G’Day World #352 – Sarah Mac’s Mercy Ministries Experience
Posted on 21. Oct, 2008 by Cameron in Christianity, Gloria Jeans, Hillsong, Mercy Ministries, Podcast, religion
Today’s show is the latest in my series examining the Christian charity Mercy Ministries and it’s relationship with the Gloria Jean’s Coffee chain and the evangelical Christian church Hillsong.
My guest today is an Australian woman who is using the pseudonym “Sarah Mac” to protect her identity. She spent 8 months as a voluntary patient at Mercy’s now-closed center on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and her story is horrifying. She tells me she was subjected to punishments if she forgot to take her medication, denied regular access to friends, family and qualified therapists, and kept in solitary confinement when she finally decided to leave Mercy. She left feeling worse about herself than when she entered and tried to commit suicide a few weeks later. She has since met with Mercy’s founder Nancy Alcorn and received an unconvincing apology. Despite her experiences, Sarah remains a Christian.
Despite her obvious discomfort is talking about her experience, Sarah was brave enough to share it with me in the hope that it will help other girls think twice about the decision to enter Mercy.
This is her story.
The G’Day World theme music:
Conquest
“Secrets of Life” (mp3)
from “End of Days”
(Dark Star Records)
Was at Sydney airport this morning, coming back to Brissie and was just about to buy a Gloria Jeans coffee at their shop opposite Gate 2, when a vision of Cam appeared who told me to buy a Juice from the shop next door instead
. So I did.
Good work Gavin! I confess that a couple of weeks ago I was walking between meetings in Brisbane when I stopped at a little hole in the wall and ordered a coffee. It wasn’t until they handed it to me that I realized it was a GJ! I was horrified.
Cameron can we youtube this?
Really enjoyed this podcast. “Sarah” showed a lot of strength and courage to come on and tell her story and it’s similarities to the girl from the USA a few months back were remarkable. It is hard to believe that the compound Sarah was in is a one-off as their stories are too similar and they are a world apart. Sounds like those practices are the norm and they trying to cover it up by closing down the compounds that get bad press.
I hope Sarah gets a lot of power from telling her story and that it helps her with her to overcome some of the problems she has had in the past and she turns out even stronger than she already has proven to be.
Thanks for sharing Sarah and would love to hear a follow up later on maybe to see how your life has developed and how it has changed.
Hey Cameron can we put this on Youtube?
Yes Anon, please put it up.
Thanks