Madia, a four-year-old girl who attended our school, was constantly tired. We learned from her that her father beat her and her mother. We asked to meet with Madia’s mother – a Jordanian Muslim woman.
When we met, her mother told us her husband had health problem with his kidneys. The pain and stress caused him to lash out against the two. Our school counselor helped the mother understand her daughter did not feel safe and consequently was having difficulties at school. The counselor gave the mother suggestions to help her daughter feel protected at home and offered to be a surrogate mother for the girl at school. We also encouraged the mother to resist her husband’s beatings and to challenge his actions.
As time passed, the daughter became more comfortable and is now smiling. While the beatings have not totally stopped, they decreased dramatically the first month after the wife stood up to her husband.
The church offers a Women’s Counseling Ministry to help Arab women who are physically and emotionally abused and to nurture, care, and build them up so they become healthier in Arab society. This ministry, primarily one-on-one meetings with women; involves approximately 20 women each week. Most of the women - Iraqi and Jordanian - come for help with abuse counseling, whether it be for themselves or their children.