CASTIMONIA

Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group

porn star

By

Video – Amanda’s Story – Abolition International

It is important for those of us who are recovering sex addicts that acted out with prostitutes that all of them prostitute by force, not by choice.  This is Amanda’s story on how she was drugged, raped, and sex trafficked out of her own bedroom.

Amanda’s story is based on a true account from Abolition International’s partner restoration home, Wellspring Living, in Atlanta, GA. Through Wellspring Living, Amanda experienced the power of true restoration through the program’s holistic aftercare model.

Abolition International’s To Be Free campaign will help expand Wellspring’s current program by renovating a new home that will house 11 new girls rescued from sex trafficking as well as expanding restorative care projects in Moldova, Cambodia, and Ohio. Be a part of expanding hope and join the movement today:

Share Hope – Share Amanda’s Story with your friends.

Wear Hope – Commit to $5 a month and receive the Three-Strand Bracelet as a token of your commitment to freedom.

Ignite Hope – Host a To Be Free event and ignite hope in your community. E-mail us to find out how you can bring To Be Free stories to your business, school, church, or organization.

tobefreestories.com

abolitioninternational.org

By

Video – Redeemed Ministries – a Houston, Texas Anti-Sexual Slavery Group

It truly is a “God thing” that I found Redeemed Ministries’ brochure on a table in the room where we hold the Saturday morning Castimonia meeting.  As we try to reduce the demand for sex trafficking, they are on the front lines attacking the supply, trying to help the women trapped in sexual slavery.  Please watch this video! For those of us living in the Houston metro area, it brings the issue of sexual slavery close to home.

Redeemed Ministries founded in 2005 is a faith-based non-profit 501 (c) 3 incorporated in the State of Texas.  We are an all volunteer organization with our people serving from a wide variety of church backgrounds with our unity found in serving Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Because we have seen and understand the problem in our community, we have set our core competencies include Outreach, Aftercare and Advocacy giving churches and their congregations the opportunity to network and find their place in the fight against human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.  Being a faith-based organization, it is our desire to share our passion and to bring unity to the whole church body and giving them the opportunity to engage as they feel led and called to use their gifts and talents in partnering with us to provide holistic care.

Redeemed Ministries serves the following mission: To bring Christ’s loving redemption and amazing liberation to those trapped and exploited within the commercial sex industry and/or by human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labor.

The core strategies of Redeemed Ministries are:

EDUCATE people – Raise awareness of the existence of modern day slavery
SEEK victims – Enter into the places of slavery to identify the enslaved.
BUILD relationships – Foster cooperation between legislators, law enforcement, service providers, etc.
IDENTIFY resources – Facilitate and advocate on behalf of victims to receive aftercare.
REDEEM hearts – Restore honor, worth, and reputation

By

Is Pornography Destructive to a Marriage?

Is Pornography Destructive to a Marriage
by Samantha Baker

This has come up a lot in my world in the past year.  I used to be some what on the fence about it.  I kind of felt, what other people do in their marriage is fine…I kind of don’t appreciate it in mine…but…if I don’t really think about it, it’s not there.

But my thinking has changed a lot.  And now I’m off the fence and my feet are planted firmly on the ground.  My stance, is yes.  I believe that pornography can absolutely be destructive to a marriage/relationship.

Now, I know most men feel differently.  They don’t see much harm in it, if any at all.  Men are more visual.  Men need an outlet. Men sometimes, just need it to relieve stress.  What’s the harm????

But, there can be just so much harm.  Now I get that some women are absolutely fine with it, and some even choose to participate.  And kudos to you.  But that isn’t a majority of women.  I think some women go along with it to please their spouse/SO.  I think some feel they need to agree to it, in effort to keep their spouse/SO from cheating (HA!), and some aren’t given a choice.  Plainly put, I don’t think many women really are “ok” with porn.  Not even the ones performing in it.

For my marriage, it absolutely has been destructive.  To the point, that it’s now become a deal breaker.  Yes, I know, that’s pretty bold.  But, I had to draw my line in the sand, and I have.  Because you see, it became an addiction for my husband.  One that he still won’t even admit.  It came between us.  It made it so that there was less closeness and intimacy.  It became more about a sexual act than making love.  And it has had lasting effects on us.  Things that can’t be fixed over night.

When one starts hiding the fact that they are looking at porn on a daily basis, or lying, or covering it up in effort to hide it, it’s gone too far.  When they start treating you like an object instead of a whole person that is to be treated with love and respect, it’s gone too far. When one starts to prefer porn to their partner, it’s gone too far.  It should have never gotten to those places to begin with.

In my perfectly not so humble opinion, the way to avoid the above?  Is to not have it in your life at all.  And this is something I have required of my husband now.  Because I’ve realized, that for our marriage, there is no middle ground.  There is no, well you can look once in awhile.  It has to be none at all.  Otherwise, it will end my marriage.  Because the damage it has already caused is too deep.  I can not let it cause any more.

By

Saturday Morning Meeting Music Topic – Spirit Speaks

In today’s Castimonia meeting we listened to a great song that I relate to Step 12; Spirit Speaks by Know Hope Collective.  Below are the lyrics to this song and what it means to me.

Your spirit speaks, it moves in meKnow Hope Collective
And I’m awakened to Your love
You’re drawing me onto my knees
And I’m astounded by Your love

‘Cause You spoke life into my lungs
You are the air I breathe, You are the air I breathe
Still You move inside of me
You are the song I sing, You are the song I sing, yeah, yeah

You cover me with arms that reach
And I’m amazed by Your sweet grace
You set me free, You washed me clean
And I’m forgiven by Your grace

‘Cause You spoke life into my lungs
You are the air I breathe, You are the air I breathe
Still You move inside of me
You are the song I sing, You are the song I sing, yeah

With every breath I breathe, with every song I sing
I want to shout it out, Lord, I am listening
To every word You speak, I’ll go where You will lead
To love the least of these, my greatest offering

Lord, I am Listening

I don’t claim to have ever heard the voice of God, at least not yet.  However, I often joke that the Holy Spirit has an English accent.  The reason I state this is because my good friend Ken, who started Merimnao Healing Ministries (the parent ministry over Castimonia), prompted me to start a Christ-centered sexual purity group.  I’ll admit, initially I was afraid.  I was afraid of what other people would think of me.  We were relatively new to the church, maybe 2 years there, and not everyone knew my background.  I did know this, I was being called to begin something bigger than me, although at the time I did not realize it.  Therefore, I now shout out to the Lord, that I am listening to Him by going wherever He leads me.  Sometimes I become frightened about announcing my ministry or what I do, but I have to remember that it is God’s work, not mine, that I do and I need only worry about what He thinks about me, not what others think, thus I “carry this message to others.”

Awakened to Your love

Furthermore, I was awakened to God’s love as shown by my family and my brothers in Christ.  Actually, I was astounded by God’s love.  In my addiction, I did not believe that someone like me was lovable or worthy of another human’s love, much less that of God.  However, as I began to be set free from the chains of sexual addiction and as I was washed clean and forgiven by God’s grace, I saw this as possible.  Now, I chose to display God’s love to others, helping them be set free, by God, from the chains of sexual addiction.

The least of these – the most despised and afflicted

I do refer to the men who attend my group as “the least of these” for a reason.  The more I learn about sex addiction and attend meetings or trainings, the more I hear about the trauma these men and women went through as children, adolescences, and adults. I hear heartbreaking stories of sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, isolation, abandonment, violence, rape, near-death experiences, etc…  When society hears of a “sex addict” the worst of the worst is assumed.  These humans are almost always automatically categorized as perverts, child molesters, and rapists; despised by the society that helped cause their affliction.  None of these men and women grew up with dreams of becoming a sex addict, it was thrust upon them at a young age, a way to escape what was going on in their life, a survival mechanism that became uncontrollable.

Therefore, I chose to start this group and love the “least of these”, even when nobody else in their life would.  This was my greatest offering to the Lord.  Coming alongside these men who struggle with sexual purity issues and helping them along the way, just as God placed men in my life to help me along the way.

This is why I relate this song to Step 12, “having had a spiritual awakening, as a result of these steps, I carry the message to others and practice these principles in my own life.” Better yet, “Praise be to God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Take what you like and leave the rest.

By

At Least One of Us is Going to Hell for What You’ve Done

I read this raw and true poem as if were written by a spouse of a sex addict.  Many times I’ve heard spouses say that they can take the slips but they can’t take the lies.  The last two lines ring true of this statement.  I edited out the profanities and hope this spouse’s angry words don’t offend anyone.  Keep in mind, it is ok to have these thoughts and feelings, what is not ok is to verbally abuse your spouse (addict or not) with your offensive language.  Acting out in anger can be very damaging to a relationship!

At Least One of Us is Going to Hell for What You’ve Done
by properlypeculiar

Oh, go and f***ing

f*** another girl

Make it through another lonely night

You don’t need me

I wish you’d not pretend you did

You’ll keep me hanging on the line until I cut you off with something cute like a stutter

or a clever arrangement of words that won’t ever cut you quite deeply enough

to send you racing back to being breathless with me

Say processed, vomited, vapid lines out loud

Close your eyes at just the right moment

Put your arm around me just where it fits

F*** the world forward and back again before my eyes

but don’t ever lie to me