Author and educator Melony Thompson at the launch of her new book, Odessa and the Professor. (Photos: Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff)

LOCAL educator Melony Thompson is celebrating the launch of her book, Odessa and the Professor, which tells the story of church abuse through the use of scripture.

Ms. Thompson released the book at a launch at the Bible Book and Gift Centre earlier this month.

“The book centres around a leader of a prayer circle who tells manipulative lies and attributes them falsely to prophetic gift,” Ms. Thompson said in a press release.

“She cruelly deceives a disciple faithful to her, but God enables the deceived to recover through prayer and wise counsel. The essential message of the book is the hope it gives to others similarly deceived, to break the yoke of deception and to experience through exercise of Christian forgiveness genuine closure.

“In this book, the painful experiences of the naïve Odessa and the profound counselling of her perceptive professor provide the agonising realities and analytic reflections needed to open the eyes of the deceived. In the process, sociological, psychological and theological complexities are unravelled through semantically sharp dialogue that inforMs., instructs and inspires.

“The power of aberrant Christian leaders over even intelligent professional persons must not be underrated. Certainly, in the Bahamas as well as in the wider Caribbean and even in the United States and elsewhere around the world, the realities are the same with regard to leaders in controlling church groups or closely related discipleship groups.

“This book has relevance internationally, even though the contextual focus is The Bahamas.

“These gripping personal experiences have been slightly disguised to avoid causing even more pain to those who have been victiMs. of the system. The effect is a greater good when these issues are seen as real and widespread.”

Ms. Thompson is principal of Atlantic Interactive School of Learning.

Click here to read more at The Tribune