PASCH - Peace and Safety in the Christian Home

Stop stoning, save Sakineh!

PASCH Staff — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:27:11 +0000

From our British correspondent:

15 people are on death row awaiting death by stoning in Iran, but yesterday a woman was saved from this brutal killing by a massive international campaign. Global voices of condemnation saved her from stoning. Now I just signed an urgent petition to the Iranian government to put an end this sickening brutality once and for all and I thought you would want to join me.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/98.php?cl_taf_sign=6fvp8CHK

What Domestic Violence Is Not

Yelena Govor — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:41:17 +0000

Written in Russian, "What Domestic Violence is not, six popular myths that perpetuate the high prevalence of domestic violence and abuse around the world," is the second post by Yelena Govor.

These myths must be uncovered in order for the truth to be known. Myth 1: Domestic violence is a private matter
Myth 2: Women provoke the violence
Myth 3: Alcohol and drugs cause domestic violence
Myth 4: Violence simply erups suddenly out of nowhere
Myth 5: Violence and abuse are always physical
Myth 6:Abusive men cannot change

Yelena Govor is a Russian evangelical who serves as a bilingual counselor at Womanshelter/Companeras in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Download the PDF

The Abusive Man and Your Children

Yelena Govor — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:35:59 +0000

This article, titled "The Abusive Man and Your Children," is written in Russian.

Mothers who live with abuse often find that confusion is a daily experience, and that there are many perplexing issues to sort out in order to figure out how best to assist their children. Behavioral problems are substantially more common in children of abused women than in other children, and the children can respond to their inner turmoil in some very challenging ways.

Yelena Govor is a Russian evangelical who serves as a bilingual counselor at Womanshelter/Companeras in Holyoke, Massachusetts

Download the PDF

A New Testimony

PASCH Staff — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:42:04 +0000

An email from Robin Williams, of aredeemedheart.com, brings this message:

Just a note to let you know there is a new testimony on the Stories page of the web site http://www.aredeemedheart.com by Steve Paone, creator of Pure Man Ministries.

July is the time to weed the garden

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:06:28 +0000

Our series called "Gardening the Soul," is aimed at helping anyone who lives in desperate circumstances. The July "gardening" article is now available; we hope it brings comfort and renewal.

Matt 15:13 “ Jesus replied, “ Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them.”

July is a good time to weed the garden. The garden in your heart needs to be weeded just like the garden in your backyard. Weeds grow everywhere and, whenever I see a weed (a plant in the “wrong” place), I want to pull it up! Weeding can be a never ending task. You can choose to spend all your time and energy working against the weeds or, you can choose to turn from the weeds, ignoring many of them (listen to Jesus’ Word above and really try to follow His wise words in your life). This month , (after a month of fertilizing the good plants of Love- those that grow in His Light), we’ll spend time, our thoughts and activities, in the weed patches – learning to carefully recognize spiritual weeds , showing them to God , listening to His Voice which teaches about the weeds and then letting the weeds go as directed - ignoring them with faith they will be uprooted by God.

The Word of God Is Not Bound

Dr. Catherine Clark Kroeger — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:56:46 +0000

"The pastors aren't going to be very willing to hear a message from a woman" quipped a seminary faculty member. I was already nervous about the speaking invitation, and my Ukranian friend's comment was not helpful. How does one address a hard core group of Russian evangelical pastors?

Visitors Impressed with Anti-Violence Ministries

PASCH Staff — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:20:06 +0000

News from the Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago

CHICAGO, IL (July 2, 2010) – A visit by the leaders of two international Evangelical Covenant churches to the anti-domestic violence ministry Wellspring Center of Hope on Tuesday was inspiring for everyone, participants said.

Wellspring, an inner-city ministry sponsored by the Evangelical Covenant Church’s Ministries of Benevolence, provides crisis intervention, individual counseling, family counseling, domestic violence education, service planning, support groups, referral for services, legal advocacy, non-legal advocacy and community outreach.

DAIP: Curriculum and Training for Working with Fathers Who Batter

PASCH Staff — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:24:15 +0000

From our friends at DAIP (Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs), this new curriculum for facilitators in batterer intervention programs.

Many men who batter want to have good relationships with their children but if they seek to undo the harm between themselves and their children, they need to examine their use of abusive and manipulative tactics against their children's mother.

This can be easier for men to do when they start by examining the impact of their abuse on the children. Check out this upcoming training and new curriculum for ways to help men take that step!

Click here for more information.

The Passing of Danni Moss - Because It Matters

PASCH Staff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:49:32 +0000

Posted on the blog Emotional Abuse and Your Faith, sad news:

Its with a heavy heart, and deep sadness that I wanted to inform everyone of the passing of Danni Moss. She had been struggling her illness (recurring cancer) for sometime, and finally passed away yesterday.

I had been out of commission for a host of reasons recently, but felt drawn to post of the loss of Danni.

Because it Matters was her blog, and her writing style and viewpoints will be greatly missed. The link I supplied is part of her story of attempting to grasp how to deal with domestic violence within the church, and how the church in her circumstance - along with many others - just didn't know what to do about it.

Train the Trainer

PASCH Staff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:41:57 +0000

FOCUS Ministries, Inc.

Sitting silently in the pews of our churches are victims of domestic violence. The first place they look for support is their church. Are our churches equipped to appropriately respond? Offering support groups for the hurting is a beginning place to address this issue.

Are you or your church sensing a desire to reach out and lend support to those who experience abusive relationships but don't know how? Join us at our training for support group leaders on September 10-11, 2010.

Registration and information is provided on their website, Train the Trainer.

A Call to Men

PASCH Staff — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:49:11 +0000

Here's part of a press release from A Call to Men: LiveRespect

"This Father's Day week (June 14th - Jun 20th, 2010) A CALL TO MEN asks you to take action! We call on men to consciously focus time and effort to prevent domestic and sexual violence and promote healthy and respectful manhood."

Call For Papers

PASCH Staff — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:45:01 +0000

Emerging from the Shadows: The Church and Justice
Loving, reflecting, pursuing justice together

May 13-15, 2011, Columbia Bible College
(Abbotsford [Vancouver], British Columbia, Canada)

PASCH (Peace and Safety in the Christian Home), an evangelical Christian organization, invites session and paper proposals for our 5th conference that will be held in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The conference will be a venue for the discussion of strategies, research projects, best practices, legal processes, and therapeutic initiatives related to creating peace and safety in the Christian home, Christian responses to wife abuse, and other forms of domestic violence.

Free webinar: Understanding and Responding to Domestic Violence

PASCH Staff — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:11:09 +0000

Brenda Branson presents a free webinar, June 22: Profile of a man who claims to love God in public but acts like the devil at home.

What lies in the heart of a man who claims to love God in public but acts like the devil at home? Sign up today for a free webinar by Broken People which will be dealing with answers to this question.

To register, click here.

June is the time to fertilize the garden.

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:00:29 +0000

Our series called "Gardening the Soul," is aimed at helping anyone who lives in desperate circumstances. The June "gardening" article is now available; we hope it brings comfort and renewal.

Luke 13:6 “Then Jesus told this story: A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, “I’ve waited 3 years and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden. The gardener answered, “Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.”

Fertilizing is the act of giving nutrients, good food, to the plants you want to strengthen. All living things, like plants ( and yourself) , grow better with good food. The plants of love God grows in your heart are no different. In June, we will be fertilizing or feeding the garden in your heart.

Pastaor: Domestic violence is an offense against God

PASCH Staff — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:58:49 +0000

Mark Rich is pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Holland. In an article in the Holland, MI, Sentinal online, titled Domestic Violence is an offense against God, he writes:

It’s true that people can lie with statistics, but it’s also true that, even with accurate statistics, some people can still fail to see the truth.

Read the complete article online, here.

EVAW New template materials for anonymous reporting

PASCH Staff — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:11:53 +0000

End Violence Against Women (EVAW) International offers a range of free resources to assist community professionals with forensic compliance. The most recent addition is a set of template materials for communities to implement a protocol for anonymous reporting. These materials draw from innovative efforts in communities such as Duluth, Minnesota and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Template Materials for Anonymous Reporting Protocol

A Thought for Pentecost

Dr. Catherine Clark Kroeger — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:18:14 +0000

To-day we celebrate the swooping down of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power upon a little group of bewildered and emptied followers of Jesus. They had known the bitterness of his execution, his astounding resurrection for the grave, his forty days of instructing them – and then he was gone. They had been left with no instructions other than not to leave Jerusalem, and so they remained, puzzled, perturbed and prayerful. And into that prepared vaccum swept the Holy Spirit with the sound as of a mighty wind.

Judge had sent slain boy to live with mother

PASCH Staff — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:39:37 +0000

In a custody battle, a judge in Virginia ordered that a four year old boy spend the summer with his mother in Utah. The Associated Press reports that on Tuesday the child’s mutiliated body was found in a northern Utah Canyon. The boy’s mother and stepfather, Stephanie and Nathniel W. Sloop, are being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, descration of a corpse, felony, child abuse and obstruction of justice.

Among the many terrifying aspects of domestic abuse is that of custody arrangements that place children at risk.

Church of Uganda to fight domestic violence

PASCH Staff — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:34:33 +0000

Posted on WeInformers.net

The Church of Uganda has vowed to fight domestic violence now on increase in Uganda.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi says the church will curb the vice by preaching to people to be tolerant.

He says domestic violence is on increase because some people are intolerant. Research indicates that 66% of Ugandans especially women have experienced domestic violence at least once in their life time.

The man of God says when domestic violence shatters a family, it affects the church and the country and large.

Legislation to Watch

PASCH Staff — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:30:19 +0000

On Thursday, May 13, two important bills are scheduled to be discussed by the Massachusetts Senate. They are designed to protect the housing and employment rights of victims of domestic violence. The first would allow a victim to break a lease agreement without penalty, provided that written proof is given of the status be given to the landlord. Also, a tenant may for up to four weeks house a victim in danger of domestic violence, rape or stalking.

The second bill would allow victims to take up to two weeks of paid or unpaid vacation if they are fleeing an unsafe situation or seeking medical or legal help.

These bills could do a great deal to help individuals trapped in situations of domestic violence. Their progress needs to be watched carefully – and prayerfully.