In March 2008, a book started a journey that has changed our lives—A League of Dangerous Women written by Mary Frances Bowley, Founder of Wellspring Living in Atlanta, Georgia. We found ourselves intrigued, first by the true stories of restoration and redemption through the grace of God and then by a group of women who desired to make a difference. We contacted the ministry through the website and
signed up for the April 2008 “Demand Conference.”
Road Trip! Three women ventured to the Atlanta conference on a fact-finding mission hoping to glean information and further skills to help the women in our own church and community. We confessed we weren’t quite sure why we felt so compelled to go, but we were sure we needed to attend. Little did we know that God had a bigger plan for us and was responsible for our intrigue and the prompting to attend the conference. It was a CALL to ministry—HIS heart, HIS ladies, HIS ministry. We were drawn there for a purpose. We were privileged to witness firsthand the work of God in these lovely women. We heard the testimony of a young lady that had gone from hopelessness and despair to hope and healing. She had become a warrior against the darkness that had once engulfed her life. She was now serving in the very ministry that had been instrumental in her rescue. Over the next two days, we were graciously given information equal to seven years of intensive labor—their successes, failures, do’s and don’ts. It was their ministry bible—a binder filled with the wealth, wisdom, and experience they had acquired. It was everything we would need to get started. We had been set up by the Divine. Intercessors had been praying for weeks for each individual attendee to answer the call. We were told that the Gospel is free, go and do likewise. We knew going home that without our spouses’ and church families’ support, this would never happen. We prayed God would confirm this to our mates. The next day was Sunday. No one but our spouses knew what we had experienced in Atlanta. We were all in a small connection group doing a women’s Bible study. It was our Sunday to present that to the congregation. We spoke about the upcoming series of Breaking Free and wanting to be a Safe Harbor for women who were hurting. Our guest speaker, Ron Harris, began to talk about God gifting each of His children with a dream, a book, a story, or a purpose. He stopped mid-sermon, looked over towards us, and spoke: “I see Safe harbor as an entity by itself. God has big plans for this ministry to women. I see a house, acreage with beautiful landscaping, and grounds. A place of healing.”
It was all we could do to contain ourselves. Through a series of more confirmations after the sermon, this man spoke into our lives. We were not only sure God sent us to Atlanta, we were also sure He had just confirmed the vision to our spouses. A week later, the three of us, along with our spouses, presented our pastor what had been given to us in Atlanta. He too gave us his blessing to proceed. We asked him to keep us accountable and be our spiritual covering, and he agreed. On May 9, 2008, we signed a commitment to go forward. This was the birthing of Safe Harbor of Hope.
