I was not too surprised when I read about the young lady who was abused by her mother. That is common in the Jamaican society. Pouring hot water on the girl is down right wicked. If that had happened in the United States, that mother would be looking at jail time.

I am now a grown woman, but I too was abused and taken advantage of by my mother and my older sister. I have never met anyone else like these two family members. I have been walking with the Lord since I was about fourteen and my mother was always telling me that she hates me. I was not concerned because I have always being a happy and carefree person.

I not only liked my father but enjoyed his company. My father had moved out of the house and my mother divorced him later on. I was well behaved. No one had to tell me to go to school. I have always known that education is very important to a good future. I never had a boyfriend throughout my teenage years. I was either at school or doing something pertaining to church for the most part. I could not understand why my mother and older sister hated me as they did.

When I approached my mid-20s, I was still living with my mother, and my older sister encouraged my mother to throw me out of the house. I had a job, but New York City has always been an expensive place to live, so my job did not pay well enough for me to get my own apartment, so I lived with relatives.

I started going back to school for my first degree and that same sister started fussing. I did not have a boyfriend for a long time. That same sister started insinuating that maybe I was a lesbian. My mother is always saying men are wicked, so why do you want to get married? When I would purchase something with my own money, my mother would find something to argue about. My sister would encourage me in my early 20s to have a baby, knowing that I didn't have the resources to take care of one. My belief has always been to get married first, then have a child.

When I started dating a man which I thought I would have married, that same evil sister had some things to say. She is always complaining that she has no money. I gave her my credit card and she used it up to the limit, plus interest which cost me over $3,000. I decided to move to a better place outside of New York and my mother has never picked up the phone and called me. I am the only one that is doing the calling. I have never met two people who are more resentful and evil in my life.

People know why they ill-treat other people. I know my family members have lived shameful lives, and I have not walked that path. As a result, they hate me, and they are angry because they cannot control me.

H.R., United States

Dear H.R.,

Give God thanks. You have done well. Perhaps God has prepared you for something big. And very often when God has laid his hands upon a person to be a leader, he/she goes through much trials and tribulations from the home in which he/she lives. But that is to make he/she stronger.

So, take heart. Be courageous. Forgive your mother and your sister. They don't know what they are doing. Lift your head high. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Remember what the Bible says, "No good thing would He (Jesus) withhold from them that walk uprightly." Therefore, don't allow anyone to discourage you from serving the Lord by the things they say or do to you.

Pastor