Thanks again for checking out Hope for HER Ministries! I’m Emily Getzfreid, founder of Hope for HER, and author of Sexual Abuse Recovery by His Spirit and From Silence to Stories.
My sexual abuse recovery journey began over 15 years ago when my family came to DestinyLife Church in Claremore, OK. I was 23 years old, married with two young children, and if you had asked I probably would have told you I was fine.
But I wasn’t really.
Over the next several years I not only became aware of all the ways my sexual abuse experience was affecting my life, but I also grew spiritually and emotionally in ways I never could have guessed I needed to grow. I experienced healing, truth, and freedom. In that time the Lord healed me from so much more than the wounds caused by my sexual abuse experience. He brought wholeness to my heart and placed in me a desire to see other women healed and whole as well.
In the fall of 2017, the #metoo movement was at its peak, and as I scrolled through Facebook one day I saw a few different posts from women who were taking a break from social media due to being constantly faced with trauma triggers. The idea of starting a sexual abuse recovery group had been on my mind for months, but I’d been steadfastly ignoring it, and up until that morning had no intention of ever following through. But as I read those posts, I thought, Lord, these women have no one to talk to about what they’re going through. They have these big, triggered feelings, yet no one to share them with.
And do you know what the Lord spoke to my heart in reply? They can talk to you.
A lot of ideas came together in that moment, and though I didn’t know it yet, Hope for HER was born. While planning for that first sexual abuse recovery group, I looked around for a workbook or curriculum that fit my vision, but didn’t find anything that said what I wanted to say: complete healing is possible, and settling for “getting better” is unnecessary. So every week during that first 12 week session I would sit down and write out what I wanted to talk about – the exchanging of denial for confession, recognizing the vows and judgments that keep our souls tied to our experiences, the joy that results from Spirit-led forgiveness, and much more. Less than a year later, those journal entries have become Sexual Abuse Recovery by His Spirit, a fully-developed workbook and group curriculum. And that small group of 6 has grown into a full-fledged ministry that has touched over 30 from multiple churches already, and has a leadership team of 10 women who are ready to help churches and communities create safe places for adult sexual abuse survivors to experience the healing that comes from intentionality, community, and the glorious love of God.
We’re excited to see what the future holds, and we’re grateful for your interest in joining us.
If you’d like to learn more about how Hope for HER can partner with you in hosting your own sexual abuse recovery group, please contact me at emilygetzfreid@gmail.com. If you’re local and you desire it, we will gladly bring a team to work alongside you for your first group and leave you with everything you need to carry on successfully. If not, we offer leadership resources and relational support to help you in any way we can. If you have other questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to email me. I sincerely, genuinely want to connect with you.
Blessings,
Emily Getzfreid
Hope for HER Ministries 