New Abuse Discussion Program Launches Tuesday

Crossville’s Peaks of Hope launching a weekly program for women who have experienced sexual abuse.

Co-Founder Sue Allen said the Wounded Heart for Women program will allow participants to share about their experiences in order to learn how to move beyond them. Allen said it will be a safe, confidential space where women who have been abused can get the care they need to assure them that they are not alone.

“When we learn that our identity is not in what has happened to us, but who we are in Christ, we can be healed and we can be set free from what was done to us,” Allen said. “And then after that we’re free to live our lives out as God intended us to, which is to love Him and to love others.”

Allen said the group will be studying a book titled “The Wounded Heart,” which Allen said has been greatly helpful in her own journey dealing with abuse. Allen said talking about these problems in a group environment can lead to a healthier outcome as everyone there will support one another.

Anyone interested in joining the group can reach out via the information on Peaks of Hope’s website or call (931) 229-0098. The first class takes place Tuesday.

“My past tendency was to do it one-on-one,” Allen said. “And I was just being obedient. I would say it that way, was being obedient to say if there’s someone else that would benefit from this we’ll come together and work on it together.”

Allen said this program can help women moved past the religiosity in the church that can act as a barrier for those who need help.

“In other words, they just pretend that everything’s okay and they don’t deal with what they need to deal with,” Allen said. “And this is just a time to come together to see that there are others who understand what you have been through and hopefully to help those individuals to find that type of freedom.”

Allen said she has been thinking about putting this program together for a long time due to her experience working with victims of sexual abuse.

“After questioning myself for a bit, I felt that I was affirmed that this was what I should do,” Allen said. “Because I had recently visited a church and I heard a quote from a pastor and he shared, this is his quote: ‘Finding freedom from our past is so important because so much of our future is swallowed by our past.'”