PRAYING FOR WOMEN AFFECTED BY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Rosa’s husband regularly beats her. She has two sons in their 20s, but they don’t stand up to their father, as they are afraid of what would happen if they did. When Rosa was sick, her husband did not care and only treated her worse.

Rosa fears for her life, but she has nowhere to go. If she leaves, she would end up on the streets. Even so, she still told Project Hannah’s staff that she is encouraged and filled with hope whenever she listens to the Women of Hope program. It helps her to survive each day.

Rosa is so thankful that there are women who are praying for her and trying to help and encourage her. She asked us to continue praying for her and her husband. “It would be wonderful if he had an encounter with God himself,” Rosa said.

Violence happens in every country, level of society, and religious group. Some people accept acts of violence in the home as the normal way of dealing with family members. In some cultures, even women believe that a woman deserves a beating by her husband if she doesn’t obey him. Many wives fear their husbands more than any other person.

Domestic violence in Christian homes is still a taboo issue in many churches. Too few church leaders have provided safe places for abused women. Whether by brutal words, controlling behavior, or physical and sexual abuse, violence by a family member, caregiver, or loved one is humiliating and devastating.

Domestic violence happens at the hands of both male and female abusers. Mothers as well as fathers sell their daughters or force them to undergo female circumcisions. Husbands and mothers-in-law torture and scar wives with acid or boiling water for “dishonoring the family.” Some caregivers abuse the elderly, the young, and the handicapped.