About Us

Welcome to Renewal Center for Battered Women Ministry, Inc.

We are a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization established to help people  who are experiencing domestic violence and abuse in their lives.  We are  NOT  a shelter, we will refer you to shelters in your area.

We are established to help people by educational methods and strategies in transforming/renewing their minds by life principles and practical application.  We believe violence against a person is a learned behavior, as well as yielding to the violence perpetrated against them.  As  you already know thoughts or ideas precede actions.  You have the cure that corrects, heals, restores, and can stop the harmful acts of domestic violence in your life, if you use the cure, your mind!

Logo1aAbout our logo

The black tree represents sin that came into the world through disobedience of Adam and Eve. The white cross in the middle of the black tree represents Christ who came to redeem man from his sin.  The red circle represents the blood that Jesus shed for the sin of all people who would believe on him. 

From the fall to the cross renewing your mind is an inside job. Ephesians 4:23.

11 Comments

11 thoughts on “About Us”

    • Hello Megan, and thanks for contacting us. However, we are not a shelter and have no space for clothing. Please contact one of the shelters in your city.
      Thanks again.
      Renewal Center staff

      Reply

  3. People ask why women don’t leave abusive marriages.  It’s because we’re not allowed to leave.
    It took too long for me to realize that it was abuse.  I grew up in a good home, with parents that loved us and each other. They have a good marriage, and at first, I thought maybe they were just unusual that they never treated each other the way he treated me.  Then I thought it was because he was bipolar, but more and more, when I mentioned to other mothers the things he said and did, they asked if he was drunk, reacted with alarm or disbelief.  Even my friend with bipolar disorder didn’t think it was normal.
    It got worse after my son was born.  I realize now it was because with 2 children, I didn’t have the time to do everything for him.  I didn’t pay as much attention to him, and the more abusive he got, the less interested I was in him.  I deeply love the children, and I think he knew they mattered more than him.
    I told myself I could wait until my son was in kindergarten, then it would be easier to find a job.  He was only three when I couldn’t take anymore.  
    Very often right after an abusive tirade, he would leave.  I think I was supposed to be scared he wouldn’t come back.  The last time when he left, I put the bolt locks on the doors; the kind that can only be used when you’re inside, so he couldn’t get back in with his keys.  When he came back, I wouldn’t let him in.  I started looking for work.  My daughter had just started kindergarten, and my son had just started preschool 3 half days a week.
    I found a job pretty quickly; it was perfect.  It was part time, but I made more than my last full time job.  It was beside my daughter’s school, and I was able to work around my children’s school schedules and be home when they were home.  My house was clean and calm, I had managed to keep both of my kids in their private schools, my children were happy, I was happy.  I felt really good about myself.  I had hope.  When the year I had to wait to file for divorce was over, I filed.
    That’s when he started using the court system to terrorize and abuse me.  Although I’d always been their primary caretaker, and he’d shown little interest in the children before separating, even missing visits with them during the separation, he filed for full custody saying I was an unfit parent.  The court assigned a GAL.  For 2 years, the GAL stalked, harassed, and slandered me.  He called every person he could find that I knew, he asked leading questions, twisted their answers, and asked more than one person to give him “dirt” on me and the names of people who would give him dirt on me, and didn’t they think I was getting too much child support?  I started getting calls from people telling me the GAL was out to get me and they were worried for the kids and me.  His report was terrible.  If someone said I was struggling a little financially, he wrote they said I was overwhelmed by motherhood.  I was able to take it around to the people that called me and collect affidavits from them saying that they had been misquoted and the statements made in his report were untrue.  It was thrown out, and a new GAL was assigned.
    By this time, many of my friends were getting tired of being dragged into the growing mess. A number of them were freaked out that somehow, every time they saw me, he knew, and would call them asking questions.  They started distancing.  I lost my job, because my boss was unhappy that the GAL had been calling my coworkers and anyone that frequented the building.  Some had been called multiple times and felt harassed themselves.
    The main difference with the second GAL was that I was not allowed to have a copy of the report, so this time, I wasn’t able to debunk the things that were twisted.  She was a little more subtle and a lot more expensive.  When I couldn’t pay her additional bill of $5000, she filed a contempt of court motion against me.  I now had 3 part time jobs and over $10,000 in legal debt.  My daughter was 10; I’d been the primary caretaker for that long, and suddenly he had 50/50 custody.  
    That GAL nightmare, if you didn’t catch the math there, was 4 years.  Four years of everything I did being watched, questioned, judged, and documented.  I was turned into a pariah in my community, everyone was afraid of him calling them into court or suing if he didn’t like what they said.  I never recovered from this, and it’s been 4 years.  I’m still scared to answer calls from strange numbers, check my email, check my mailbox, or make any attempt at a social life.
    It gets worse.
    He wanted my son to see a therapist; I’m sure to say I had somehow damaged the kid.  A recommendation was made, he contacted her and paid her.  After a few sessions, both children were seeing her.  After a few months, she called me into her office.  I’d never spoken to her beyond “good morning” and “thanks”.  She asked why the marriage had ended, and I said he was abusive.  She told me that she thought so, and now he’s abusing the children.  She said he’s obsessed with me, and his only interest in the children is getting to me.  She said the children are both suffering from trauma.  She was willing to testify in court.
    The court date came, and a letter from the therapist went to both attorneys.  His attorney said I’m lying, the therapist is lying, and demanded a court appointed psychiatric evaluator.  So, now, I can’t get them out without this report.  I can’t get a custody hearing without this report.  After almost 2 years, I complained to the psych board because the evaluation never started, and the woman’s office wouldn’t reply to my voicemails and emails.  Finally, the evaluation started.  It ended 3 months ago.  We still don’t have a report.  It was promised to us by the end of the week a month ago.
    When the abuse turned physical, I tried twice to get protective orders, and was told I needed a custody modification.  (To clarify, I can’t get a protective order, I need a custody modification, but  I can’t get the hearing for that, because I don’t have the report from the psych evaluation.)
    The school called child protective services, and here’s a new horror.  If they find he’s unsafe, they’ll take the kids from me too, and send them into foster care.  So, if you divorce an abuser and he gets partial custody, and abuses the children, IF CPS thinks they might be in danger of death or physical injury (because PTSD doesn’t matter), they will take the child from the loving, safe parent, and put them into foster care.
    The children, now teenagers, are refusing to see him now. I’m being charged with contempt of court, and I’m scared.  He’s barely tried to contact them, he’s shown no remorse or willingness to discuss their fears; he’s physically hurting them, and I’m the one being put on trial.  The children want nothing to do with him, either, and somehow, he’s the only one that has any rights.
    I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET MY CHILDREN OUT OF AN ABUSIVE HOME FOR 10 YEARS NOW.  Why don’t women leave?  WHY DOES THE SYSTEM KEEP US TRAPPED?
    I tried so hard to leave, I just wanted it to stop, I just wanted my children to be safe and happy.  Why is that wrong?
    I’m angry all the time, and I hate it.  I’m angry and sad and tired.  I feel like I’m choking, all the time.  Every time I eat anything, I feel like I’m going to vomit.  I feel like I’ve failed everyone; my family, myself, and worst of all my children. I hate Gd, I hate America, I wish I’d never come to North Carolina or that I’d at least left it to file for divorce any place where children have rights to safety and emotional well-being.  My life is ruined, the only hope I had left was for my children to heal, so they could be happy, and the North Carolina court system will take that, too, because how dare a woman want to leave an abuser?  How dare children want to be safe and happy?
    Fuck every last person that thinks there’s any awareness of what victims of domestic violence suffer.  You have no idea.  The entire system is set up to trap you, and no one tells you that.  There is no leaving, there’s no getting your life back, you’ll never be safe again.  No matter what you do, you’re fucked forever.

    Reply

  4. I would like to speak encouragement to some of your survivors if possible at some point. Please let me know if this is possible.

    Reply

    • Hi Nikki, I am sorry it has taken so long to get back with you. To speak to our audience would be fine, the next time we put on an event or do a workshop. Please send me your mobile number via my email so we can talk.
      Renewal Center staff

      Reply

    • Hi Brittany,
      Hope you are doing well in this New Year. We are not a shelter, but we do minister to domestic violence/ sexual abuse individuals. We just had an event in October see our website.

      All of our positions are on a volunteer basis, we are a small organization and have enough working with us at this point. I will keep you in mind for future Events. Please view our website and see if it is something that you would like to be involved with.

      Best,
      Brenda McGibboney/President

      Reply

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