Abuse is ugly. It is always wrong. It is never part of God's design for healthy family living. It distorts relationships and shatters dreams. It creates pain and despair. It never produces hope. You know this all too well--that's why you've picked up this book. Nancy Nason-Clark and Catherine Clark Kroeger know the pain of women who have been abused, especially the unique pain of Christian women who thought it couldn't happen to them. In this straightforward, practical book they supply the answer to the questions you face: How do I know I need help? How much of my story should I tell? Where do I find spiritual support as a victim of abuse? What help can I find in the community? How do I get started on the healing journey? What key steps will I need to take to get on with my life? How can I understand what help my abuser needs? How do I learn to trust God again? Their advice is solid, backed up by Nason-Clark's professional expertise as a sociologist and Kroeger's as a biblical scholar. Together they supply both here-and-now, step-by-step advice you need to start the healing journey and biblical insights to nourish your soul and sustain you on the path to wholeness.

Solid scriptural evidence and a close look at historical context refute the traditional interpretation used to bar women from leadership.

Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury and death to women worldwide. Nearly one in four women around the globe is physically or sexually abused in her lifetime, and gender violence causes more death and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war. Regrettably, the church is not immune to this problem. Numerous studies suggest that incident rates among active churchgoers are nearly the same as those among the general populace. In this thoroughly revised and updated edition, Catherine Clark Kroeger and Nancy Nason-Clark share with readers a further ten years of experience in listening to the voices of women from around the world and especially to those within the church. They help us hear their cries and find concrete ways to respond so that no home will be a place of abuse. In this immensely helpful guide you'll find true stories and updated statistics that illustrate the gravity and extent of the problem worldwide a look at what Scripture says about domestic violence, including verbal abuse and patterns of concealment, secrecy and silence a discussion of how proper concerns for Christian families can be twisted to endanger women and their children an assessment of alternatives to suffering in silence in a threatening environment new chapters on what churches can do and an introduction to the RAVE (Religion and Violence e-Learning) Project website, which provides a wide array of continually updated resources Here is a book for all who want to make a difference in women's lives.