Frequently Asked Questions

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• Anxiety/Anguish
• Guilt/ Regret, Nightmares /Flashbacks
• Intense Grief
• Low Self-Esteem
• Sadness/Sorrow, Anger/Rage
• Feeling of Loss/ Bitterness
• Self-Destructive Behavior, Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Eating Disorders
• Suicidal Impulses
• Feelings of Rejection
• Difficulty with Relationships
• Shame/Secrecy
• Unable to forgive yourself and or others
• Depression/ Bouts of Crying

A time away from your daily life provides an opportunity to deeply enter the grieving process and identify all the ways your abortion may have affected you. Rachel’s Vineyard has a number of powerful exercises that allow you to speak out your grief and sorrow. The exercises help to connect participants to each other, and to the love of God. They also help participants to accept forgiveness for themselves and others.

The retreat is a lot of work, but if you are willing to journey through your grief you will experience healing. You will find meaning in what has happened and allow God to transform your experience into something that gives hope, freedom, and reconciliation.

Rachel’s Vineyard is meant to help you try to make sense of the very normal manifestation of grief. Mourning and grieving are necessary milestones that must be reached so that your life can have a new meaning. When this process is complete you will experience a fresh perspective on life. Through an intimate encounter with God, there is an opportunity to explore your life and come to know that you are loved.

Some women experience these negative effects immediately. For others, the symptoms occur years after the abortion. Sometimes women do not experience this for 10, 20, or 30 years because they are unable to deal with the deep or suppressed emotions resulting from the abortion.