From Resident To Graduate To Mercy Intern…

2005 Graduate now intern, Giovy

Today we had the awesome privilege of hearing from Giovy, Mercy graduate from 2005, as she shared her story of healing and transformation with the Nashville residents and staff. Giovy grew up in Peru and suffered sexual abuse as a child. This led Giovy to have an eating disorder as she felt food was the only thing she could control. To further escape the pain, Giovy began to self-harm and even attempted suicide on several occasions. I first met Giovy when I was speaking at a crusade in Peru. She had been hospitalized from a recent suicide attempt and severe self-harm when she was checked out of the hospital to come and meet me. Her suicide attempts were very serious and when she couldn’t even succeed at taking her own life, Giovy said, “God, if you’re not going to let me die, then You’re going to have to teach me how to live.” At that time, Giovy decided to apply to Mercy. It was so cool to hear Giovy talk about her time at Mercy and the transformation that took place while she was here. After sharing her testimony, Giovy opened it up for questions from our residents. It was awesome to hear the residents ask Giovy about how she has walked out her freedom since being at Mercy. Giovy explained to the residents that her freedom was valuable and that she was going to walk closely with God, stay in the Word, and keep her mind renewed so that she could hang on to the freedom that she fought so hard to receive.


Here’s what a few of the girls had to say about Giovy’s teaching…

“I liked Giovy’s testimony and how encouraging she was since she has been through the program. Giovy shared with us how she was really determined while at Mercy. Giovy talked about living in the season that you’re in now and to really focus on our time here and get the most we can out of it. God has your future planned out and He will take care of what you need to do and where you need to go. I liked that because I’m always really worried about what I’m going to do in the future, so that was really great for me!” - Blaise


“Giovy’s testimony encouraged me and made me realize if she can do it then we can all get through this program. She also encouraged me that if she can finish strong, so can I.” - Ayona


“All of Giovy’s testimony was really inspiring, but the part that I enjoyed the most was hearing the practical steps of how to live out the tools that we are learning at Mercy, after Mercy. She really explained how to use the things we’re learning here and apply them practically in our lives afterwards.” - Jessica

Now, six years later, Giovy just started a year-long internship at the very home that she graduated from. We are so proud of her because she just finished the ministry leadership training at Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney, Australia. She is on fire for God and ready to give and serve! We are so proud to have her back and look forward to all the lives that she will impact in the next year and beyond.

Giovy before she came to Mercy

Giovy with me today

 Not only that, but Giovy recently joined our team that went to Uganda to serve Watoto…in case you missed it, check out what Giovy had to say about her time there - http://mercygoestouganda.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-7-classroom-dedication.html.