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Celebrating 40 Years
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October 1979 - October 2019
Fran Lundquist, our Founder, loved to tell the story of how the Lord led her to start the Sheepfold. It’s an amazing story of faith and love for our Savior. As we celebrate 40 years of serving women and their children I would like to share a reminder of God’s faithfulness and our humble beginnings.
Fran was a woman of deep, abiding faith in our Savior, Jesus. She knew that helping mothers with children was her call and the will of the Lord. She had no business plan or funding expertise. Fran simply knew she was to help hurting women, so, she bought a home in Tustin (trusting God for each and every mortgage payment) and she began taking women and their children into the home. She was the only employee at the time, so she did it all, with the help of some ever faithful volunteers and church congregations. Her story and The Sheepfold’s story are in the book titled “The Sheepfold. A Living Memorial to The Living God.” It is a powerful testimony of a servant with an incredible heart.
All the core values of the ministry in 1979 are still in place today in 2019. Just as when Fran started the ministry, the primary purpose of The Sheepfold is sharing the Good News of the Gospel. There are still daily Bible Studies and counsel given using God’s word.
I believe Fran’s words from the 2001 October Newsletter are still true today.
“The Sheepfold has indeed been the recipient of the miraculous grace of God. He has touched and changed the lives of thousands of abused women and children who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord while they were here.”
There is so much more to do, even while we rejoice in what God has done, we prepare to have an even greater year ahead and in the years to come, until Jesus returns.
John Wildman, Executive Director
I will look after my sheep, says The Lord, and I will appoint a shepherd to pasture them, and I, The Lord, will be their God.
- Ezekiel 34:11, 23-24
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
As The Sheepfold celebrates its 40th year of serving homeless and abused women with children, I was reminded of a question I was recently asked, “Why do you serve homeless mothers alongside domestic violence survivors?”
This is a great question and it may have a surprising answer. We serve both populations because:
- 63% of women experiencing homelessness have also experienced domestic violence in their adult lives [National Coalition for the Homeless].
- 38% of all domestic violence victims become homeless at some point in their lives [Baker, C., Cook, S., & Norris, F. (2003)].
- 93% of mothers in housing programs experienced at least one trauma and 81% of this same group experienced multiple traumatic events. Of these women, 79% experienced trauma in childhood, 82% in adulthood, and 91% in both adulthood and childhood [Hayes, M., Zonneville, M, & Bassuk, E. (2013)].
Oftentimes, when a homeless mother and her children come into our program she is unaware of any abuse in her past. However, once she has gone through our material on domestic violence in the 30 Fold portion of our Mark IV Program, she may realize that at some point in her life, childhood or adulthood, she has experienced a form of abuse. Often during this portion of the program, the common misconception that domestic violence is only physical is shattered when they learn there are other forms of abuse.
Today more than ever we need to be mindful of the effects domestic violence has on those around us. You never know if the homeless woman you encounter is homeless due to domestic abuse.
To learn more about domestic violence and details on our Mark IV program, please visit our website www.thesheepfold.org.
Thank you for 40 years of support!
- Kelly Ibbitson, Director of Operations
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