The following story mentions abuse which can be very unsettling to read about. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider reaching out to an appropriate individual or organisation for help.
An abused woman, healed by God through Alpha, now uses her story to bring hope to women in a detention centre
Karolina, 38, celebrates two birthdays: the day she was born, and the day she encountered the Holy Spirit on the Alpha weekend. “I woke the next day a different person,” she says simply.
Up to that moment, Karolina had been carrying a terrible secret that was slowly destroying her: “I was abused as a child. That event weighed heavily on my life. I drowned the pain with alcohol and parties. I entered a toxic relationship because I hated myself. There was a deep darkness over my entire life.”
Her mother’s death made her re-evaluate everything. “I realised I was headed straight toward destruction. That’s when I started to draw closer to God. I cried out to Him, full of pain. And He began to speak to me.”
Initially, she tried seeking answers on her own – a “personal and solitary” conversion, as she describes it. “But I was still stuck in that toxic relationship. I still had a lot of problems. I felt chained down. Something was missing in my journey.”
The girl praying over me saw a vision: the Holy Spirit wanted to give me a white flower. I heard very clearly in my heart: ‘I am giving you back your childlike dignity.’
A lot of hesitation
That’s when she remembered a friend telling her about how her life had changed after doing Alpha. “I started searching and it turned out that three Alphas were starting soon in my city. I picked one and signed up, with a lot of hesitation. I told myself I’d check out the first session and if I didn’t feel the vibe, I’d leave. But the warmth and openness of the people kept me coming back.”
Something profound and unexpected happened during the Alpha weekend away on June 8, 2024: “The girl praying over me saw a vision: the Holy Spirit wanted to give me a white flower. I heard very clearly in my heart: ‘I am giving you back your childlike dignity.’ At that moment, I felt those wounds begin to heal. I cried cleansing tears the entire evening. I went to confession and received communion for the first time in 15 years.
God broke my chains
“God broke my chains. I felt so much strength and power within me,” she states. She ended her toxic relationship and soon began helping to run Alpha. She also agreed to be part of a team running Alpha in a women’s detention centre, with a strong feeling that this was something God was calling her to do.
She soon realised why. As she and the rest of the team started getting to know the inmates, she found herself telling them about the abuse she had suffered as a child – something she still had not told anyone. “I felt this testimony was needed, and it was. When I shared it, several of the girls opened up as well. Many of them had gone through similar things. That’s why I feel such a connection with the women in prison.”
Transformation
Karolina says she feels immensely grateful and honoured to be “a tool in God’s hands” as he restores and heals broken lives, and feels it’s something she wants to focus on more deeply. She describes the transformation of one woman, serving an eight-year sentence, whose sexual abuse as a child led to a life of prostitution, crime and occult practices:
“She told us that during the prayer, for a moment, her breathing stopped and she felt like her heart stopped, too. Then, suddenly, she felt a new breath enter her and her heart started beating again. She knew right then that she was a different person.
“The change was visible. She became calm and peaceful. She wasn’t shouting or demanding attention any more. She was smiling, kind to everyone. And now she serves as a helper on Alpha in prison. She shares her story with the women. She’s genuinely invested in helping others experience what she did. She encourages them to pray, to read the Bible. She’s become a source of daily strength for them.”
Karolina says she’s “blown away” by what God has done in her own life in such a short space of time. “I honestly cannot put into words how thankful I am to God for what he’s done in my life this past year. With God, nothing is impossible.”
