PALMYRA, Va. — While taking a hard look at the tragedy of human trafficking last fall, the Ladies Night ministry at Effort Baptist Church in Palmyra, Va., found the horrors of sexual slavery shocking. Though a global issue and one of the world’s most shameful crimes, it isn’t just a problem outside the United States, they discovered.
Their response — a safe house — was funded this month by a “spa day” that became a community event.
Learning that poor women with few options are the most likely to fall victim to abuse made them keenly aware that their Central Virginia community is not immune. Vulnerable women and children there are scarred by domestic abuse, addiction and dysfunctional homes, said Jenny Cassell Faulknier, the ministry’s coordinator.
Shay Hills receives a shampoo, cut and blow dry at Spa Day. She and her husband, Adam, are the state representatives for Celebrate Recovery Inside and the Celebrate Recovery ministry leaders at Effort Baptist Church. |
“How can we say we love God and love people and not do something about this problem?” asked Faulknier, who also leads a Celebrate Recovery group at Effort and a program for inmates at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in nearby Troy, Va. Recovery classes continually bring her in contact with women who are vulnerable and need a safe place to land and help to find their way, she said.
What emerged is a transitional housing program for women and children in Fluvanna County that the women’s group named the Psalm 91 House. Though Psalm 91 House is still in the early stages of development, Effort Baptist Church hopes to launch this new ministry by partnering with existing organizations, such as the Shelter for Help in Emergency, a Charlottesville, Va.-based agency that offers a 24-hour crisis hotline and outreach programs to victims of domestic violence, and People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM) to supplement and expand options for safe housing for women, she said.
Planning for the Psalm 91 House has begun as the group seeks nonprofit status and financial support. As a fundraiser to kick-off the ministry, the women of Effort held a Spa Day on Feb. 16. A local beauty salon donated its facilities. Volunteer hair stylists, nail technicians and beauty consultants were on hand to offer their services. A local chiropractor provided chair and table massages and two nurses offered health screenings, said Faulknier.
“It was truly a community event,” said Faulknier, who added that many of the volunteers were not members of the church. “Some people just dropped by and handed us donations and others provided the equipment and supplies needed.”
“More than $3,400 was raised from this day of beauty,” said Faulkiner. Ten percent will be given to The A21 Campaign, a global organization seeking to prevent human trafficking through awareness and education, to protect those rescued, to prosecute traffickers, and to offer legal representation to victims.
Ninety percent of the proceeds have been placed in a restricted fund for the future Psalm 91 House. “I do not have all of the plans together or all of the questions answered,” said Faulknier. She is unsure of the location of the safe house but feels strongly that God has already put it on people’s hearts and that when the time is right that a house will be there.
“God is in the business of redeeming us. He wants to take women who feel worthless and used and prepare them for great things,” she said.
Barbara Francis (bfrancis@religiousherald.org) is on the staff of the Religious Herald.