About ¦ Redeemed with Purpose
- Kitania Rose
- Jun 28, 2023
- 3 min read
This platform was originally called The Redeemed Prophet.
Yes.
Here's the history behind the name and what went on in my brain:
I defined a prophet as an elderly man with a long white beard, wearing a robe and sandal, walking with a cane, and preaching the word of God whilst being annoyed that nobody pays attention to him.
Maybe a bit too dramatic.
Then what about ‘redeemed’?
Let’s start from the beginning.
The #MeToo movement created by Tarana Burke in 2006 to raise awareness on sexual abuse and harassment went global in October 2016 when people kept sharing their misadventures on social media platforms using the hashtag above
(Image from the video Me Too Survivors' March uploaded by Dignity and Power Now)
It led me to make some research on the prevalence of sexual misconduct in the country I live, especially within the Christian community. Including how these experiences affected their faith.
Below are statistics of reported cases showing how prevalent the problem is in England and Wales:
1 in 4 women and/against 1 in 20 men have been raped or sexually assaulted as an adult (rapecrisis.org.uk, 2021)
1 in 6 children have been sexually abused (rapecrisis.org.uk, 2021)
170,973 of recorded sexual offences in the 12 months to September 2021 (theguardian.com, 2022)
300 clergy out of 20,000 active clergy were embroiled in abuse issues reported in 2017 (theguardian.com, 2019)
Leaders across 38 groups of religious organisations, including those from Christianity, Orthodox Judaism and Islam; had discouraged victims (mainly children) to report abuse incident in order to protect their reputations (bbc.co.uk, 2021)
Meta-owned platforms were used in 38% of offences (nspcc.org.uk, 2022)
How bad have these statistics changed? How worse could the number of unreported cases be? How many among the victims were judged, shamed and ridiculed for sharing their trauma when all they wanted to hear was:
"I can see your tears behind your mask.
I believe you.
I care about you.
I am praying for you."
The Redeemed Prophet was to be a faith based online platform designed for those who are Christians and have been victims of sexual abuse including physical, psychological, or emotional violence.
So what does ‘Redeem’ mean? and why replace the name ‘Redeemed Prophet’ ???
My initial thought was that we are all called to be 'prophets' as we are bearing God's word to the world. However, when hitting "middle-step-editing-website crisis", I realised that the meaning may differ from its root definition and from one person to the other. So, it may be more appropriate to be seen as vessels, being redeemed from our past lives and filled with a new purpose.
Similarly to the concept of Kintsugi, people who have been broken to pieces will be glued back together beautifully.
They will become "role models" for those who continue to live in secrecy.
They will become living arts that will speak of what sin and Jesus have done in their lives.
As I am 're-editing' this website (08/09/2024), it is still in its "baby form".
As the ministry grows and experience is built, I wish for this platform to be used by volunteers and professional workers helping victims of abuse, leaders of Christian communities and people of Christian’s faith or not who have been victims of abuse or know someone who has.
~ Redeemed With Purpose ~
