Seventh-day Adventists around the world are preparing for the church’s first-ever Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day, August 24, and are inviting other faith communities to join in. The event, spearheaded by the women’s ministries department of the world church, will concentrate on promoting awareness of the issue, and highlight ways abuse victims can get help.

“The church would like to be able to help people who are being abused,” says Ardis Stenbakken, women’s ministries director for the Adventist world church. “But very often there are no institutions or facilities to support these people.”

Heather-Dawn Small, associate women’s ministries director, says she was appalled during her recent travels when observing “how women are treated by their communities when they attempt to leave their abusive partners.

“Often cultural traditions come into play,” she adds, “and therefore the various ministries of our church, together with leadership, need to promote awareness and re-educate the mindset of our membership.” 

The family ministries department of the Adventist Church has produced a special kit called “Peace and Healing: Making Homes Abuse Free.” It’s intended to help ministers and church leaders learn how to more effectively minister to victims, and to connect these victims to resources within the community.

“Scripture affirms the value of every person and their right to be treated with dignity and respect,” says Karen Flowers, associate family ministries director. Flowers also says that it is a Christian mandate to protect the vulnerable, and to come to the aid of people whose well-being is threatened by abuse and violence. “The call of the gospel to care and support one another in love is totally incompatible with the use of power to control, violate, and molest.”

Flowers says she commends an action by the United Nations earlier this month granting more than $1 million for projects targeting gender-based violence, such as sexual abuse, rape, “honor” crimes, and domestic violence. The United Nations is also calling on government officials and legal communities worldwide to treat acts of violence against women and girls as criminal offenses.

“Our church is not immune to such challenges,” says Jonathan Gallagher, United Nations liaison director for the Adventist Church. “We take very seriously such issues and identify with the U.N. programs that seek to end such gender-based violence. As a former pastor myself, I have seen the terrible damage inflicted on women and on families as the result of domestic violence. This is totally unacceptable, and is in complete opposition to Christian values and behavior.”

For more information about Adventist resources dealing with abuse, go to: http://wm.gc.adventist.org and h,ttp://familyministries.gc.adventist.org.