PAULINE PEACHEY
PASE FOUNDER
I was born in London in the mid nineteen-forties into a large family but we were not close. My dad worked day, evening and weekends, there were also health problems among my siblings which put a lot of stress on the whole family.
In my teenage years I was part of a large group of friends but had difficulty with close relationships.
I married a man with a similar problem of relationship so although we loved one another there wasn’t the closeness and strength we needed when the doctors recommended that I have an abortion.
I left school at 15 and worked in lots of offices learning book-keeping as I went along, in the West End and the City of London.
I enjoy gardening, embroidery and knitting, I am an avid reader, I love the bible.
I was 24 years old when I allowed my baby to die. I had a little boy just one years old at the time, and I kept it a secret for a while. The grief and confusion was like an explosion that left me shattered. I was very drawn to death but knew that I had to survive for my little boy. After a year I was admitted to a mental hospital in North London.
The hospital was a place of drugs and violence from the staff. In my despair I turned to Jesus, I had been afraid of God because I felt so guilty and dirty. Jesus has been very gracious to me. Although my marriage ended, since I began in this work and understood how the death of our baby affected both me and the dad there has been a lot of healing in us both. Now we are able to relate well to each other and he is very supportive in this work.
I became involved in the pro-life work when CBR UK was starting out. It was unusual to meet anyone who had any insight into the trauma of abortion, and I began to join them in their educational displays holding a board proclaiming that I had an abortion. The kindness and understanding I received gave me strength to take this step, and the response from the public caused the growth of what is now an international ministry. As this work has accelerated, the Lord has grown our team of women who have benefitted from the help they have received through PASE, and have the same vision to see healing and restoration in the lives of others.