Jennifer Christie woke up to a rush of cold air and a woman’s scream. She was nearly naked lying by a dumpster at the back of a hotel. She’d been brutally raped. She would soon find out that she conceived that day. But the child would bring her healing, peace and joy.

‘Nothing Extraordinary’

In 2014 Christie had been married for 20 years. She and her husband had four children. She describes her life as pretty average. “Nothing extraordinary,” she said in an interview with The Stream. At that time Christie was a sign language interpreter, spending a lot of time traveling for jobs. In January of that year, Christie accepted a two-week gig several hours away from her home. For the first few days, she drove back and forth. Her husband told her it was ridiculous, that she should get a hotel rather than drive the roads each day.

The last day of the job it snowed. Her job ended early, so she made her way back to the hotel. The place was a “ghost town,” she recalled. Christie prepared to load up her car for the trip home. She wrapped a scarf around her face and walked toward her room. She fumbled with the room key and finally opened the door. When she turned around, a man stood in her doorway. “He was young,” she said. “I didn’t feel worried. He didn’t look menacing.” She thought perhaps he’d broken down and needed to make a phone call. But he didn’t. He gave her a strange smile and, without warning, he punched Christie in the head.

‘He Can’t Touch My Soul’

Christie fought hard. She sustained broken ribs and fingers in the fight. Then she realized her struggling was only making the attack worse. “I disappeared inside myself,” she said. She thought of Matthew 10:28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

“He can’t touch my soul,” she remembered thinking. Then she passed out.

Besides the broken bones, Christie also had bleeding in the brain and internal injuries. She had four surgeries to repair the damage. The days and weeks following the rape were difficult. A devout Christian, Christie said she didn’t blame God. “I wasn’t angry with God. Just being a believer doesn’t make you immune” to terrible things happening. “I just couldn’t understand why. I wasn’t the same person. I didn’t know how to mother my children or be a wife.” She stopped eating and couldn’t sleep.

‘That Was My Baby’

After a few weeks, her husband encouraged her to return to work. Maybe the routine would help. She accepted a job on a cruise, but by the second day, she was sick. Christie was quarantined and given antibiotics, but nothing worked. As the medical staff aboard the ship prepared to give her a strong cocktail of medicine, they asked her if she could be pregnant. She told them about the rape.

The pregnancy test came back positive. The medical staff, concerned that she may have a tubal pregnancy, requested an emergency stop in Colombia. When she went to the hospital for an ultrasound, Christie felt alone. But when she saw the “little pea” she immediately felt a connection. “I never felt that [the baby] belonged to a rapist. I felt a rush of protectiveness. Contrary to what the world wants you to feel, rage, et cetera, it was the first time since the attack that I felt something come alive inside me. That was my baby.”

She called her husband to tell him the news. “Are you sitting down?” she asked him. “I’m pregnant.” After a split second, he answered her. “Okay.” She questioned him. “Okay? How is this okay?”

“Sweetheart, this baby is a gift. Something beautiful. We love babies. We can do this — you and me.”

Jennifer’s husband with their new baby boy.

He was the first to see the baby boy arrive by c-section. “He was so perfect,” said Christie of her new baby. “He had dark curly hair.” Her husband and other children have a distinct dimple on their cheeks. “The baby has that dimple! It was God [saying] ‘Here you go.'”

‘My God Was Everywhere’

Christie said she sees God through all of the difficulties and pain. “My God was everywhere,” she explained. “We were leaning on God second by second. The only constant was God.” She said that the cold probably saved her life. “The cold kept my brain from swelling. You don’t always come back from that.” Her rapist went on to rape and murder other women, but she was spared. “That’s where my God was.” After some time, Christie prayed about whether to speak publicly about her ordeal. “We put it out there and God opened doors.” She said she began to see God work in a real and powerful way.

‘Beauty From Ashes’

Now she speaks to crowds about her experience and the gift of her son. She said it is “such a lie” that pro-abortionists claim pro-lifers are “forcing women to carry a rapist’s baby.” Christie strongly disagrees. “This is mine,” she said of the child. “I was healing. I felt like I was reclaiming myself. It helped me make sense of something — seeing beauty from ashes. We know God’s plans are for our good. He’s there and He’s doing it. Seeing it work out in your life is tremendous. Going through something horrific, then given something so pure is overwhelming.”

For women who are raped and become pregnant, it’s important to connect with women who have been there. Christie said people will say that a baby will be a terrible reminder of the rape. “People tell you that there can be healing with an abortion. That’s a lie. Nothing will help you forget the rape. The child is nothing but pure light and love.” The key thing for these women to remember is that they’re not alone. “It’s okay to feel scared. You’re not the same person and never will be. Reach out and find other women who have been there. Healing does not lie in destroying another life.”

Christie said God is using her and her son to help others through her public speaking. “If one woman is impacted to have her baby, then it’s worth it. For right now I’m willing to do whatever He wants.”

The Biggest Gift

Christie said the blessings they’ve been given through her son radically outweigh the difficulties and the pain. And the baby has changed their lives in beautiful ways. “I cannot imagine the last few years without his sweet love. … He changed our whole world. Who he is is ours and a child of God. He gave us a life back and a family. He’s the biggest gift to all of us.”

She wouldn’t change the past even if she could. “I couldn’t ever change it because I wouldn’t have my son.”