By Louise | Managing Director
I love what I do because of the almost instant impact I see. Whether it is through our training, ongoing support, or targeted advocacy—our three main pillars—we are actively changing lives, families, and communities.
When you support our work, you aren't just funding a program; you are funding moments of profound personal transformation. Elizabeth, our core trainer for the Journey of Life (JoL) program, recently shared a story from a training session last week that beautifully illustrates this.
A Family Broken by Hatred
One of the participants in the group is a mother of two children: a boy whom she adored, and a 15-year-old girl whom she literally hated. For years, despite the girl's best efforts, the mother subjected her to constant emotional abuse and made her deep-seated favoritism entirely obvious. There was no apparent reason for it; she just harbored a deep resentment toward her daughter. Even neighbors had tried to intervene in the past, but the mother simply didn’t care.
Then, she attended the Journey of Life training.
A Breakthrough in the Room
On the final day of the workshop, this mother broke down in tears. She testified to the group that the material Elizabeth was sharing was so accurate, it felt as though Elizabeth had been watching her family through a window. She felt as if God was speaking directly into her circumstances.
Deeply convicted, she confessed everything to the group:
Shattered by guilt, she admitted she wanted to put things right but had no idea how. She was under no illusion that they would suddenly become a picture-perfect happy family overnight, but she was determined to try. She openly asked the other women in the training group to hold her accountable.
The First Steps Toward Healing
The "homework" for the final day of training was simple but daunting: go home and speak to your children.
That evening, this mother called her daughter in. Through heavy sobs, she confessed her failings as a parent and begged for forgiveness. The teenage girl was in complete shock—she had never once heard her mother cry, let alone speak to her with tenderness and care. Overwhelmed, the daughter wept too, suddenly realizing just how much she had missed having a present, loving mother in her life.
The relationship was severely broken, but healing had officially begun.
The very next morning, the reconciliation took a practical turn. Before the daughter left for school, her mother reached out, hugged her, and told her to have a nice day. Once again shocked, the young girl walked to school, realizing that the change in her home had actually lasted through the night.
Walking the Long Road Together
When the mother returned to report her progress to the group, she spoke of the lingering shock in her daughter’s eyes, the immense release of her own pain, and her absolute vow to continue changing. Once again, she asked the ladies in her circle to keep her accountable.
We have now delivered the Journey of Life training over 200 times, and this is just one of the thousands of stories of profound transformation we have witnessed. It is a stark reminder of why our work matters. True transformation doesn't just change an individual; it breaks generational cycles of trauma and restores safety to a child's life.
Thank you for standing with us, supporting our trainers like Elizabeth, and making these vital breakthroughs possible. We couldn't do this without your continued partnership!
With gratitude,
Louise
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