Years before Indiana's Sister Debbi Rhodes, soon to be ordained "Reverend Debbi," attended divinity school, and then seminary, she was a New York City attorney. She studied state and federal statutes prior to scripture. Then God entered her life.

Drawing on her own harrowing journey that saw innocence stolen before she turned nine, the Rev. Rhodes, 61, urges legislators weighing the reform measure to consider. “People, survivors, repress things because it would destroy them to remember before they’re ready. It might be 2, 10, or 25 years, you have no control over that. It needs to be okay for that remembering to take place and (for survivors) not to be penalized for the time it takes.”

She recalls her dehumanizing experiences in the survivor-impact video, that serves in part as an urgent, heartfelt message for Maryland lawmakers – and the state’s governor – who have the opportunity to eliminate the age-limit and statute of limitations for filing civil claims of childhood sexual abuse against perpetrators and enabling entities.

Co-founder (along with her husband, Father Robert Antony Rhodes) of the Community of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Church, currently based in Indiana, the Rev. Rhodes said like so many other survivors, for decades after the abuse she became withdrawn, self-doubting, and self-destructive. “I grew up thinking of myself as damaged goods, like I was innately bad. All I felt was pain.” Today, love, faith, prayer, and ministry – including counseling violent offenders at a nearby prison – are sources of enrichment and joy.

“Throughout my life I’ve found that the more I serve others they actually minister to me; we need each other. And all survivors need time to remember and to heal,” she added.