Contributor
Faith Gor
43 stories
How to Have ‘The Talk’ With Your Young Ones
Talking to children about body image, sexuality, and puberty doesn’t have to be awkward. It’s an opportunity to affirm their worth and identity as God’s creation.
4 Lessons Life is Teaching Me About Friendships
Overcoming broken trust, I found freedom in redefining friendship. Here’s what I’ve learned about healing, boundaries, and connection.
How Trauma May Be Affecting Your Relationships
Is past trauma preventing you from forming healthy relationships? Here's how you can show up in relationships while honouring your healing journey.
4 Ways to Deal with Vulnerability Hangover as a Survivor
Are you dealing with vulnerability hangover? Discover four ways to care for yourself after sharing your survival story.
This Part of Your Story Matters
Does God seem silent when you're hurting? Find out how you can keep the faith and still praise Him in the midst of your storm.
Thriving Through Pain - 13 Tips for Maintaining a Resilient Mindset with Endometriosis
Do you struggle with keeping a healthy mindset when you’re down with pain? Me too. It’s hard to see how things will work out for you when all you know is the disruption of pain, missed opportunities, canceled appointments, and false starts. Living with endometriosis is costly – socially, financially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It almost feels impossible to progress
XOXO: Dear Hurting Human
Anytime my body flares up and the pain is intense, I always think about other people living with chronic illness. And today, I can’t help but write to you, dear hurting human.
God’s Ways are Not Our Ways
I would read Matthew 6:33 half-heartedly. I was afraid that God would fail me. I saw my mother work hard in serving God and in her business, but we still went without food sometimes, missed out on rent and were sent home for lack of school fees.
Essential Considerations for Your Therapy Journey
First, you need to identify your pain. Are you experiencing mental or emotional turmoil that’s inhibiting your daily functions for more than a week?
Trusting the Therapeutic Process Even When It Feels Uncertain
“Healing from trauma can sometimes feel like you are always playing catch-up in life. Slow down, don’t rush, and trust the process.”
To Love is to Accept Care
Living with a chronic illness is teaching me that a self-reliant mindset can be dangerous. We need people; we’re wired for connection, and it’s okay to receive help.
My Endo Journey: I Am Not My Diagnosis
The month of March is endometriosis awareness Month. Endometriosis is a medical condition where tissue similar to that which normally lines the uterus, grows on other parts of the body. It’s a chronic illness that affects 1 in 10 women globally. I am among the women living with Endometriosis.
Embracing Healing: A Personal Journey Through Therapy
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." - Carl Jung
Broken But Beautiful: The Forgiveness Series - Understand that Life is Unfair, but be Fair Anyway
Life has a way of dealing us cards that seem profoundly unfair. For some of us, those cards include the heavy burden of childhood sexual trauma, an experience that leaves scars that run deep. But did you know that in the face of life's unfairness, we have a choice—to let our wounds define us or to rise above them?
Broken But Beautiful: The Forgiveness Series -Embrace God’s Freedom
God does not want us to labor for love. He loves us for who we are, His children. Unless I embrace His offer of love and grace, I’ll live my life laboring and begging for crumbs yet my Father owns the bakery.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Dear Survivor
I’m sorry for what happened to you. It hurts, I can see. I see your desire to change your past. I can hear you asking, ‘Why?’ I see how exhausting it is to show up every day in masks that don’t fit you anymore. I see how fleeting control is to you. I see your lips moving, but I can’t hear your voice. Want a hug? Some water maybe? A walk in the park? I see your pain, dear surviv
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Choosing Faith over Fear
I’m in the middle of a crisis as I write this. I was so tense a while ago I couldn’t eat. This feeling is so familiar. I want to quit, I just want to sit in a corner alone, with my eyes closed. I had a chat with my mom a while ago and what she shared threw me off balance. I didn’t anticipate any disruptions today. I had my day planned out, avoided some conversations to stay foc
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Learning to Appreciate my Body
I was supposed to write this in December. I even had an outline. But when I sat down to type out the words, my mind went blank. It was unbelievable. Where did the psych go? I lost it. My inner person was quiet and numb.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Overcoming Fear
I grew up being fearful of men around me. It’s a fear that was imprinted in me after multiple childhood sexual violations. I was never fearful of my male friends though. But this changed after being assaulted sexually in a relationship. I would panic every time a man would stand next to me even for a second. I avoided busy streets and bus stops for fear of being touched inappro
Broken But Beautiful: The Forgiveness Series - Verify Your Thoughts
I first knew that I had control over my thoughts in 2012. I had an unhealthy mindset, and this bothered me a lot. I wanted to change, but I didn’t know how to. I was tired of the heavy weight that I felt on my chest every day. My moods would get triggered so easily. It was annoying.
Broken but Beautiful: Forgiveness Series - Grant Pardon
Pardon is a ticket or an official document given to a convict to release them from further punishment. Pardon is offered to those who accept responsibility for their crimes and have reformed characters. Convicts who receive pardon are restored to society and are allowed to enjoy the rights of citizenship in their country.
Broken but Beautiful: The Forgiveness Series - We Own Our Scars; They Don't Own Us
Scars don’t bleed, they tell a story.
Broken but Beautiful: The Forgiveness Series -Follow the Light You Have Received
In the previous article, we discovered that God is interested in reconciling with us and that we can come to Him just as we are. The next layer in forgiveness is not staying the way you are. It’s choosing to practise the truth you know in spite of how you were violated.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - This is Why you Should Always Celebrate your Birthday
(Enter Mary and Phil, a couple living with their 5 sons, a few chickens, a fluffy Cat, 2 Manchester Terrier dogs and a well kept garden. Mary is in her mid-thirties and Phil in his mid 40s.)
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Find Time to Meet God Daily
Abuse robs us off the ability to build a meaningful relationship with God. It’s hard to see how a loving God would permit any of His children to be abused. I personally grew up with an avoidant attachment towards God. I prayed with my lips, but my heart was numb. I felt obliged to follow religious practices, I feared burning in hell, so I managed to pull an ‘ideal Christian lif
Broken but Beautiful: The Forgiveness Series - Pt. 1
In Part 1 of The Forgiveness Series, Faith Gor uses a powerful illustration to demonstrate how unpleasant yet necessary forgiveness is to our healing journey.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - The F-word
This is not your usual F-word, perhaps it is. The thought of it gives me chills and emotional instability sometimes. It’s the word that many of us avoid because it demands us to walk on unpleasant paths we’d prefer not to travel on. Truth is, though it leads to peace and freedom, it is a painful process. Forgiveness is what I’m talking about.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Press On!
A few years ago, I was not comfortable with the passage recorded in the Bible about the woman who had a gynecological condition that afflicted her for 12 years (Mark 5:25-34). This is because dysmenorrhea had fed me the bitter side of life. One day, when I was in pain, some lady commented sarcastically that I should “just touch the hem of His garment.”
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Grief
As survivors of child sexual abuse and assault, we have a lot to grieve for. We grieve the violation, loss of power, loss of relationships, loss of trust, sense of peace, dreams for the relationship, investments in the lost relationships, lost love. We grieve who we were before the offense, opportunity lost while healing, our control, boundaries violated, mental illness, time,
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Why I Didn't Tell
When I first opened up to my parent about my story of childhood sexual abuse, my enraged parent asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?” And the inner child replied in my heart, “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell.”Many times, when a survivor tells of the abuse they experienced, people ask, ‘Why didn’t you report immediately? Why are you bringing it up after all these years? Why don’t yo
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Dear Sex Offender
Are you alive or dead? I choose to imagine that you are alive because that’s what I feel on most days. I gave up on hoping that one day you’ll come to apologize for robbing me of my sexual innocence, dignity, peace, trust, hope, pure imagination, and sense of safety. I lived believing that my well-being was pegged on your apology, but no, it’s not. I craved your apology daily t
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Making Peace With God
Where is God when we are violated sexually? Where is He when children are abused sexually? Where was He when I was molested? These were questions I asked myself for a long time, but I never got answered. When people would attempt to answer me, I would end up resenting them, and I would withdraw from God even more.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - No, You Are Not Alone
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Healing is in the Process; it's Not a Destination
Naaman had to get into the dirty river for himself, by himself. Healing is an inside job. It’s an opportunity to get in tune with your soul, which then deepens the connection with your Creator. This is true because when Naaman came out of the water, he was completely healed, grateful and chose to praise the living God of Israel, that is God the Creator.
Broken but Beautiful: Separation
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Joseph recorded in the book of Genesis chapters 37-50. It’s a painful story that has a beautiful ending. Joseph’s mother died when he was still young. His father loved him more than his siblings and this made his brothers despise him to the extent of ganging up against him, mocking him for his extraordinary dreams, strippi
Broken but Beautiful: Denial
“Broken but Beautiful” is a weekly column by Faith Gor, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. She shares her story and healing journey to offer hope to other survivors.
Broken but Beautiful: It's Not Just a Running Stomach
I love singing. I always thank God for my musical ear and the ability to enjoy music deeply. Unfortunately, I do not play any musical instrument, but I shall learn how to play one someday soon. I enjoy listening to well-blended vocals, and I particularly get an inexpressible feeling for minor harmonies, especially when the vocals are deep and rich! Blame it on endorphins and ox
Broken but Beautiful: Seeking Therapy
A friend sent me a message a week ago and asked, “When did you realise that you needed therapy?” Usually I would go ahead and give a detailed answer, but this time I chose to be curious. I asked her, “What therapy?” Maybe she meant hydrotherapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy, art therapy or light therapy. I didn’t want to make conclusions.
Broken but Beautiful: Don’t Give up on Healing, Help Will Come – Pt. 2
I learnt how to live with my dark secret until I was 19. I attended a youth conference organized by the church and I hoped to find GOD. The theme for that conference was based on the life of Joseph. The sessions were enriching but I would zone out and doze off through most of the sessions because a lot didn’t make sense then, but I liked the prayer sessions.
Broken but Beautiful: Don’t Give up on Healing, Help Will Come - Pt. 1
Growing up, I preferred being in two spaces: anywhere with my brothers or in school, particularly in class with my classmates because it felt safe. One afternoon we were called out to go for a girls-only session. I was eleven then and this was my first time attending such a session. I’m grateful we had the privilege of having talks on puberty, hygiene and how to relate with oth
Broken but Beautiful: Embracing the Scars
I was privileged to attend a youth empowerment program organised by the government, equipping the youth with life and business skills. This program ran for two weeks and in one afternoon, the facilitator walked in with three items wrapped like gifts.
Broken but Beautiful: Struggling with the Desire to Seek Revenge
My mother woke me up from an afternoon nap and after attending to her, I got enraged. I couldn’t understand why. I felt as though a heavy rock was laid on my chest. I could feel my heart’s palpitations and I started hyperventilating. I got flashbacks of painful memories, and I felt vengeful. My soul cried for justice.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Choose to be a Woman
For a long time, I never had any interest in celebrating International Women’s Day. It made no sense to me. I saw nothing worthy of celebration in me. This day brought more blues than pink moments to me. It reminded me of my inadequacy, my weaknesses, and how much I detest being a woman.