Rachel Caruso LifeWise Academy

Here is a summary of the key topics, insights, and conclusion/decision from the comprehensive understanding in markdown format:

Comprehensive Summary of Pro-Life Radio Broadcast

Key Topics

Rachel Caruso’s personal journey and testimony

LifeWise Academy – a Bible education program in public schools

Sumter Youth Center – an after-school program providing a safe place for youth

Abortion and the impact on Rachel’s life

Redemption, forgiveness, and God’s grace

Insights and Takeaways

Rachel’s story demonstrates the power of God’s grace and redemption, even in the darkest of circumstances.

The importance of having a supportive church community that can provide guidance and healing for those struggling with past mistakes.

The need for programs like LifeWise Academy and Sumter Youth Center to reach young people with the message of the sanctity of life and the love of God.

The devastating impact of abortion, both physically and emotionally, and the long-lasting effects it can have on a person’s life.

The transformative power of an encounter with God, where He can heal the deepest wounds and restore a person’s relationship with Him.

Conclusion and Decision

Rachel’s testimony is a powerful testament to the transformative power of God’s love and grace. Despite the immense pain and trauma she experienced, she found redemption and purpose through her relationship with Christ. Her story serves as an inspiration to others who may be struggling with past mistakes or feeling unworthy of God’s love.

The work of LifeWise Academy and Sumter Youth Center is crucial in reaching young people with the message of the sanctity of life and the love of God. These programs provide a vital resource for families and communities, offering a safe and nurturing environment for children to learn and grow in their faith.

Overall, this broadcast highlights the importance of pro-life advocacy, the power of forgiveness and redemption, and the transformative impact that a relationship with God can have on a person’s life. It is a powerful reminder that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace and that He can use even the darkest of experiences to bring about His greater purpose.

[ 00:00:00,000 ]Pro-Life Radio is a pre-recorded program paid for by Pro-Life Radio. Preserving the sanctity of life in Florida. A loud voice for the unborn. This is Pro-Life Radio with your hosts, Vicky and Bruce Cherry. And welcome to another edition of Pro-Life Radio on a Sunday night. We thank you for joining us. We are in the studio, and I’m Bruce Cherry. Across from me, my lovely, devoted wife, Vicky Cherry. Good evening. And we have a great guest in the studio with us tonight who brought her husband along who does not want to speak, and we’re not going to bother him with that, but Rachel Caruso, who is a program director for… LifeWise Academy and for Sumter Youth Center. You’re wearing a couple of hats there, aren’t you? Yes, sir. All right.

[ 00:00:42,680 ]Well, we’re going to get started with you, but before we do, we start everything with Jeremiah 1-5 and prayer. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Heavenly Father, thank you. Once again, we come together in your name to share truth, to share… light to educate everyone on the sanctity of life, how precious the unborn are and how precious all life is and how what you have ordained. None of us has the authority to disqualify, to destroy. And God, we thank you for that. We thank you for this ministry. We thank you for all who are hearing this show tonight. We pray that we are fruitful in changing hearts and minds and saving the unborn.

[ 00:01:31,050 ]And. and adding some salve to the soul of those who have participated in abortion. and letting them know that there is. There is forgiveness. and they just have to ask for it. And God, we thank you for this opportunity. We thank you for those who contribute to the show to keep it on. And we ask for your blessing upon our guest, Rachel, and her husband, Christian, and blessing upon their home and all who hear this show. And God, we ask that in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, Rachel Caruso, thank you for joining us tonight. Yes. And on an Easter weekend, we greatly appreciate it. Tell us about LifeWise Academy. Well, LifeWise Academy is kind of new in my world, too, but it is a Bible education program that is during school hours.

[ 00:02:17,420 ]In the public school system. In the public school system, yes. We just launched, and I live in Lake Panasoffkee. And we just launched in Lake Panasoffkee Elementary in January. And we take the children off of school property across the street to a host site, which is First Baptist. We’re able to preach. The gospel to them and they are taught a good character, education, and traits to take back to the school. And we feed them lunch, take them back to the school, and we can do that legally as long as it’s off school property, parent approved, and it is privately funded. I know that’s going on now in several of the counties, and there was quite a fight to stop that at one point, but that has now come to an end, and it is…

[ 00:03:04,930 ]legal in the state of Florida to share the gospel through the LifeWise Academy. That’s fantastic. And it’s amazing. During school hours. There’s so much going on in the schools right now. Now, not good. So this is such a breath of fresh air to have something that is positive and that will help them for the rest of their lives. Yes. And hopefully it’ll help them make the right choices so we don’t have to fight this battle that we’re fighting. They will see a decline in teenage pregnancies and unintended pregnancies and things like that, and that they make the right choice should they go down that path. That they know that life is precious. Well, you know, in reality, most young children, elementary age, especially younger elementary, know it’s a baby.

[ 00:03:51,270 ]They know it’s alive. Yes. And they’re excited. But when they start getting to that age where they’re talking about sex out of marriage or whatever, that influence from so many of the public school—people is what kind of messes up that. You know, let’s have that baby. Let’s have life. It’s a blessing from God. Yes. And, you know, it’s amazing to me. I found out all too late from my, I have two sons, blessed to have two sons from a previous marriage that are now grown. And they shared with me after they were grown and out of the house, of course, that in school they were encouraged to, it was okay to have sexual encounters before marriage, and it was okay to have sexual encounters with either sex.

[ 00:04:35,780 ]And it was shared in the public school system. They were being told that by teachers. And if your parents don’t understand, we do. Just don’t tell them. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it’s great what you’re doing. So I understand you have a personal story, a personal journey that you want to share with us. Yes, I do. I actually was the assistant director in a pregnancy center right here in Lake County for eight years. So I’ve been. at the Sumter Youth Center for just a couple of years now, and it’s an after-school program. So essentially trying to be able to get the word of God in young people during school hours and then have a safe place for them to come after school. But as you said.

[ 00:05:22,810 ]If we can get Jesus in the hearts of these babies at an early age, then hopefully they would not go down the wrong path and make choices that are going to affect them the rest of their life. Mm-hmm. So, yes, I didn’t just go and apply for a pregnancy care center position because I had had an abortion. In my past. 2001 was a really dark year for me, and I was addicted to drugs. I was running from God. I was making a lot of choices that were not, they were affecting myself, not only myself, but my children. I had two children at that time. And were you a believer at that time also? I have known Jesus, have ran to Jesus my whole life, even as a little girl.

[ 00:06:12,760 ]I can remember running to him, but having that relationship where I understood. being a daughter. was that’s what I was missing so um being in this relationship that I was in and the My lifestyle was just taking me further and further away from feeling like I should even talk to God. I had a lot of things happen as a child. Did you feel some shame? Yes. And you felt like you were unworthy to talk to him? I lived in shame ever since my childhood because of things that I experienced as a child. know how to handle those when you’re growing up without any guidance. And I knew Jesus was the only one who ever felt safe. But as you grow older, and you don’t have that consistency of a household that is teaching you about Jesus.

[ 00:07:06,090 ]My mother, God bless her soul, she if she hadn’t been taking us to church the times that she did, I don’t think I would be sitting here today because I always knew he was the one to run to. I just didn’t know how to stay with him when I messed up. Never left me, obviously. But so I was running from God because I felt like I didn’t deserve to have him as a father. I didn’t understand that part. But, used drugs as a as a bomb for my wounds, I guess I would say. But just led me into a really dark place. So in 2001, I found out that I was pregnant again. I was always trying to leave the situation that I was in, trying to leave the father of my children at that time.

[ 00:07:49,950 ]To get out of that relationship, but I didn’t know how to quit using because I knew that if I quit using, I would have to feel all this pain. So I got me a really great job. My sister was always my advocate in that area. She ran to books. I ran to drugs. So she’s like super smart, got like three master’s degrees. But she would always bring me in as a little sister. She needs help. Let’s just give her a chance. So I was working at this specific organization. A man, my boss, took me under his wing, kind of. I thought he was being like a father figure. So, found out I was pregnant. He knew everything about my life, and just he was the one that was kind of encouraging me, like, if you’re going to leave this situation, you can’t have another baby right now.

[ 00:08:35,049 ]You already have two. You don’t need another baby. So he encouraged you to have an abortion? Yes, he did. Yes. And I was not okay with abortions at all. I never thought that I would ever. Do that but I I kind of let him just keep it. Just he just kept telling me that and I can’t just blame him solely. But he just said, ‘You’re never going to get out of the situation if you have another child.’ In my mind, it was hard having two children. So how am I going to do it again? But I finally just caved in. I let him talk me into it because I didn’t have to do anything. He called the abortion clinic. He made my appointment. He paid for my appointment.

[ 00:09:15,720 ]He told me what time he was going to pick me up. He would bring me back home. And my plan was just to tell the father that I was having another miscarriage. I felt like that was how I justified it. It’s the same thing as having a miscarriage, except for it’s an abortion. Looking into it, never knew anything about it. Why was he so wanting you to do this? I mean… I, to this day, don’t know completely. I don’t know. Do you think he had some romantic designs on you? I do. I’m like, I just don’t… Yeah, why would he want, you know? I do. Was he an older gentleman? Yes. And he did. Eventually it came out and the way that he was talking to me and I had cut ties with him after that.

[ 00:10:02,160 ]But I do believe that that was some of it. So. Of course, we know there’s an enemy just trying to destroy lives. So he may have had. trying to make sure that I was. going to do well. Who knows? But he did it all. So the hardest part about all of this is that I never educated myself. Even though I was a mother of two kids, I had been on drugs my whole life, basically, since I was a teenager. I had a relationship with God. And I got off drugs for a couple years, but I never fully understood how to live without using some kind of substance. So whenever he took care of everything for me, I was kind of blindly walking into it.

[ 00:10:51,670 ]So the day that we went, he picked me up and took me to the clinic. He just dropped me off and I went aside. And when I walked in, I felt the darkness, another sign that I knew. God. Mm-hmm. And um. It was the worst day probably of my life that day. Oh wow. I walked in broken, and I came out a different kind of broken. Mm. Hang on, Rachel. We’ve got a break we’ve got to take. I know this is difficult for you to share this story, and I appreciate it. We appreciate it. Thank you very much. We’ve got Pro-Life Radio going on in the studio here, and we’ve got Rachel Caruso of LifeWise Academy and Sumter Youth Center, and she’s sharing her personal journey with us on an Easter weekend.

[ 00:11:37,220 ]And we will be right back with more Pro-Life Radio. Also, details coming up on the Life Banquet. Pro-Life Action Ministries has coming up on May the 12th. We’ll tell you about how you can get your tickets for that. And it’s going to be a great time and for a great cause. More Pro-Life Radio. Coming up on AM 950, FM 94. 9, The Answer. If you’re pro-life, like this show, and want to support this mission, please help with your donation today. Go online to givesendgo. com slash orlandoproliferadio or make your checkout to Mission Save America, Inc. and mail it to 13900 County Road 455, Unit 107-334, Claremont, Florida 34711. Pro-Life Radio is a non-profit entity and all donations are tax-deductible. Thank you. Welcome back to Pro-Life Radio on a Sunday evening, Easter weekend.

[ 00:12:34,500 ]Amen. I’m Vicky Cherry. I’m showing you my handsome husband, Bruce. Hello. And, you know, it’s interesting because Easter is all about a resurrection and about Jesus dying for our sins. And there is forgiveness in the blood of Jesus. And we have a young lady in the studio with us, Rachel Caruso, who. is born again. For lack of a better term, she was born again. She was running from God. and has now understood that she needs to not just run to God, but stay with God. And so, Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your story. I know it’s not easy to share that story, so I appreciate it, and we appreciate it. Please continue. So I… I walked into this facility and didn’t really understand what I was walking into.

[ 00:13:27,900 ]It’s really eerie when I think back to it now, how… Immediately, the staff were so proud of me. They welcomed me. And I know that’s not everybody’s story. Sometimes they’ve not been treated well. But in this case, it’s almost like the enemy was just using manipulation as his tool and using those people. told me that she had spoken with the man who paid for me and just how blessed I was and that I was making the best decision that I could make for my life. and I don’t have to do anything except for sign right here. And I just signed the paper. I was not informed about anything. I wasn’t talked to about anything. It went so fast. They didn’t tell you what to expect? No, and this was in 2001.

[ 00:14:21,750 ]I know some things have changed in some ways, but in a lot of ways, it’s not. There was no sonogram? Well, we’re going to get to that. Okay. They just didn’t ask many questions at all. It was just, just sign here. And he paid for the best. He’s taking care of you with the best. I don’t know, package or whatever that you can pay. Like they’re selling you a vacation package or something. It’s almost like she wanted me to know that he paid the most. He paid for me to not feel anything after. He made sure that I was going to be well taken care of by them. And so I, I, it happened so fast. I just, I remembered going back into the room. You know what? I’m sorry to stop.

[ 00:15:04,090 ]I almost wonder if it’s like he was. trafficker. You know, he wanted to. draw you in and Maybe, I mean… She was part of it, too. And they’re just like, OK, let’s let’s pull her in. it it definitely it’s just it could have been there’s a lot of unknowns but it definitely felt really evil and I I just I had gotten high before I left the house so I just to still be able to remember feeling some of the evil that was there it’s not a it’s not easy to explain but it’s almost comforting to me now to know that God was with me. Mm-hmm. And he didn’t just abandon me even there. So I went back into the room and…

[ 00:15:52,180 ]I sat in a chair, and there was an ultrasound machine right next to me, and that’s when it clicked in my brain. I immediately… I’m talking seconds. I immediately was like, ‘Wait, that’s an ultrasound machine.’ That’s what I’ve done with my pregnancies. And I looked at it and I saw movement a little bit. And as soon as I saw movement, I remember. Her moving my body. She moved the whole chair, turned me quickly, and put a gas mask on my face. It happened that quickly. So you saw the ultrasound of your baby. I saw movement. And she gassed you. Exactly. To knock you out. Mm-hmm. It happened so fast. Hmm. I just woke up and… Like I said, I walked in broken and I left a different kind of broken because then I then I understood what I did.

[ 00:16:52,010 ]And I couldn’t go back. There wasn’t any way for me to go back. And it’s crazy because sometimes I share this and I’m fine, and sometimes I’m not. But it just— I didn’t know how to name that kind of pain. And because of what I did, I knew what I did. I knew, or I felt like I couldn’t, there’s no way I can talk to God. Like this is, there’s, there’s like 10 commandments and I know them. And now I have. Fully taken alive. I knew what I did. And he picked me up. I don’t remember a conversation at all. He took me back to my apartment. The father of my children was actually concerned about me because I had a miscarriage and would not provide me with any kind of help with drugs or anything because I needed to rest.

[ 00:17:51,860 ]And so I’m sitting, and then he left, and I’m sitting in that pain without having drugs that I usually have every single day to take it away. And I felt the darkness coming. And it almost felt like a blanket just covering me. I was sitting on the ground against the wall. And I, for the first time, I had had thoughts before, but this. Was different. I really thought there’s no way I can live with this. Like I can’t. I can’t wake up tomorrow with this. I gotta do something. And it just— it was happening so quick. And it felt like it was closing in on me. And The Lord, that scripture that says that he’s close to the brokenhearted and to those who are crushed in spirit, his grace is. Crazy.

[ 00:18:40,420 ]I don’t even understand it. But I know that because of his grace, he was with me. And I heard my son and my daughter laughing in the other room. And I just— I just like in a second, I just. It just went away. You snapped out of it. I snapped out of it. You knew you had to be there for them. I said, ‘Oh, my goodness. That’s my babies in there.’ I got to be there for them. So your ex left you. In your room. Mm-hmm. By yourself. He left the house. He left the apartment. Yes. And left the children there with you, knowing you’d had a miscarriage in his mind. Well, yeah, but we were both not in our right minds. Okay, was he also using drugs?

[ 00:19:20,699 ]Yes, we both were. Okay. Okay, all right. So we both were not living right, and I was trying to leave him, like, all the time. No, I did not know that that was him. Well, yeah, that’s a whole other story. Rachel is sharing that the gentleman that she has with her, her husband, Christian, is the man that, so both of you have been redeemed. Oh, yeah. And that’s another whole, it’s wild, wild. But again, God is so good. God is so awesome. I know, I know. So, um, I… I don’t really remember how I was coping. I just remember that everything that that man told me that I would lose, like your job, your stability, your apartment, all these things, I still lost it.

[ 00:20:13,490 ]He was telling me, ‘Don’t have this baby because then you’re going to lose everything you have right now.’ And I still lost everything. And I spiraled out of control in my drug use. I could not get high. I never was able to get high again like I was before. There was nothing taking that away. It was just kind of. I just, nothing was taking away that kind of pain. I just didn’t want to go to sleep. I just didn’t want to start getting tired and start to come down because that’s when I would feel the weight of everything that I’d felt plus now. This feeling that I couldn’t, I couldn’t understand. So I, I ended up losing my apartment. I lost that job. DCF.

[ 00:21:04,890 ]I know there’s this saying that is very popular that says that you can’t love someone if you don’t love yourself. And I believe that to an extent, but they were my only reason I felt like I could live for, that I wanted to live for. They brought me joy and happiness. I was just broken. But I loved them so much and I didn’t want to not be there with them. So when they got removed from me, that was the first time. That I I did cry out to God, I screamed his name in the truck, and um I felt like I just was underwater is how I explain it and then like I came up from a breath of fresh air but that was it like that’s I was like he still came like God still came because I was drowning.

[ 00:21:53,980 ]And I did everything I needed to do to get my babies back. It takes a long time. I’ve been in ministry a long time, and I see what they ask you to do. Again, God’s grace is insane. But he helped me get my kids back in four months. And I just checked off the list. I learned how to manipulate the system. Was a master manipulator back then. So it was easy, but I couldn’t quit using. I just couldn’t quit using, but God still helped me to be able to get clean enough to get my babies back. So I would love to say that that’s our story. And I kept on, but I was still broken and I wasn’t dealing with that of the abortion. And I didn’t know how to and I didn’t want to touch it.

[ 00:22:39,250 ]I just still wanted to continue. Now I got my kids back and I’m going to pretend like this didn’t happen. And I just continue to spiral out of control. And I ended up a lot of things happen. But We got into a situation where I was kind of forced to move. And my father, my children, kind of took everything from me so that I was safe. Like, just stay home. And I stayed home and did not have drugs like I normally had. And I started having feelings again. And I just can remember little bits and pieces of like, ‘This is not.’ I remember watching my kids one day. I’m like, ‘God, this isn’t.’ I spoke to him like, ‘God, this isn’t what I.’ This is what I want.

[ 00:23:22,790 ]I want to have a relationship with my kids, but I don’t know how to quit using. I can’t quit using. And then I had an encounter with God one night. That is what actually moved me to the next part of my story. All right. Well, we’re going to touch on that. That’s a perfect place to stop. That is a perfect place to stop. And I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. We need a box of Kleenex in here. Yeah, that would be great. I had to hand her a piece of paper towel. That’s a little coarse. I know. I’m sorry. It’s Pro-Life Radio on a Sunday night. And details on how you can help keep this ministry on the radio are coming up.

[ 00:24:00,610 ]Also, I want to make sure you put it on your calendar, the Life Banquet put on by Pro-Life Action Ministries. Michelle Herzog, very good. Friend of ours who’s been on the show numerous times, they have their banquet and fundraiser coming up May 12th at Calvary Orlando on Clay Street. And you can get your tickets. They’re most reasonable tickets for most of the pro-life banquets. They’re a little steeper. This is a very reasonable ticket, and it goes to a very worthy cause. So we’ll have more details on that coming up. Pro-life radio will continue with Rachel Caruso in studio sharing her story next. AM 950, FM 94. 9, The Answer. If you’re pro-life, like this show and want to support this mission, please help with your donation today. Go online to givesendgo.

[ 00:24:45,760 ]com or make your checkout to Mission Save America, Inc. and mail it to 13900 County Road 455. Unit 107-334 Claremont, Florida 34711 Pro-Life Radio is a non-profit entity and all donations are tax-deductible. Thank you. And welcome back to Pro-Life Radio on a Sunday night, Easter weekend. Happy Easter. Resurrection. I was going to say, a lot of people we know call it Resurrection Sunday. And we have definitely a story of rebirth and resurrection here with Rachel Caruso sharing her story with us. You’ve really gone through some grief. And just when we thought, okay, she’s beaten this, and you hadn’t, and when we went to break, you were talking about you cried out to God. Yeah. What happened? So I felt super alone. The father of my children would not have been okay with my decision.

[ 00:25:57,020 ]And I did that behind his back. So I could not talk to him about that. And I just, I got to a place where I just, I was desperate. But I still didn’t know how to, I didn’t know how to stop. Like I said, I didn’t know how to stop using. But one night there was, I have no idea why Christian. TV was playing in my home at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. Who knows? But I heard a woman preaching, but I don’t remember sharing much about Jesus. But she was sharing her story and she had talked about how she had been abused as a younger person. And it just resonated. I was like, how is she? I had been to church many times, tried to do the whole church thing for a while.

[ 00:26:41,390 ]But as soon as people. I would tell them everything. I would tell them anything about me. I’d be like, ‘This is seven days of not using.’ I just would be honest. Which is what you should be able to do. But I think I just kind of scared people and they just would start treating me differently. And then the enemy would get in my head and say, ‘You, you can’t have that kind of peace. You can’t have that kind of.’ Because they haven’t done the things that you’ve done. So it was real easy for me to just say, ‘Oh, well, I just don’t need to be here.’ So I was not in church, but I had church on that night.

[ 00:27:13,690 ]And she talked about things that I had never seen anyone share from a pulpit, much less on national TV. So I just started watching it, and I’m like, how is she talking about that? Let’s back up for a second. I hate to interrupt you because I know you’re in a path here. It’s okay. You said Christian TV was on at 2 o’clock in the morning in your home, and you don’t know why. I don’t remember how or why that was on. Okay, now here’s the question I have to ask you. Were you high that night? Yes, of course. I was awake. Okay. I was awake, so yes. So do you think you turned it on? It’s possible. I still know it was God. It’s possible. I just don’t remember why I would do that.

[ 00:27:59,190 ]But again, maybe I was still trying to… connect somehow. You know God works in mysterious ways. He does. So he probably did it. I really believe, yeah, that God said, ‘Okay, I want you to see this.’ You know what I did want to say about the church. Mm-hmm. Our church is supposed to be a hospital. For the broken. Not what it is today in so many churches. And so you should have been able to go to your church. You should have been able to go to those other Christian people, believers. And poured out your heart and them to understand and pray for you and come alongside you. That’s what church is. Yes. And fortunately, I have had that since then. So I, I’m, I’m still not, I’m not angry at those people.

[ 00:28:39,910 ]They just. It’s OK. But so I hear her speaking and I stop and I looked at the TV and I’m looking at her eyes because. I’m hearing her, but I’m like, how is she talking about all of these things without almost like it’s a story, like she’s just telling her story, and um, her eyes were not changing, like she’s not like breaking down, and she’s not feeling judged, she’s just confidently sharing what the Lord has done in her life and and it’s about her past and I just said, ‘God, I I have no idea what you did in that woman But if you could do whatever you’ve done in her, in me, that’s what I’ve been searching for. Because I had been waking up my whole life with the weight of…

[ 00:29:28,680 ]If either it’s my sin or the shame, that was not my fault, just my whole life. And I never felt like I could do something like that. And I knew that she had to have had some kind of healing that I hadn’t had yet. And I just I said that to God and I said, ‘I will serve you for the rest of my life if you do that for me.’ And I had a supernatural encounter with God in my living room and nobody can ever take it from me because it was me and him. And so I just remember getting on my face and I’m crying out. I’m just crying, crying on my face on the ground. And I’m just kind of huddled. I’m just bent over and with my knees in my chest crying.

[ 00:30:11,230 ]And I’m just talking to him about everything I know that I’ve done wrong and that I know that he’s never left me. I don’t know why you’re still here, but I don’t know how I need you. I still need you. And I felt his love in a way that I had never felt before. It’s almost like there’s, and this is the only way I can describe it, it’s almost like those little, you know the little, those comic strips that go real fast? They’re old-timey. It’s almost like I was seeing my life like that. I’m seeing me as a little girl, pure and innocent. I’m seeing hard things. And it’s hard to look at, but simultaneously, I feel the love of God overpowering all of that. It didn’t even matter.

[ 00:30:57,550 ]I’m looking at it. We’re not looking or touching or thinking about any of that. But it was OK because his love was like pouring through me and it’s coming out of my tears. And it’s just— it felt OK. But it hurt. But it’s like, I need to show you this because I understand you. I get it. I’ve always got it. Like, I know this was not your fault. Now this, yeah, you, you made some bad choices, but remember I was there and I’m here and he was just showing me all these things. And it’s almost like I was just seeing my life. In a mirror and hard to look at all my flaws, but he was saying, ‘This is why I sent my son.’ I knew that this was all going to happen.

[ 00:31:38,910 ]I sent my son. I didn’t come here to condemn you. I had a plan. And I still love you. Let me be your father. And I just fell in love with him. Him like in a way that was different and I still didn’t understand everything, but I just fell in love with him and felt like I was his daughter. Again, I love to say, ‘I woke up the next day and I put on Christian music and I was like, ‘Let’s do this.’ But I… I I just I woke up the next day free when I got off the floor. I was free from shame. I was free from guilt. I asked him to forgive me of my abortion. I’d asked everything that I could think of. I’m telling him, ‘I’m sorry.

[ 00:32:18,530 ]I’m sorry. Sorry.’ But I still don’t know how to leave. And I’m still addicted to drugs. And I still was. But so it’s not like I left the next day. But there, things started changing. I started talking to God again. I started singing to him again. Songs that I remember my kids. I had them singing things. My son remembered when he was little. So we’re just like. I’m using still, but now I’m talking to God again. And through a series of events, I made a decision to leave, leaving out a lot of stuff. God made a way for me to do it easy and quick, and I took the wrong way. Now, you made a decision to leave. To leave the father and my children. I was leaving.

[ 00:33:00,960 ]I was leaving the relationship. And I had an opportunity to go to Sumter County. So that’s where my older sister lived. And while I didn’t really have an opportunity, I forced myself to have one. Thank you. Because the way God did it, I messed it up. And so now I’ve got to leave with nothing. I’ve got to leave with me and my kids and our clothes. And that’s basically it. And so I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have a vehicle. And before I had lots of vehicles and we had, it’s just— God was slowly taking everything away. And, um, I left, moved to Sumter County with my mom and sister and my little sister, my three kids into a little tiny apartment in Sumter County to start my life over with Christ.

[ 00:33:47,580 ]And it was not easy because I was— it was hard to leave the drugs. And I did relapse like three times whenever I moved, but I never started using in the town that I lived in. I would only use when the father, the baby, my kids would come and see me. So we were not together anymore. I’m starting a new life in Christ. I am crazy on fire for God. I’ve got to ask you this. Yes. Were you angry at him? At the father? Yes. Yes, always. Because he would drag you back into the drugs? Well, he wasn’t even that way. He was… there’s not really a great person that you could say does the things that he was doing, but he really did have, he wanted what was best.

[ 00:34:33,389 ]He always wanted what was best for us. He was doing business to take care of us. But he was with the wrong kind of girl. I wasn’t the kind that knew how to just stay home and be a… A good mom and wife, and we weren’t married anyway, but that’s what he wanted. Like, we’ll still keep doing all this, and I’m going to take care of us. But you got to stay home and do right. I couldn’t, so um, you’re leaving him was more of a let me work on me than it was. Well, I just… Breaking away from him. Well, no, I think I did break completely away from him. I was leaving. I did it secretly, left, moved to Sumter County. And you thought that’s what God would want.

[ 00:35:17,120 ]Yes, yes, because I wouldn’t have access to any drugs anymore. So I had to, that was the only choice. And so I left and moved to Sumter County and started my life over with God. Fast forward to miracle after miracle kept happening. And I have to leave a lot of that out because I want to get to my my baby. But I ended up three years after being here for three years in Sumter County. I was in church every minute the door was open. I was a youth leader. I was doing everything I could in church. I didn’t go to rehab, but I was in church every time the doors were open, doing anything to keep me busy. And I just thought that God was going to have me working just with kids for the rest of my life.

[ 00:36:05,410 ]So they wouldn’t make the choices I made. But he— he I still am today in some ways, but he had a different plan. All right. Well, we’re here with Rachel Caruso. She’s sharing her story, her testimony with us, and it is fascinating. And we’ve got one more segment to go of Pro-Life Radio on Easter Sunday night. We thank you all for joining us, and we’ll be right back. Details coming up on how you can help keep this ministry on the air. I’m Bruce Cherry. My lovely wife, Vicky Cherry, is across from me. And we’ll be back with more Pro-Life Radio on AM 950, FM 94. 9, The Answer. If you’re pro-life, like this show, and want to support this mission, please help with… your donation today. Go online to givesendgo. com slash orlandoproliferadio or make your check out to Mission Save

[ 00:37:03,229 ]Pro-Life Radio is a non-profit entity and all donations are tax deductible. Thank you. Welcome back to Pro-Life Radio on a Sunday evening. I’m Vicky Cherry. Across from me is my handsome husband, Bruce. And we have a great guest in the studio. We actually have two guests in the studio, but… The Father. The husband. has decided he doesn’t want to talk. But he’s here, and he also needed paper towel. Yeah. I think we all did. Maybe not Bruce. No, no. I held up. I thought I was going to tear up pretty good there. It is a very heartfelt show. We so appreciate you coming on today. On this Resurrection Sunday. Yes. Absolutely. You were resurrected. Oh, yeah. You were reborn. Yeah. So Rachel Caruso is in the studio with us.

[ 00:37:54,380 ]Just you do this so great. So just continue to share, please. So three years on fire for God. Just what my life is. I’m going to do anything you want me to do. Not that I was always making the best choices. I was working out my salvation, but so ready for God to, I want full-time ministry and an opportunity came up that I could be in full-time ministry. So I was like, okay, I don’t care what it is. I’ll go do it. What is it? And I didn’t really understand what it was, but I said, Yes. And I went to this interview and well, let me back up a little bit. God restored the relationship between the father and my children and myself. And we got married.

[ 00:38:36,270 ]We did everything according to the Bible, to the T. I was like, ‘Not until we get married.’ Doesn’t matter. Born again, virgin. Doing everything right. And we committed our life to Christ and we have been married since 2007. So I think we’ve been together like 26 years. Like that. So God’s good. But so I’m back with him, ready for ministry. We’re going to do this and build our family. So I go to this interview. Walk in and mind you, I know I sound like I’m really just dumb a little bit, but I didn’t look into like completely what it was— it was. I heard ministry and there’s a foster care facility ministry that’s on the property. So I’m like, ‘I know what you’re doing, God. I know.’ I don’t care what this is.

[ 00:39:23,940 ]I’m going. There. So I just wanted to help kids that were hurting. So I took, I went to the interview. My boss at that time, she asked me to. She was busy, so she says, ‘Walk around. Get yourself familiar.’ I walked into the back room. Um, there are um the the box that has all the different fetal development babies. Oh yeah, and I saw the the one that was 12. That was kind of the one that met my eye. I’m like, ‘It just I can’t explain in words.’ Again, I got to try to get through this quickly. But the Holy Spirit, again, was with me and helped me because I felt like something inside of me was. I was getting stabbed on the inside. It’s just an awful feeling, but I still made.

[ 00:40:10,370 ]I had never seen that. I’d never seen that. And it just, it all. All came back to life again in my mind. In my mind. I didn’t know how I was gonna get through the interview. Got through the interview. Have no idea how. Left the. the facility telling screaming at God again in my car. I’m like, why, what are you doing? Like, I felt like he betrayed me because I’m like, we’re so close. And. You didn’t prepare me for that, and I knew that I was gonna have to take that position. I even really knew that I didn’t know what pro-life was. I had no idea what pro anything was. I’d been living a different kind of lifestyle. So I was just like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna take it.’ But I was upset.

[ 00:40:50,280 ]I said, ‘I trust you because you’ve always gotten me through everything And I don’t have anybody else to trust. But I haven’t told the father of my children about this. I haven’t told anybody. So how, I don’t know. Whatever you’re going to do, we got it. We got to do it. We’re going to work through it because I trusted him as, as my father. Fast forward. I obviously had to tell everybody, but the crazy thing is I didn’t even tell my boss. So I had two abortion-minded clients. Couple weeks that I was there, and I brought them in, still, and I shut the door and I sat them down. And I’m like, ‘Look, I don’t… I don’t don’t… please, don’t tell them out there that I’ve had an abortion because I did.

[ 00:41:28,890 ]But I, this is me. This is where I’m at. And I don’t want you to feel like this. That’s all I can give you. Just don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Because this is what I’m going through right now. And I don’t want anybody to feel this pain. And those first two abortion-minded clients, one of them did keep her baby. And the other girl I did develop a relationship with, and she actually ended up passing away. And she did not, she did not keep her baby, but I was able to minister to her. And I know that God. has her right now. But, um, so I eventually had to tell, I had to tell my husband, I had to tell my children. I waited until the day before I had to share at church.

[ 00:42:06,980 ]For three services, thousands of people. So I’m like, this is what’s happening tomorrow morning. And I told everybody, this is the only thing I’ve not told y’all. If you want to know. I’m not going to keep saying it. So come to First Baptist and hear all about it. So people did come and I shared my abortion story. I started I started a recovery. Every class after that, we had a memorial for my baby, Pastor Cliff Lee, his first time ever doing one. We did it in the chapel. We honored my baby. I had named him Daniel because that means God is my judge. That was when I was still in shame. And it was my pastor’s name. And so I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s going to be his name.’ I knew he was a boy.

[ 00:42:47,220 ]I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew that he was my son. And that’s what would hurt the most because I always knew he was my son. So then, and I don’t know how I knew that, but I just knew God told me. But then I went through a recovery class with the girls and and in the recovery class, there is a. A week that you have to ask, you have to ask God: are you supposed to ask God the name and the sex of your baby? I’d already done that, but when I got home, I went to the bathroom. This is my favorite part of the story: this and the last part. I know I gotta go fast, but um— I asked God what the name is.

[ 00:43:23,240 ]I sat on my bathroom floor and I said, God, I know I named him Daniel, but did you maybe have like a name for him? Because I didn’t. And I acknowledged him publicly until now. So if you had a name for him, I’m doing what I’m asking those girls to do, and I’m asking you, and it felt really weird, and it felt strange. And I’m like, I just this is dumb. I know. Maybe. I don’t know. I was just going through all these emotions. But he gave me the name is a car. And I was not fully into like understand. Everything about the word of God. And it was back when we had big fat concordances. Y’all remember those? So now you can do it on your phone.

[ 00:43:58,060 ]But how I got his, I ended up going and looking at. I researched it, and it said that his name was, he is a great reward and would bring a great reward. I slammed it shut and I said, ‘God, I’m so dumb.’ Why would I think that? I didn’t, I didn’t, there’s no way he’s going to bring a reward because I killed him. So that’s what I left. And then I go to my class and went through the whole class, did the whole Daniels. His name’s Daniel. But then, when the girl was walking out, I said, ‘Hey, let me just share with you what happened.’ It took her. I said, ‘This is dumb, but this is what happened.’ This is what the name I got.

[ 00:44:35,680 ]And she was the one who helped me to understand that Rachel, that is his name. He. is a great reward. Babies’ lives are being saved and women are healing because of his story. You know, Issachar was Leah’s divine recompense. So I was like, ‘There was for me— me, it was something I knew I didn’t deserve.’ So it was hard for me to accept. But how can we ever truly understand his grace? His grace is unexplainable. It’s unconditional. There’s nothing that we can earn from him. So part of his grace was pouring it out to me so that I could help. Help others. And that’s what he does. He, in Second Corinthians one, four, he says, ‘God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those who are troubled.’ So I understood.

[ 00:45:21,580 ]And said, ‘OK, I’m so sorry, God, his name is Issachar and his middle name will be Daniel Caruso.’ So, so my family had kind of had to heal through this trauma. And then this is the very best part of this story. My son, Brayden, got married young, 20, and she was 18. They got pregnant, and they asked me if they could name my grandson Issachar. Aww. I heard God in that moment say, ‘Rachel, you thought you knew grace.’ All of these years, you thought you knew grace, but this is grace. His love is so extravagant. He not only forgives us, he restores us, he redeems us. Issachar is my little face of grace. Here on earth. Like he’s my constant reminder of God’s redemption. He’s a living, breathing testament to God’s grace.

[ 00:46:19,330 ]He’s my tangible reward. I didn’t deserve in this life, so it’s like God turning my ashes into beauty, sorrow into joy. He’s my reminder that his grace is so abundant and we don’t understand it. There’s no way for us to really understand his grace. And I just wanted to end my story with John 3: 15 through 17, because everyone who Believes may have eternal life in him because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. That whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. So he literally brought me back to life. And in a way, not many are going to understand.

[ 00:47:02,770 ]He brought life to my son. He brought purpose to him. He brought identity to him. And what the enemy meant for evil, God has turned into good. And I’ll share this until I see Jesus and him for the rest of my life. There you go. Not only that, but he also restored you and your husband. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I wouldn’t even, I, I, he. He is my, I tell God all the time, like, you can’t, he can’t leave first. He just can’t. I don’t even cook, guys. I don’t even cook! So he cooks? He cooks. Oh, okay. He does everything. All right. Thank you so much. I know that was not an easy story for you to share. And you just have. And… And perfectly. Absolutely.

[ 00:47:52,100 ]And I never cry this much in a show. And I know there’s somebody out there tonight that needed to hear. Your story. And you’ve helped someone else tonight, at least one person. Two, actually. The unborn and the mother carrying the unborn. I know somebody’s healing. I know that. So, and yes, I tell you not to do that, and I’m sitting here banging on the table. Oh, wow. Thank you. Rachel Caruso with LifeWise Academy and Sumter Youth Center sharing her testimony with us tonight on Pro-Life Radio on a Resurrection Sunday. Thank you all for joining us. Rachel, thank you so much. And to you and your family and to Christian, your husband, thank you. God bless you. May God bless your household and bless your ministry. And thank you. Thank you.

[ 00:48:38,220 ]Thank you. And thank you all for listening. And we pray for blessings to each one of you as well. We will see you again next week. Pro-Life Radio on AM 950, FM 94. 9, The Answer. And I’d like to say goodnight to my lovely wife, Vicky. Good night. We’ll see you all next week. Minutes. If you’re pro-life, like this show, and want to support this mission, please help with your donation today. Go online to givesendgo. com. or make your checkout to Mission Save America, Inc. and mail it to 13900 County Road.

[ 00:49:27,410 ]Pro-Life Radio is a non-profit entity and all donations are tax-deductible. Thank you. You’ve been listening to Pro-Life Radio, a strong voice for the unborn in Florida with Vicky and Bruce Cherry. Connect with Vicky and Bruce online at ProLifeRadio. Com and join us again next week at this very same time for Pro-Life Radio. Pro-Life Radio is a pre-recorded show.