About Us

In the US, 1 in 3 women experience some form of abuse in their lifetime.

This woman could be your neighbor, someone who pours your coffee at the local cafe, or even someone sitting next to you in church.

Abuse isn’t new. Over 4,000 years ago, Genesis 16 recounts how abuse took place within the household of Abraham and Sarah, the very people God had chosen and blessed. It’s the first, but not the last time abuse would take place within a household of faith.

Sarah forces her maid Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian, to sleep with her husband so that she and Abraham could have a child – Hagar’s child. But when Hagar became pregnant, Abraham ignores his obligation to care for her. Meanwhile, Sarah became jealous and abused her. What does Hagar do?

Even though as an enslaved person and a woman she has no viable way to live on her own in that culture, she flees into the wilderness. She runs from harm, choosing her integrity as a person over her identity as a loyal servant. 

Imagine for a moment the difficulty of that decision. Leaving the people she depends on. Leaving the people whom God had chosen. It probably felt like she was leaving God.

Yet all alone, in the wilderness, an angel of God found her – a woman, a slave, a foreigner. God called her by name and asked, “Where have you come from, and where are you planning to go?” The story of Hagar teaches us that if you flee harm done by God’s people, you are not leaving God behind, because God goes with you. God meets you in the wilderness. 

But Hagar’s story can also be difficult to understand. God meets her, but then – in her situation – God tells her to go back to Sarah. One reason for that is because, in that world, there were no shelters. There weren’t any other economic options for a woman. In that ancient world, women completely depended upon the provision of a male head of household. 

And that’s where we need to notice that God doesn’t send her back to the same situation. Instead, God promises her, “you will give birth to a son… and that son will have descendents too numerous to count!” In other words, Hagar will be blessed just like Abraham and Sarah. Imagine that! An enslaved woman living in a foreign nation will become the mother of her own great household! That was amazing news in her ancient context. 

It also meant that Hagar would not be dependent upon Abraham forever. One day she could live freely as a part of her son Ishmael’s household. Before that reality could mature, the abuse continued, as it so often does. Abraham and Sarah cast Hagar and her baby Ishmael out into the wilderness.

Wandering in the desert, uncertain and afraid, God shows up again, this time miraculously providing water. God keeps providing for them in the desert, enabling Ishmael to grow strong and healthy. The story concludes with Hagar and her son flourishing in freedom. 

Did you know the first person in all of Scripture to name God is Hagar? She chooses the name “El Roi,” which means The God who sees me. The same God continues to see and provide for women who experience abuse today.

Too often, those who experience domestic violence feel like no one sees them. Or worse, they wish no one did. It’s easy to feel unlovable and inconsequential when the one closest to you routinely mistreats you.

Our name serves as a reminder that we at Hagar’s Sisters see these women because  many of us are them, women who experienced abuse by someone they love. That’s why we call women who receive our services “Sisters.” We are committed to helping women break free from fear and abuse by discovering that God sees them too, and wants to give them hope and a future.