Just my thoughts.....
Many of us at some point in our lives have experienced some form of abuse; whether verbal, emotional, and/or physical, from someone we thought cared about us. We can rightly imagine at this hour or minute, someone in this country, or indeed this world is suffering at the hands of an abuser. Domestic abuse has no specific face, race, creed or religion. It will come to whosoever will - meeting us at the front door of our relationships, and being ushered out the back door of silent suffering. It is time for us as a people to come face to face with this demonic spirit that has destroyed families, lives, and person's self-esteem.
In recent news we have seen that even those of the clergy have suffered from this disease. Prophetess Juanita Bynum is not the first or the only minister, or wife of a minister who has suffered abuse at the hand of her husband, a Bishop, in silence. The silence must be broken so that the healing process can begin. Some of the healing must come from the outside in, and other healing must come from the inside out Just because you don't have physical evidence of abuse doesn't mean that you don't carry the scars on your heart, soul, and mind from words that have destroyed your self-esteem.
There is life in words. When you are being verbally abused those words become apart of you, and before you know it, your are wearing those words and are now becoming the thing you are violently called. Your self-esteem starts to suffer, and your pride disappears as your head begins to drop. Healing from abuse takes time. It can't be rushed, and it can't begin unless you separate yourself from the hands of the abuser. But it can happen, if you give the time and energy to make you whole again. And you are worth it.....believe me you are worth it.
Feel free to share your story, a sign of healing, as we break the silence of abuse.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Birth of a Ministry
I have always had a passion to mentor young women. In the early 90's as President of Professional Staffing, a home health-care staffing agency, I employed approximately eighty to one hundred employees; mainly young, low-income women. These women came with a myriad of personal problems that often prevented them from obtaining and maintaining permanent employment. My policy when dealing with employees has always been to have an open door, allowing them to feel free to share with me their daily concerns. Through the daily, if not constant interactions and discussions, Let's Talk was born.
Let's Talk, was their opportunity to share after work hours, in a facilitated session on issues such as; relationships, abuse, life skills, communications skills, and other concerns that were barriers in their lives. These sessions soon grow to attract not only just employees, but their friends and other associates. Soon, a full-time operation was born, complete with other services such as a food pantry, job training, and life skills training.
Very early I realized many of problems my employees had, manifested through the interaction with their children. Because of inadequate daycare for their children, the women often brought them to Let's Talk, and I got to see firsthand the acute lack of parenting skills. Through this need we started a daycare facility which I also used as a tool to teach young women how to interact with their children more positively. The daycare services became thriving business very quickly.
Sadly, as the scripture says, "to much is given, much is required". In March of 1999, my family suffered a tremendous loss in the unexpected death of my middle son, John. John was a raising basketball star of his high school, and during the course of one of his games, he suffered massive heart failure. In an instant, our precious son was gone to be with the Lord. My focus became to help myself and my family heal from this loss, and so I made the decision to discontinue the staffing business and the Let's Talk ministry. I still maintained some contact with my "ladies" through the daycare ministry which we maintained until 2003.
But often out of the ashes of despair comes hope. In 2005 I returned to ministry meeting the needs of women throughout the country. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is a ministry whose mission is to help women break down the barriers of abuse and illiteracy to lead fulfilled and productive lives. As an evangelist and workshop facilitator, I minister to women primarily by helping them to recognize and address the mental, emotional, and spiritual strongholds in their lives. This work has afforded me the opportunity to be a guest for several appearances on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and to serve as a host on the Atlanta based local talk show, Cynthia and Friends, as well as maintaining speaking and workshop engagements. This blog is another effort to help address the needs of women and be a voice to advocate for them to live free and abundant lives.
Let's Talk, was their opportunity to share after work hours, in a facilitated session on issues such as; relationships, abuse, life skills, communications skills, and other concerns that were barriers in their lives. These sessions soon grow to attract not only just employees, but their friends and other associates. Soon, a full-time operation was born, complete with other services such as a food pantry, job training, and life skills training.
Very early I realized many of problems my employees had, manifested through the interaction with their children. Because of inadequate daycare for their children, the women often brought them to Let's Talk, and I got to see firsthand the acute lack of parenting skills. Through this need we started a daycare facility which I also used as a tool to teach young women how to interact with their children more positively. The daycare services became thriving business very quickly.
Sadly, as the scripture says, "to much is given, much is required". In March of 1999, my family suffered a tremendous loss in the unexpected death of my middle son, John. John was a raising basketball star of his high school, and during the course of one of his games, he suffered massive heart failure. In an instant, our precious son was gone to be with the Lord. My focus became to help myself and my family heal from this loss, and so I made the decision to discontinue the staffing business and the Let's Talk ministry. I still maintained some contact with my "ladies" through the daycare ministry which we maintained until 2003.
But often out of the ashes of despair comes hope. In 2005 I returned to ministry meeting the needs of women throughout the country. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is a ministry whose mission is to help women break down the barriers of abuse and illiteracy to lead fulfilled and productive lives. As an evangelist and workshop facilitator, I minister to women primarily by helping them to recognize and address the mental, emotional, and spiritual strongholds in their lives. This work has afforded me the opportunity to be a guest for several appearances on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and to serve as a host on the Atlanta based local talk show, Cynthia and Friends, as well as maintaining speaking and workshop engagements. This blog is another effort to help address the needs of women and be a voice to advocate for them to live free and abundant lives.
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