THE FAMILIES WE SERVELast year in North Carolina, 104 lives were taken as a result of domestic and family violence, according to the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. One in four women will be a victim of intimate partner abuse at some point in her life. Think of this the next time you are in a room full of people. Look around you. How many women do you see? Are you one of the four? We tend to close our eyes to this epidemic until it touches a high profile celebrity, someone close to us, or ourselves. This burying of our heads in the sand must stop. Domestic violence knows no boundaries and touches every demographic of society, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, churched or unchurched. It's easy to say “just leave”, when you are on the outside looking in. “Just leaving” isn't so easy when you are the one on the inside. One of the basic needs of a human, according to Maslow, is the need for love, affection , and belongingness. These needs arise just after the basic physiological/biological needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively stable body temperature and the need for safety and security. Do you see that safety and security comes just before the need for love, affection, and belongingness? When a person has been told that they are loved by another person and convinced that this is so, and has returned that love, then to have their safety and security jeopardized by that very person, it becomes a very difficult life situation. The need for love and affection is so strong that it sometimes takes precedence over the need for safety and security. This is evidenced by the statistics recording the average times a battered woman returns to the abuser before she is able to make the final break. There are many reasons for this, from social to economic. Many times the perpetrator has convinced the woman that the abuse is her fault. Many times children are involved. This brings a whole new set of life altering circumstances into the equation. Witnessing violence between one's parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next.(1) Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults. (2) 30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household.(3) Domestic abuse is a social problem, a health problem, a spiritual problem. It affects a person physically, mentally/emotionally, and spiritually. It is a holistic problem. It needs a holistic answer. If you or someone you know are a victim of domestic violence, speak out. Please don't suffer in silence. There is a way out. In Buncombe county the 24 hour crisis hotline number is: (828) 254-2968. If you would like help from a Christian perspective please contact The S.O.S. Mission at St. Paul's Church at: (828) 684-0591. We offer spiritual and emotional support and will assist you in finding community resources. We have life-skills programs available to help you equip yourself to be independent and self-sufficient. We will accompany you to your appointments, court appearance, etc. so you don't have to face these situations alone. We are a servant ministry focusing on the needs of victims of domestic violence. Our mission is to empower individuals to live spiritually healthy and productive lives through the practical application of the Word of God. We believe the biggest impact we can make in our community is through offering ourselves in service to families who are trapped in cycles of abuse, addiction, neglect and violence. These cycles lead to generations of hurt and damaged souls and this is evidenced by the condition of numerous American families today. S.O.S. hopes to be a Godly example in opening our hearts and our doors to the beaten and downtrodden among us. |