and say, Rachel, you know what?
Without this marriage is it that
we will not go to heaven? We will
answer to God as an individual
when we get to heaven. I am
thinking, you know what girl? You
have a purpose; God has created
you for a purpose. I always tell
people that marriage is like a side
order; God has placed you here
for a purpose, for a reason. I had
to sit down and think, Rachel
what’s happening? So, when I saw
that it affected me emotionally
and my health was at stake, that’s
when I said, you know what? I
have to find myself; I have to do
something about this. That’s when
I decided to seek legal advice. I
found myself in a process where
I was able to find my self-worth;
that my marriage does not define
me because I believe I am fearfully
and wonderfully made without my
marriage. I am a child of God; He
loves me the way I am, married,
or unmarried. I am thinking, this
DOZ Magazine | November 2019
marriage does not define me as a
person. When I was able to realise
that, that’s when I was able to find
myself again. So that’s my story.
Let’s talk about your women’s
ministry, Women Empowering
Projects. What is the vision of
this ministry, and how did it
begin?
I
founded this ministry five and
a half years ago, in the midst of
my marital challenge. I remember
I went to a retreat center at that
time, and the reason for going to
that center was, Lord, I want to
hear from you, I want you to tell
me that everything will be okay,
I want you to tell me that Rachel
your marriage will be restored,
everything will be okay. On getting
to that retreat, I met this old
couple, and the woman, she just
started prophesying to me that
she believes that God wants me to
open a support group for women,
women that lack support from
14
their husbands. And I’m thinking,
Lord, really? I need a support group
to go to myself. I am still trusting
you for a breakthrough; what do I
have to share with other women?
Will I say, oh, by the way, I am going
through marital challenges, and
my marriage is not going well?
What do I have to say? I’m thinking,
yeah, right. God has a good sense of
humor, doesn’t He? I am thinking,
am I hearing you right? But you
know what? I was actually waiting
for a finished product of me. That’s
what I was waiting for. I thought
that when my marriage is okay, I
can come out and start sharing.
No. That was not what God wanted
from me. God actually wanted me
to, in the midst of that pain, give
of myself. Do you understand? So
that’s how I started, and for some
strange reason, I started attracting
women that are going through
different challenges in their
marriage or those going through
different life challenges, vulnerable
women, and I’m thinking, okay. And
I just started sharing and saying,
although I am not there yet, but
this is what I am doing to be able
to navigate this season, and I really
found joy in doing that. Sometimes,
when you are encouraging other
people, in the process, you are
encouraging yourself. I’m thinking,
okay, I’m encouraging myself as
well. In the process of me doing
that I started finding healing and
deliverance for my own pain as
well. One of my strengths is, I
love organizing special events
for my friends; anytime we have
birthdays, I mean they call me
social prefect. I enjoy celebrating
my birthday, just getting dressed
up, and going out to mingle with
like-minded women. In the process
of me doing that, I found out that
anytime we meet up, we always
share life’s experiences, what is
working and what is not working
well, everybody sharing their life
experiences. And you feel good
that you’re not the only one going
through certain issues, it makes
you feel okay. Because sometimes,