WANT TO BECOME INVOLVED?
RFG was founded on the desire to respond to several challenges women and children commonly face when trying to find safety and healing from domestic violence and abuse. Many of the projects and services we currently offer or that are in the planning stage, came about as a result of real women’s experiences and the most pressing needs they felt during the time of safety seeking from abuse. We invite you to check below and pray about if and how God is leading you to assist with your time or financial contributions to help RFG’s initiatives, projects, and services to reach and serve more women!
If you are a woman seeking the assistance of one of our services, check under the Get Help button in the main navigation menu, or click here: Get Started.
Behind Closed Doors Initiative
Abuse happens most often behind closed doors. It’s where it thrives without being detected. Due to this, many women learn to or are expressly told not to speak up when abuse is happening behind their closed doors.
We at RFG know that every woman we are able to reach is another woman, child, or entire family that can be assisted with life giving support and aid…when and where it’s needed most. With this in mind, The Behind Closed Doors Initiative began.
After praying and thinking about how best to reach women in the faith community who are experiencing domestic abuse or violence, the Behind Closed Doors Initiative was born. The program’s goal is to reach women in a way that’s out of sight, so they don’t have to feel ashamed or on display while interacting with RFG outreach materials.
Our goal is to get an RFG Poster in women’s bathroom stalls in as many churches and OBGYN and gynecological offices across the country as possible. We know this is one place that’s private where women can find the life saving information they need—undisturbed.
Whether it’s a new mom toting her little ones behind closed doors into the church bathroom, or an about to be mom at the OBGYN office for her first checkup, or a woman who has been living for many years hiding the abuse in her home, we know women of all ages and stages need a safe space to intersect with this life-saving information! Will you join us in spreading the word to help women find a way out of domestic violence and abuse?
*To print flyers, simply download the PDF file by clicking the button above. File is a single-sided 11x17 with full bleed—we recommend having your church/community center print these through a professional printer (such as: Uprinting, Canva, Shutterfly etc.) If you prefer to have posters mailed to your organization already printed, reach out via our contact page and we will send them to you in the mail! Be sure to note in your email how many female bathroom stalls you have.
Brochures for Display
RFG Brochures are great to put in your church’s vestibule or on a sharing table or rack. They are also great for doctor’s offices (especially OBGYN offices), community centers, or law offices. They help women to identify if they are in a destructive or abusive relationship. And provide actionable steps if they are experiencing abuse. Yet another way you can help to spread the word about domestic violence and abuse and help those who are struggling through it!
*To print brochures, simply download the PDF file by clicking the button here. Files are double sided 8.5x11 with full bleed, and print ready with crop marks—we recommend having your church/community center print these through a professional printer (such as: Uprinting, Canva, Shutterfly etc.) If you prefer to have flyers mailed to your organization already printed, reach out via our contact page and we will send them to you in the mail!
THRIVE GROUPS
Overcomer’s Course & Abuse Recovery Groups
Thrive Groups are designed for churches or small groups to host and run on location or via zoom. Thrive’s first program: The Overcomer’s Course is available now for churches to purchase. It includes training for two co-leaders to facilitate the group, promotional materials for advertising to your community or church, and all of the handouts and 13 video lessons. This course is designed to be run as a small group format for 13 weeks. The Overcomer’s Course is not specifically designed to be a female only course, but can be, or it can be used within the community to help bring overall healing and awareness to abuse and other issues connected with abuse, as well as to help make the church a safer place as people become healthier and more informed. It covers topics such as emotional regulation, healing from old wounds, codependency, and deals with overcoming long standing harmful habits. It also handles topics such as forgiveness, anger, and shame.
Thrive’s Abuse Recovery Course is currently being developed and is projected to be ready sometime in the Summer of 2024. For more information on all current and upcoming Thrive courses visit: https://www.darahashlie.com/thrive-churches.
RFG’s Thrive Group offers a place where people can be vulnerable and authentic. It also provides a safe space for participants where they can make deeper connections, which may not always happen in the church at large. I see it as an integral part of the church as it caters to the mental, emotional, and social health that will help the church to grow and thrive!
Suzanne C.
Support Group Participant
Projects in the Pipeline:
Small Beginnings Shop
RFG
One of the main challenges women often face when considering leaving an abusive relationship is financial concerns. For many women, especially mothers with small children the thought of how the she will support her little ones can feel paralyzing. This keeps many women and their children stuck in unsafe living conditions.
We want to help provide solutions to this obstacle for women and help to empower them to be able to seek safety. One small step we are working on, is the Small Beginnings Shop, because we believe God often starts great things through small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10)!
This is an online shop where women can anonymously set up “shop” to sell handmade goods, or setup a direct sales shop for items like Tupperware or other products. They can also sell published books, e-books, or digital download products. Imagine an Etsy platform solely dedicated to hosting survivors of DVA and their products to help them generate income for their family!
Handyman Project
Church Run/RFG supported
The Handyman Project is setup to help women as they seek safety from violence and abuse. Another hindrance that keeps many women in unsafe homes and situations is the fear that they will lack support, which unfortunately, is a very real fear. Often women leave their abusive situation, and find themselves overwhelmed with the many things they suddenly become responsible for in their new living situation, even if they’re able to stay in their original home. Things like simple home repairs, plumbing issues, yard work, car care, even the smallest of projects during such a difficult time of transition can feel crushing.
The Handyman Project is a project that connects verified and screened volunteers within the church with women in their area who may need assistance with home repairs, car care, or general upkeep needs that were previously tended to by their spouse. This project allows the church to become the hands and feet of Jesus to struggling women and mothers. At this time, we are in the process of setting up vetting guidelines for volunteers and churches who would like to participate in this project. Stay tuned to the website, as we hope to have more information soon!
R&R Camp Meetings
RFG
Refresh & RESTORE Camp Meetings are an initiative that was birthed from experiences RFG’s founder had while rebuilding her own life after leaving abuse. In the years that she and her family served in missions she and her son always looked forward to their “home leaves” where they would attend family camp meetings. However, after separating to find safety, she realized how many of the camp meetings they routinely attended catered mainly to traditional family units.
When God began placing RFG Ministries on her heart, she decided she would create a retreat that catered to women experiencing challenges and who were not currently in “traditional family units.” R&R Camp Meetings are specifically designed for women going through abuse, leaving abusive situations, single mothers, and widowed women and mothers. From the messages to the activities, the retreats are centered around providing restoration for the women who attend and ensuring a safe haven for their children away from the challenges of everyday life during the retreat.
DREAMING BIG
Restoration Homes
Restoration Farms
Restoration Homes and Farms are RFG’s larger, more long term initiatives. These are truly “dream big projects!” But we know that God’s heart is for the abused (2 Samuel 22:49) and honors big dreams and prayers when they are for His beloved daughters and His children.
One of the dreams many women have after finding freedom from violence and abuse is to have a safe home where they can raise their children in peace. But housing remains one of the more difficult things to secure during separation or after divorce. Women may not have their own credit history, may not be able to find housing that allows them to keep the family pet, or don’t have work history or a steady income. RFG is praying about securing land where three starter homes could be built, in which women leaving DVA situations can rent at low cost in order to re-establish their lives. Each woman and her children after being screened for compatibility with the program would be invited to stay 1-2 years and then homes would be opened up for new families.
The property would also include Restoration Farms, which will be comprised of a small lodge to serve as the center for the R&R retreats, recurring week-long Thrive programs for smaller groups of women to come and refresh, and to have time and space to gain clarity and strength. It will also host training events for pastors, missionaries, and volunteers who desire to learn more about helping women in DVA situations.
The project will also have an on-site communal garden to grow fresh food for the women who are being helped at the property, and where women and children could assist in helping to grow foods as part of the rental program. Foods will be sold within the community at market to help with ongoing costs of the Farm. Several other ideas are also being considered to help make the project self-sustainable long term.
The overall vision of this project is to assist women and children in the healing process. RFG would also endeavor to make connections within the community to provide “work partners” for the women who rent to help place them into jobs in the area while they live in the homes, or women could participate in the Small Beginnings Shop for income. Also being considered for the project is the possibility of tending animals that children coming out of DVA could help take care of as part of the therapeutic healing process. A portion of the property would be developed for camping sites away from the main homes for the RFG camp meetings and to rent out for other functions (when RFG is not holding events) to help cover ongoing costs. Another possible income generating idea to assist with costs is a separated “tiny home” Air BNB on a corner of the property that could be rented to generate income for the work, and when unoccupied could be used for guest speakers or screened volunteers who come to help on the farm.
