Sitting overlooking the peaceful lake in the Four Pillars Hotel, Cirencester, I am at the craft morning of Activate’s Annual Conference. It has been wonderful to meet so many new people and worship God together. The teaching has been excellent and although I came alone, I have felt very welcome here.
As I prayed this morning God reminded me of this scripture “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls and Restorer of Streets with Dwellings” Isaiah 58:12. He showed me how to ask for help for a project designed to restore dignity and self-esteem to the victims of rape and sexual assault. A while ago I had an idea for a craft session where a group of survivors could take pieces of broken jewellery and make something new, something beautiful out of the broken pieces. Brightly coloured beads, pearls and precious stones would find new life. Individual beads would be saved from the rubbish bin and given a new lease of life. We could learn from the process of restoration.
So I am making an appeal for people to send me their broken jewellery. Please contact me on 1rhonajack@gmail.com and I’ll give you my postal address. This is part of a wider project. I am writing a self-help book designed to signpost women to a variety of tools and resources that will bring greater emotional health, hope and healing for survivors of these traumatic events. There are thousands of women both inside and outside the church who are “The Walking Wounded” and my heart breaks for every single one whose life has been marred by the truth behind the newspaper headlines.
The book will be the precursor for weekend workshops and week-long retreats to facilitate inner healing. These will be like a phase 2 of help after rape crisis counselling. I would love help in other ways too if you would like to get involved. Prayer support is crucial to bring together a team of volunteers to come forward and get this off the ground. We will need all sorts of other things including funding.
Please especially keep all these women in your prayers as God leads them on their personal journey to recovery. God’s love will lift them up.
