Do you ever meet those people, and you know immediately, I like this person! That’s how I felt when I met Vonetta. For about two years, we kept meeting people who were mutual friends. They would say to me, ‘You need to meet my friend Vonetta.” I would say every time, “You’re not the first person who has said that to me!”
Finally a mutual friend, Tammy, planned our meeting. After a year of hearing about this woman, I got to experience her for myself. She is truly one of a kind. I listened to her story and her heart that day and we connected on a deeply spiritual level. Although parts of what she has said below are hard to read, I hope you will take a moment to read this interview with my sister and friend.
Vonetta Carter is 2nd in our series, “Truth Tellers SaveOne” Enjoy!
Sheila: Are you a chapter leader with SaveOne? If so, for how long?
Vonetta: Yes, about 6 months.
Sheila: Will you tell us a little about your story?
Vonetta: At the young age of sixteen I became pregnant. As many regular 16 year old girls, I was very confused and naïve. I was looking for love in all the wrong places and also shocked and surprised by the pregnancy. As time went on, I had no idea what I was going to do. God was no where in my mind even though I know today that he was there all along. Through the entire process, the one thing I did know was that keeping this baby was not an option. Let me continue by saying that as the thoughts raced through my mind, my stomach was getting bigger and bigger. Several months had gone by and I was now six months pregnant. I heard about a place called Planned Parenthood and I remember going there and having no real questions asked of me. There were no warm fuzzies but rather I was told to fill out a bunch of papers. Interestingly enough, what I was told was that I was so far gone that I would need to have a two day procedure.
The first day they put dilators inside me to induce the labor. The second day was to remove the baby. I was cold, numb, confused, and had no idea really what was about to happen. The second day I got there at 8:00am and the last thing I remember is that they put me to sleep. God only knows what happened to me after that. I remember waking up feeling empty, but also confused, lost, broken, and shocked. I felt as though when I walked out that day, a piece of me was left at that cold, dead, hopeless place.
At this point I want to break in to Vonetta’s story. I know this is hard to read, especially if you are remembering this day for yourself, or wondering if your mom or sister experienced this same thing. Abortion is a tough subject, but it’s a necessary conversation. When we have this conversation, we stop abortion in it’s tracks. Multiple abortions are very common. If we can reach those who have had a 1st abortion, then the 2nd, 3rd, 4th abortions never take place….
Vonetta: Unfortunately, I repeated the choice of abortion and I still did not have a relationship with God. I chose abortion the second time looking for what I thought was a way out. I finally met Jesus in a glorious way, I wish I had room to tell you the whole story. Today I have the privilege to raise eight children. Some grew in my stomach, and some grew in my heart. God works everything together for His good. I am truly honored and humbled to be the daughter of a King!
Sheila: What is one thing you would like to tell the world about SaveOne?
Vonetta: They are a voice for the people who need encouragement and they also bring awareness to the world.
Sheila: If people could only hear one “God-truth” about your story what would it be?
Vonetta: Redemption.
Vonetta went on to tell me that if she could leave us with one word it would be redemption. God redeems all things. He may not bring this redemption in the way we may have thought, but He brings it nonetheless.
Vonetta and her husband Veronne, pastor First Wesleyan Church in Nashville, TN. You can check out their church by going to firstwesleyan-nashville.org.
Give Vonetta some love in the comments below. Telling your story to the world takes great courage! So proud of both of our Truth Tellers so far in 2018!