My heart broke as I learned of how Rebecca (not her real name) suffered in silence for so many years. But she was not the only one.

I have just returned from my first trip to Africa as director of the Victims of Sexual Violence Ministry. I was fortunate enough to visit the Women of Wellness (WoW) Center, in Goma, DR Congo, for the graduation ceremony of quite a few talented and truly special young women. This place is filled with treasures of inestimable worth; beautiful women who have overcome great hardship, poverty and oftentimes tragedy. But they never cease to inspire me with their tenacity as they face each new day with thankfulness.

The Victims of Sexual Violence Ministry works in many poor nations around the world to help those who have been sexually exploited and abused, but this kind of tragic victimization also happens right here in the US and other developed nations. So when the Lord recently opened a door for a partnership to be forged between the VOSV Ministry of Heaven's Family and the organization of longtime friend Julie Rigsby—right here in my native Texas—it immediately felt like the Lord's leading.