TESTIMONIES FROM OUR BOARD AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS
I had two abortions at ages 17 and 18. For the following twenty years, I experienced shame, guilt, and what I now know is grief. I was suffering alone in my brokenness. After trying to renew my faith and seeing a few counselors off and on, I found one who acknowledged my emotional and spiritual pain from these abortions and suggested I go on a Rachel’s Vineyard™ Retreat. Being able to share my pain and experience forgiveness and renewed hope in a safe place was the beginning of my healing journey. Because of this support, I have been involved in this ministry since 2004. I am now serving as a Team and Board member so that I can walk alongside others who are also hurting from the pain of abortion. Dee – Eugene/Springfield
Twenty years ago I had an abortion. Four years ago I went on a Rachel’s Vineyard™ retreat where I realized I was basically dead within myself. Rachel’s Vineyard™ retreat was like a specialty doctor for this illness because I came back to life. Now I serve on the Project Aurora retreat team and am eager to help others find this same saving experience. I am happy to be helping Project Aurora bring education and healing through their retreats and educational events. Araceli Nunez, Medford, Oregon
I have been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Oregon for 28 years. I have been involved with Rachel’s Vineyard™ for 2 years. When I attended my first retreat I was impacted by the level of healing and freedom that retreatants experienced. I found the retreat to be a powerful tool for those who have trauma or woundedness because of abortion, so I became involved with the retreats as a team member. I feel honored to be able to offer, through Project Aurora, an opportunity for those who need healing and freedom from the effects of abortion. Kim Brouhard, Grants Pass, Oregon
I attended my first Rachel’s Vineyard™ retreat in 2004. Later I began serving on the Rachel’s Vineyard™ retreat teams in Oregon, and four years ago was asked to join the Board of Directors of Project Aurora. These both provide me an avenue to give back some of the blessings I have received through the Rachel’s Vineyard™ ministry. I live in Waldport on the coast and I am now semi-retired. This is giving me some additional time to spend on Project Aurora activities, which pleases me immensely. Although I haven’t practiced law in many years, I do have a Juris Doctorate degree and an inactive license to practice law. I use this legal background whenever it can be of assistance to Project Aurora. Susan – Waldport
I had an abortion at age sixteen in Eugene which negatively altered my life in many ways. Those effects lasted until 2000 when I went on a Rachel’s Vineyard™ retreat in Texas at age forty-six. My retreat experience profoundly changed and renewed my life which led me to co-found the Rachel’s Vineyard™ retreats in the state of Oregon in 2001. To sponsor the retreats in mid to southern Oregon, I helped start a nonprofit corporation called Project Aurora. For eleven years I also served as the Project Rachel Coordinator for Catholic Charities developing teams and leading their retreats in the Portland and Bend areas, plus led the teams for Project Aurora in Eugene and Southern Oregon totaling about one hundred retreats and witnessing hundreds of women and men receive healing from the destructive lies of abortion. Lori – Cottage Grove