Out of the Shadows

  He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right. Isaiah 42:3 MSG

Welcome to my blog. I’m Eeva George, a single mother of three kids and a Havanese dog, Beni. We live in Long Island, New York.

First, a little bit about me… I was born and raised in Finland and got married in my twenties. Two weeks after the wedding, with two suitcases, I left everything behind and moved to Canada because my new husband lived there. In a year we became Youth Directors in the Church of God. I was only 21 years old. We were later transferred to the USA. I was leading the Girls’ Club Ministry and was working alongside my husband in full-time Christian ministry.

From the outside we were living a dream life — beautiful kids, influential in ministry, a nice house, and good cars. But from the inside we were living a nightmare where I thought I had no way out. Years of domestic abuse and secrets had kept me in shame and left me feeling hopeless. I was too ashamed to talk and too scared to leave.

In this blog, I will write about my journey and my story of how God gave me courage to fight. I pray that others will find it encouraging and be inspired to stand strong when it’s the hardest.  I finally found courage to leave in 2015, and I fought in court to get safety for the children. It became a long battle for justice and freedom. I had to overcome the reality that my husband continued to preach while we were fighting for our life.  Some leaders in ministry chose the culture of silence and for whatever reason kept truth hidden. I had to overcome the twisted legal system that allows the abuser to manipulate to his or her advantage. And many times the legal system is their favorite playground, leaving you to the mercies of lies, therapists, judges, and lawyers.  Painful. Heartbreaking. Yet in the end, so beautiful. 

Through the tears I kept going not even seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. How do you keep going, keep pushing through, when you don’t see anything happening? Or when things are just going from bad to worse. God operates in mysterious ways in these circumstances, and I can’t wait to tell you how. He did that for me and can do that for you. You don’t have to be left traumatized, bruised and broken.

God brought my kids and me out regardless of these many obstacles, but I know many women and children are coming behind us. They need a voice and need to be heard and believed. The most vulnerable should never be left alone to protect themselves.

I was fortunate enough to have very courageous individuals who came a long side of me and stood up for me when I was too weak; My God, my pastor and his wife, a handful of friends, my lawyer, and my biggest support, my family.  God even sent few “angels” to get me out and minister to me in the most difficult situations. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all these people.

My children and I experienced both countless miracles of God and indescribable pain. I will share about the sweetness of life now and the hard work we have ahead finding healing. This journey taught me many truths about who God is and what He can do. I now wake up everyday being grateful for what God has done for us.

He brought me out for a reason — to give hope to the ones who don’t have it yet. To shed light on the issues that allow women and children to be abused. To start a conversation on how the church can better support and rescue women just like me. My intent is not to blame anyone, but to learn and do better. Sometimes it takes someone to speak out about the issues to bring change for the better. Because of the unique things God has allowed me to walk through, I’m able to talk about it now.

Ministers’ wives or women in church are often falling through the cracks and are left feeling shame and abandon. God is calling me out for ministry to the broken and abused ministers’ wives. They need emotional, financial, many other types of support. They just need someone to walk along side of them to let them know they are loved and they do matter. It’s not their fault, and it’s not the end. Let’s not leave them and their children alone. We can do better. Jesus came for the broken and the abandoned. Together we can change the future church.

It’s time to speak out, stand up, and be a new brave you. You too can rise up from brokenness to beauty.