Ann and Juda Myers

Late one evening in 1956, a 22-year-old woman walked home alone in the dark from a movie theater – but, as she tells her story, she would not make it to the house before eight young men would brutally beat and rape her in the streets.

The woman, Ann, recalled the horrifying sexual assault in a video about her experience in St. Louis, Mo. This is her story:

"I walked home which was about eight blocks, and when I got close to home there was a used car lot, and there were eight men in there," she said. "They grabbed me and attacked me. And I made it home after they attacked me and beat me up and did a few other things."

A child conceived in rape

Already shaken by the traumatic sexual assault, Ann made a shocking discovery when she went to stay with her parents in Jackson, Miss.

"At that time, I didn't know I was pregnant," she said. "Three months later, I found out I was, and my parents didn't want me to have the baby, let alone keep it."

Her mother insisted that she have an abortion, Ann said. But she adamantly refused.

"I didn't believe in destroying her, so I had her," she said in the video. "And they forced me to give her up."

Now that little baby, Juda Myers, is grown and shares her inspirational story of life.

"She knew I was a human," Myers told WND. "She said she couldn't kill a kitten or a puppy, much less a human baby."

Forgiveness beyond human imagination ... 'Think No Evil' by Jonas Beiler and Shawn Smucker will challenge you to examine your willingness to show grace to those who don't deserve it.

A Methodist minister and a Catholic priest were instrumental in helping Ann follow through with her plan to deliver the baby. The priest took Ann to a Catholic charity in Shreveport, La., where Myers was born.

"She gave me up for adoption," Myers said. "She didn't want to do that, but under the circumstances she had to."

When Ann was recuperating in the home following childbirth, an elderly lady brought the new baby to see her. Ann held the baby often, but when Myers was only 3 months old, she was adopted by another family.

Ann was given a photograph, and it remained her only memory of her baby for 48 years.

(Story continues below)

Juda Myers

A tearful reunion

Myers' new parents were open about the adoption and told the little girl she was adopted at a very young age.

"My adoptive parents always told me that I was very special because I had two sets of parents," she said. "They insisted on letting me know that I was loved. I did wonder why I was given up."

In 2005, almost 49 years later, Myers said she contacted an agency to help her find her birth mother.

"I wanted to be able to research her address and go there to thank her for giving me life," Myers said. "I wanted to be able to get those words out before she'd say, 'I don't want to have anything to do with you. Leave me alone.'

"All I wanted in life was to thank this woman for giving birth to me."

But Ann called Myers in December and left a voicemail message before Myers could acquire the address.

She said, "Hi, this is Ann, and I'm interested in what you have to say. I'm sorry I missed you. … If you're my long-lost daughter, God bless you. If you're not, give me a call anyway. I'd love to know what you want. God bless you, too."

Myers immediately called Ann, but Ann could not hear her because a group was Christmas caroling in the background.

"I asked, 'Is this Ann?'" Myers recalled. "She said, 'Honey, you are going to have to speak up. I can't hear you.'"

"I shouted, 'As far as I know, I'm your daughter!'"

Ann broke into tears.

"While I was saying this, the choir was in the background singing 'Gloria,'" Myers said with a chuckle.

She arranged to fly to her birth mother's nursing home, but she was apprehensive about the reunion. Would Myers' features remind Ann of her attackers on that horrific night?

"I have bright blue eyes, and I was so afraid that my mother probably would have had brown eyes," she said. "I thought I might look like one of the rapists, and I didn't want to meet her looking like him."

But when Myers approached the reception desk, she heard, "Juda?"

"I turned around, and I saw the brightest blue eyes," she recalled. "It was just amazing to be able to see eyes that resembled mine. It was a surreal moment."

Ann sat in her wheelchair, clutching the photo of her little baby.

"She was holding that picture in her hands after 48 years," Myers said. "She had never let it go."

Message of forgiveness and life

After speaking with her birth mother for more than an hour, Myers asked Ann about the circumstances of her conception. Ann explained that she had been raped by eight young men one night outside of a used car lot in St. Louis when she walked home from the movie.

"I was on my knees, and I was crying," Myers said. "I put my head in her lap and cried."

But Ann's reaction to her daughter's weeping astonished Myers.

"She just patted me and said, 'Honey, stop crying. I've forgiven those men.'"

She continued, "Look what God has done. He's brought you back to me. God is faithful."

When Myers returned home, she wrote a song for her mother and recorded it on a CD. She titled it "God Is Faithful."

"I went back, and I gave her that song as a gift," Myers said. "As she listened to the song, she just stared at me.

"In my entire life, I have never felt that kind of love. It was the most incredible moment."

Myers said her mother is her "hero" for forgiving her eight attackers and allowing her baby to live.

Because of Ann's decision to save the life of one baby 53 years ago, five people are alive today – including Myers' one-week-old grandbaby. She now has two sons and two grandsons.

Myers' son, Jason, daughter-in-law, Veronica, and new grandbaby, Jackson (photo: Juda Myers)

Myers, a singer, songwriter, artist and author, wrote a book about her experience titled, "Hostile Conception: Living With A Purpose."

"The main thrust of the book is how to forgive any offense, because my mom forgave," she said. "I forgave."

Now, Myers shares that message, seeking to inspire people wherever she goes. She has been to South Africa and is planning a trip to orphanages in India to share her music and testimony of God's love.

She has accepted an invitation from Harvard Right to Life to speak at Harvard University on Oct. 20. Myers also plans to accompany Molly White, founder and director of Women for Life International, to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women's Conference.

Conceived in rape and dedicated to sharing her story of life and forgiveness, Myers urges women to choose life instead of abortion.

She told WND she has an important message for women who experience unplanned pregnancies:

"If you ever find yourself in this situation, be a hero."

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