God inspired the first Journey to Heal Women’s group in the summer of 2016, after the release of Crystal Sutherland’s book, Journey to Heal: Seven Essential Steps in Recovery for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. At the time there were very few Gospel-centered resources available for women impacted by sexual abuse. The first online Journey to Heal Women’s group took place in a private Facebook group with 52 women participating across the country and in the UK! In September of that same year, Crystal led her first in-person group at Port City Community Church in Wilmington - where we continue to offer Journey to Heal Women’s groups today.

Our dream is for all women impacted by sexual abuse to find the help, hope, and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Becoming a Non-profit

As the interest in Journey to Heal grew it became apparent that God was leading her to equip other women to help facilitate the study in their local church and community. Crystal gathered a team of seven survivors to form a nonprofit board, and Journey to Heal Ministries was born.

Journey to Heal Ministries is a 100%􏰚 volunteer 􏰖run 501􏰛c􏰜3 nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, NC. Our mission is to help survivors heal from past sexual trauma by leading them to hope in Jesus Christ through providing support, education, and a life-􏰖giving community.

In the summer of 2018 we developed our Mentor Training Program and trained up our first team of volunteer mentors, most of whom are still serving with us in some capacity today. In 2019 we launched a prevention education campaign called #END1IN10 to foster awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse nationally. That same year, as a part of that effort we hosted our 1st Annual Hope Run event to help raise awareness and support for survivors.

Numbers are important but what matters most are the lives transformed through hope in Jesus Christ. Our vision is to see the cycle of abuse broken and hope restored in the lives of all women who have experienced sexual trauma, and we strive to seek God’s leading in that with everything we do.