tonya Schuster is the clinic director and a longtime member of Calvary Chapel Oklahoma City. This is Part 2 of a three-part series about abortion recovery, through the Gospel, at Crossroads Clinic. To see Part 1, click here. Part 3 will run tomorrow.
“Abortion is a traumatic event. Every experience is unique, but the impact is often the same. Men and women who suffer from post-abortion trauma often have issues with anxiety, anger, nightmares or insomnia, remorse, guilt and grief. Sixty-five percent of post-abortive women suffer from depression. Others turn to drugs, alcohol and even suicide. In fact, suicide rates are 6 times higher after an abortion. The after effects continue to affect relationships with spouses, subsequent children and God.” – Passages Abortion Recovery Ministry Statement- Crossroad Clinic
Sheila Fullbright, director of Passages, a post-abortion recovery program at pro-life Crossroads Clinic in Oklahoma City, OK, prays with a woman who has come for help. Sheila suffered horrible abuse in her teens and early 20s, and experienced promiscuity, substance abuse, and multiple abortions; she finally surrendered her life to Christ while in her 40s. She received healing from those past abortions through the Passages program.
Sheila Fullbright’s Story of Redemption
I heard the full Gospel at the age of 26. I distinctly remember coming to the realization that Jesus is real, He is for me, and I wanted Him. I accepted Him as my Savior, and I knew He was my Lord. But I was still being horribly abused, emotionally and spiritually, so I had a hard time coming to Jesus as my Lord. I was in my early 40s when I finally surrendered and allowed God to begin to move mightily in my life. He led me to a church where I was actually hearing the Word of God spoken, and that made a huge difference. The truth of the Word of God immediately started holding off the lies; it just quieted the voices. That was in 2012.
In January of 2013, during Sanctity of Life Sunday, our church had advertised that we were going to be talking about abortion. There were two different messages; one was more about abortion, which I was not ready to handle. But there was a second message [by] a woman from Crossroads Clinic, [who] was at that time the director of the Passages program, an abortion recovery ministry. She said that there was help for those that had been through an abortion. I had never heard that there was help for someone like me who had been through an abortion. I wrestled with God for several months but eventually met with her and went through a Bible study about healing from the heartbreak of abortion.
“You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity.” Jeremiah 29:13-14a
Sheila teaches during one of the Passages classes. “The Passages ministry relies heavily on healing that comes through Scripture,” She shared.
I knew the Lord had led me there, so I went through the book study along with God’s Word. I spent a lot more time in God’s Word, with Jesus. As I went through the book, the healing just started happening. The onion was starting to get peeled, … I was hearing truth that I had never heard before. Through this abortion recovery ministry, I was able to actually talk about the abortions—what I had gone through, what I was going through. I didn’t share a lot about the abuse at the time, but enough so that the Passages director was able to walk with me through the memories and pain.
There was something in the study that particularly jumped out at me. I understood that God had forgiven me, but I could not forgive myself for the abortions. That’s something I’ve heard many men and women say. The Bible study leader made this very powerful statement, and it sent me searching throughout the Scriptures to verify that she was right. She’d said, “There is nowhere in the Bible that says you must forgive yourself. You cannot forgive yourself. You must receive the forgiveness God has given you as His gift.”
Emily, a client at Crossroads Clinic, holds her baby girl at her graduation from nursing school. Before receiving help from the pro-life clinic, she had planned to have an abortion. However, as she was awaiting the procedure at the abortion clinic, her boyfriend ran back to her, grabbed her hand, and took her out, telling her, “This is wrong. We’re having this baby.”
That realization rocked my world because it changed my whole understanding of why I was struggling. I knew I was forgiven, I knew I was saved, I knew I had eternal life, I knew Jesus loved me, but I hadn’t understood that I needed to receive the forgiveness for the abortions and then begin to forgive others who had played their part in my pain.
I started receiving other gifts from God. I had also been struggling with receiving the fruit of the Spirit, where I was receiving some but rejecting others because I did not feel worthy; I felt I had no value because of my life. I started just receiving the Lord’s gifts, and then I just started receiving the healing even deeper and deeper. Ultimately, I do have memories still. With some of those, the Lord has just beautifully assured me that He has addressed the issues of my life and that I had repented where I needed repentance, which has a lot to do with healing. There are some memories that I have actually forgotten. The greatest thing is that the memories no longer have me.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7
Tonya Schuster, director of Crossroads Clinic in Oklahoma City, counsels Chelsea, a client who, although abortion-minded and confused about what to do, texted the clinic in the middle of the night. She then came in for an ultrasound; she and boyfriend Troy kept their baby, who is now more than a year old. Troy exclaimed, “I thank God for helping her make [that] decision.”
The Passages ministry relies heavily on healing that comes through the study of Scripture. As I think about all that the Lord has done to free me from my past and to use me in my current position as Passages director, I realize that He has always been an amazing and loving heavenly Father. I was personally touched by the simultaneous stories of two miracles found in Matthew 9:18-26:
While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.”
But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.
Lindsey holds her baby boy, Liam, shortly after his birth. With help from Crossroads Clinic, she chose life for him, giving him up for an open adoption. He is now 7 years old. “I’m able to watch him grow up,” Lindsey marveled. “The Lord revealed to me how [adoption] is such a beautiful picture of the Kingdom.”
In verse 22 of that passage, the word daughter came up off the page and touched me to the depths of my heart. The Lord showed me that I was His daughter. It’s a beautiful picture of two different lives, that of a young girl who had died, and of an older woman who needed healing. The entirety of the story was a reflection of my life. As a young girl, I was just dead, and Jesus raised me to life. As a woman who desired to be healed, I was made whole. So it is a redemptive description of hope, healing, and going forth as the truth of God’s Word is revealed.
calvaryokc.com
friendsofcrossroads.org
crossroadsclinicok.com
To read part 3 of this series, Click Here.
Shakayla loves on her baby boy, Kayson. Shakayla received help from Crossroads during her pregnancy 10 years ago.
All verses above are quoted from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.
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