Our Mission

Women At Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) was established in 2006 with representation in 16 states, and projects in 14 different countries around the world. It became its own 501 (c) 3 in October of 2007, with a mission to unite and educate women and children in areas of human trafficking and sexual slavery. In 2008 it opened its first store, The WAR Chest Boutique, in Rockford Michigan, and as of June 2010 with open its second in Wyoming, MI. It is in the process of receiving its ECFA certification and is now represented in all 50 states and expanding into new countries as additional projects and partnerships are being formed. WAR, Int’l now reaches 14 different risks including domestic violence, depression, loss, disease, exploitation, and more. It’s goal is to create circles of protection and hope around women and children at risk through culturally sensitive, value-added intervention projects.

Our history extends far from our birth, and runs deep in our colors! Read more on who we are and where we hope God takes us!

Jewelers choose the blackness of velvet to display a diamond of great worth for a reason. Against the shadows and the velvet backdrop of suffering and pain, a diamond shows best the many facets lovingly and skillfully cut into its depth. God is hiding in the darkest places of our lives, in the wounding, the difficulties, the seeming failures, the valleys. He is not a stranger to suffering. He is using those dark places and shadows to illuminate the beauty found in every woman, every child, every story.

When you sort through all the fluff, details, stories and overwhelming statistics, what common thread, what universal truths rise to the surface? After years of slogging through the muck and mire of women at risk in every country, every culture, every religion, I have found five universal truths or beliefs that rise to the surface and direct my path. You do not have to agree with me on these. These are the observations of a lifetime of lifting the wounded.

Ever since Rahab the harlot put out a red ribbon to mark her home as a protected and safe haven in the face of the Israeli army’s wrath, we have come to think of red in terms of risk and rescue. Red is the color of blood and suffering and the color of passion. It is the color of scarlet fingernails and the elegant woman. It is uniquely feminine and highly passionate. It is also used to describe the wounded woman, the “scarlet woman,” and the woman of the “night” who walks the “red light district.”

Ancient scripture talks of being rescued by the blood of Christ who washes away our guilt and rescues us from the slave market of evil and destruction. The Red Cross is known as a place of rescue and a safe haven in the midst of crisis. Red was chosen as a color of WAR, Int’l because it depicts the solution to a world of risk and the safe haven that we create for all who shelter there. It speaks of the circles of protection and the safe haven for women bought back, redeemed, restored, and empowered to walk with dignity and elegance.

WAR, Int’l chose the color of gold to represent worth and refinement. It whispers of true value, precious purity, and great dignity. Scripture promises that after testing, we will come forth as gold. The message we take women everywhere is that our value is in Christ and walking with dignity with our God. He is with us through the furnace and makes us precious. Our hope is that we will leave this veil of tears and walk streets of gold beside the one who rescued, redeemed, cleansed, and empowered us as his daughters.

 We know that the sufferings of life are opportunities to reach into the lives of others walking that dark valley with arms of unconditional love and to buy back some of the pain in our own lives.

When you join this small army of women, you are like drops of gold, medicinal balm in a pool of pain and suffering. We call you to unite with us to make a difference. Rise up and prove that we care about this “gendercide.”

Rise up and be the woman you were created to be reaching arms of love across your neighborhoods and across the oceans to encircle women. Join me and many others to make a difference in the lives and hearts of our daughters, our sisters, and our families around the world.