Women of God Rise Up
Dealing with abused women is very dear and close to my heart. An abused women can be noticed anywhere, the life is taken out of her eyes. She is left with nothing but despair. Many people ask "why cant she just leave him...?" That is easier said than done. Abuse becomes a cycle. It goes beyond just physical abuse.
Over the past few years, Rise Up Ministries International has extended its projects to a womens shelter. We then became involved in assisting on a regular charitable basis to help sustain the organization. I was asked to join the management board, which I did because I wanted to help in any way that I could. But it didn't help with the burden inside of me. A shelter is limited to just emergency 'shelter'...and then the women have to find their own way after their time is up. Unfortunately, there is not much more that the shelter can do as they also run as and NPO/NGO. These women are left with little or no options. Inevitably, they end up back in the relationship that they were running from. Now, this is what I want to change.
We began a project called Angel Wings a few years ago that assisted these ladies with skills development in order for them to be able to create a little income for themselves if they could not find employment. As the months went by, there was a change in these women that was undeniably viable. Somebody believed in them enough to invest their time in them. I did!
Many of these ladies managed to sustain themselves after leaving the shelter and they maintained contact with me and updated me often. However, due to restraints, I was not able to take the project as far as I would have liked to. During my time with each of these ladies, I learned their needs beyond just shelter: legal issues, medical issues, lack of self esteem, etc. the list could go on and on...
So, I have started a project that will focus solely on women that are trying to break away from an abusive relationship or that have found themselves in a destitute situation. This project will help mentor and shape these ladies into powerful SA women. It will involve intensive counselling, mediation where necessary, skills development, medical and legal assistance where possible. In the near future I would like to be able to assist with shelter as well as there is much need for it in our community.
Project Angel Wings has recently began a group that focuses on 'Strong Women' that have their own issues to deal with and have no one to turn to when they are in need. This group encourages, counsels and motivates each other to carry on. We share our strengths and weaknesses within the group and each woman is there for the next, forming a sisterhood that bares the burdens of their sister. If you are interested in getting involved in this group, or if you would like to join our Whatsapp chat group, please pop me and email on angelwings@outlook.com, Rev Pastor Lee.