Beauty for Ashes

WHEN we dream, at A Way Out, about what our next year will look like, it's often not about us at all. Let me explain...

In a discussion just last week about our thoughts for a new campaign to raise awareness and to encourage people to raise funds for us, we couldn't move away from a powerful passage from the Bible found in Isaiah 61.

Some extracts from it go like this:

for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
to comfort the broken-hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

He has sent me to tell those who mourn that...  he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.


As a team reading these words, we couldn't help but imagine what life could be like for the people we exist to serve if they knew that an organisation like A Way Out is here, with people who do want to help, with news that could change their life, with a team who will comfort those who mourn and daily will proclaim that freedom, from addiction and exploitation and poverty, could be theirs!

And so our attention, right at the beginning of this year, is not simply on us but how we could live out the words, 'Beauty for Ashes,' and what that might mean for those who access our services.

I heard a moving story this week from our Family Interventions Worker that illustrates this so beautifully.

She said: "We've been helping a single mum with three kids. Her background is that she has been a victim of domestic abuse and suffered from years of physical violence as well as verbal abuse. She ended up in hospital more than once, until she found the courage to leave her partner."

This precious woman, as a result of the years of torment and stress now suffers from severe depression and anxiety, resulting in some days feeling so trapped by her circumstances that she is physically unable to even get out of bed or leave the house.

And then there's her children to consider.

Having witnessed the horror of domestic abuse they now have to navigate their own significant personal challenges, all of which have meant the family have been constantly wading through the mire of difficult times and emotional issues.

Not being able to get up, and losing the ability to cope due to stress meant that her home and garden have understandably, at times suffered too. The garden, in particular, had become so unusable it in itself was now a point of stress, so overgrown and unkempt it acted as a constant reminder of the downward spiral they had found themselves in.

Families worker, Lizzie Purdham, said: "What's fantastic is that we were able to help, even in her garden. Working with the larger team at A Way Out we were able to find a team of seven volunteers from Barclaycard who kindly gave up their time to completely transform her garden.

"She was completely overwhelmed, and it was lovely hearing how she was going to plant some grass seeds in the spring and talking about how she is looking forward to playing with her grandchildren in the garden in the summer."

Some of you many be wondering, why, when there are so many more 'pressing' needs out there, and even within this family, did we chose to 'do a garden.' Did she NEED her garden clearing? Maybe not. But what it did for this family could not have been fixed without it.

You see, the simplest of things, in this case, understanding the value of a garden makeover has contributed to motivating this beautiful lady to want to get her life back on track.

Lizzie added: "Leaving her with this amazing cleared-out garden has done much more than lighten her workload, she now has a visual representation that things can be improved and even transformed."

Simply, Beauty for Ashes.


There's a powerful praise song, also based around the words of Isaiah 61, where the lyrics go, 'Let the ruins come to life, in the glory of Your name...' then goes on to talk about 'rising up from the ashes'.

A Way Out exists because we believe that every single person deserves a life that is happy, whole, free from abuse and despair, and that every single individual has the right to walk in freedom knowing and believing in a better future.

For those of you who partner with us, whether through prayer, volunteering or through much-needed and appreciated financial giving, this is what you do... you bestow on people Beauty for Ashes, you give permission for what is seemingly ruined, to come back to life, you help us help others, to rise from rock-bottom, and you help proclaim freedom to captives.

Once again, thank you for standing with us. Please help us by sharing this blog on Facebook and Twitter. The right message in the right hands could be invaluable as we strive forward this year.

There's an old proverb that says, 'truth is always true, for me and for you.' Just in ending, those words above apply to you too. Beauty for Ashes...