The Scar That Testifies to God’s Redemption

“CHANCE OF SURVIVAL – NEAR ZERO”

Like most parents, Jesus and Rita Molina were anxiously awaiting the birth of their sixth child. Yet when their newborn arrived, they were shocked and devastated. Their daughter had a severe bilateral cleft lift and palate. Jesus and Rita knew in their country of Guatemala with widespread poverty and their own limited resources, their baby’s chance of survival was near zero. Yet as they faced the grim reality, Jesus vowed to his wife that he would do everything he could to save their daughter. Because they could not feed her, the newborn was rapidly plunging toward starvation and death. Jesus made a heroic three-day trek to Guatemala City with his dying baby to find medical help, The doctors took one look and said, “No one in the hospital can perform the surgery your child needs.” As Jesus collapsed in tears on the steps outside the hospital, two men approached and said, “There is an orphanage outside the city where you can find help.” When Jesus arrived at the orphanage, the kind woman who greeted him said they could keep the baby alive temporarily and would search for medical help The heartbreaking stipulation – Jesus must leave his baby at the orphanage. The couple regularly visited their child, now named Carmelita. Yet after two months, she barely weighed as much as a newborn and seemed like she was still destined to die. But unbeknownst to the heartbroken parents, a couple from the United States was destined to save her. That is where Carmalita’s amazing story of survival and redemption really begins.

ADOPTED AND LOVED WITH PAINFUL CHALLENGES 

Carmalita was adopted by a kind Texan pastor and his wife, Rea and Judi Thompson. Just like her biological parents, the Thompsons believed Carmelita was destined for life, not death. They renamed Carmelita “Camen” for short. Then honed her name to “Camey Joy,”

The organization “Heal the Children” agreed to help the Thompson with medical care, but they all soon realized that Camey’s case was not one or two surgeries and a month of foster care. What Camey Joy needed was multiple surgeries that would take years. Despite the overwhelming challenges, the Thompson were undaunted. They scheduled the first surgery that would address the cleft lip that would eventually become Camey’s mouth. It would be three months before the next surgery to lift Camey’s nose. Placed in Judi’s arms after the grueling surgery, Camey uttered her first word, “Mum.” Judi wept tears of joy.

CAMEY JOY TELLS HER OWN STORY

Camey Joy’s amazing journey toward healing and redemption was underway. At the end of the rugged road, she would become the woman she is today; a wife, a mother, a renowned speaker, and now the author of her first book, “Beautifully Scarred: Memoir.”  Camey writes details she was told by others and what she experienced herself. It’s her story and she wants to tell it to help others. “It is the story of God’s handprint on a life that was once meant for death and destruction but now is teeming with life and purpose.” Camey speaks with candor, vulnerability, gratitude, and hope. 

“I DIDN’T CHOOSE THE SCARS…”

“I didn’t choose the pain or the rejection I faced. It was never my decision to be born with scars. I’ve chosen to embrace my scars and wear them proudly…they are a testament to the battles I won. They are a map of my life, the tapestry that shaped me into who I am today.” 

Camey’s heart wrenching experiences of pain, rejection, and shame are hard to read about. “It is the hidden internal scars that are my true heart’s wounds, my soul scars of shame that made me feel insignificant, abandoned, isolated and unworthy.” Yet it is clear when Camey exposes her raw pain, it is no plea for sympathy. Her goal is to give hope to others who are struggling and to give glory to the God she came to know and love. 

IT STARTED IN SCHOOL … 

The emotional wounding started in grade school, and just like the corrective surgeries, continued for years. “I felt as if an unseen bullseye had been affixed to me, drawing the aim of others to wound me.”  Because of her strange, faulty articulation, Camey says, “I often felt unheard. My frustrations boiled over, and I would become sullen and silent or yelling in anger. Then, I felt guilt and shame over how I acted.” Ironically, the school children were more accepting of her disfigurement and speech problems than the adults. One shocking example of the rejection Camey faced happened in a restaurant outside of her small Texas town. She was standing in a cafeteria line and thought the man ahead was smiling at her. She was devastated to find out he was really laughing at her. “He looked at me and said, “Look at you, you retarded troll girl….”  The wound from these words became infected. That is when Camey made an inner vow. She told herself she was now justified to put this man in his place, as well as other people like him. Her rejection deepened, as well as her withdrawal and anger.

CHURCH WAS A BRIGHT SPOT

Camey loved singing and dreamed of becoming a well-known artist. People prayed for her and over her for the gift to sing. She began to take voice lessons from a church member named Wilda, also a prophet, who prayed, “I call for the voice that will resonate throughout the nations that tells of God’s goodness and faithfulness…” When Wilda asked Camey who she wanted to sound like, Camey replied “Amy Grant or Sandy Patty. Wilma declared, “Girl, you aren’t going to sound like no white girl, you gotta sing with soul.” 

Church was not just a place to sing. Camey met her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and was baptized. 

“I felt the Lord’s grace and goodness in my life because deep down, I knew I was a miracle. 

Jesus gave me the confidence to hold on to my dreams, despite pessimistic comments from doctors and other naysayers.”

By now, at seven years old, Camey had endured multiple surgeries, but they had not corrected her articulation. Her parents found expert dental care and a cranial plastic surgeon.”  Her mother enrolled her in a school that promised to enhance a child’s confidence and stage presence. When she missed a note and felt like a failure, the kids and teacher cheered her on.

At the age of thirteen, it was time for the surgery Camey anxiously anticipated; the one that would drastically alter her facial appearance. “I was tired of the stares and questions, and even when they said it might cut my soft palate and effect my singing, I still wanted to move forward.” She did and the surgery was successful. “What I call my extreme makeover surgery marked a significant divide in my lifetime, the before and the after.” 

When her parents moved to the Rio Grande Valley to be missionaries, that meant another new school for Camey. She began to thrive. She made the cheerleading and volleyball teams and became homecoming queen. It is also the place she met the young man who would become her husband. 

As Camey moved forward, she went to nursing school and became an adoption advocate. Yet there were still multiple challenges, heartaches and “scars” ahead that cannot be captured in a two-to-three-page fact sheet. She details all of them in her three hundred fifteen-page book; There were church hurts, a lost record deal, serious marriage problems and more. She admits, through pride and sinful decisions, she brought some of the pain to herself.

However, Camey always leads the reader back to hope. “I want people to know that trials can be overcome, and brokenness mended. I know that God didn’t just fix what was broken. He transformed it into something that radiates his glory. I encourage people to embrace their scars because they reveal the strength and beauty within you. I thank God that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, even when I don’t believe it. The Lord believes in me. His love reminds me that I am, we all are, masterpieces in His creation. Thank God… for my beautiful scars.”

To learn more about Camey Joy, or to purchase her book, Beautifully Scarred, click the LINK!

CREDITS

Author of “Beautifully Scarred" Memoir, Worldwide Speaker, Singer, Advocate for Adoption, Blogger/Devotional Writer, Graduate of Baylor University School of Nursing, Wife of Nate, mother of three boys