"My people shall dwell in quiet resting places." Isaiah 32:18

Here's a link from NPR with short bios about the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9647439

Not to endorse Stalin or anything, but he did have a point when he said, "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic." To keep hearing that 33 deaths have occurred was not as real to me as actually seeing some of their faces at the above link. One of the victims and a German professor, Jamie Bishop, was a fellow UGA grad. Here's a link to his personal website for his art: www.memory39.com

Elizabeth's Story

My name is Elizabeth Anderson and I am a current resident of Warren Village. I was raised in Colorado, and my family still lives here. Seven years ago, I was a student at Colorado State University, working on my degree in Biochemistry. It was there that I met the man who was to become my husband.

He was a spiritual leader in my church, and became a spiritual leader for me as well. He was the person I thought I could spend the rest of my life with.

We married and relocated to Connecticut, where he continued to be a part of our church leadership, and I too, taught classes for women. We were blessed with two beautiful children—our son Chance, who is now eight, and our daughter Yapahitaza, who is five. Our life looked ideal on the surface, but inside our home, it was a nightmare of verbal, emotional and physical abuse.

My husband was not the man I thought he was. The abuse eventually became unbearable, and one morning, I picked up my children and we fled. My family arranged for us to come on a flight to Denver. We were unable to stay with family because my husband threatened to show up at their home. We ended up staying at Safehouse Denver, an emergency shelter, for five months before moving to Warren Village.

When I came to live here, I was underweight and suffering from depression. I was battling blackouts and other problems due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. My PTSD was so severe that I was put on disability, and was not expected to recover.

Since coming to Warren Village, I have found a renewed sense of place. I have a place where my children and I can begin to heal. I have a place where I can once again achieve my goals. I have also found a place where I can provide a new life for my family, and escape the life we left behind.

In the year I have lived at Warren Village, I have been transformed in many ways, thanks in part to the resources and people at Warren Village. I am back to a healthy weight, and I have my Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder under control. I am once again a full-time student Colorado State University, and will complete my degree in Biochemistry in May 2007. My goal is to do research in the pharmaceutical industry.

While my children and I continue to heal, I have moved from victim to advocate. I am a trained resident speaker for Warren Village. I share my story openly and at numerous events, so that others can be empowered. I am also a member of LEAD, a council of residents at Warren Village. I enjoy taking evening classes that encourage my self-sufficiency, and I have recently become a class facilitator myself. I lead a class called “Experience Victory,” that encourages residents to overcome a history of domestic violence.

Because of the support from people like you, I am experiencing my own victory. I sincerely thank each and every one of you.

Speak Up

So when I started this whole missionary gig, I used to go on and on about how I was going to be a voice for the voiceless. I even wrote about it in an article for my denomination's website. Looking back, I was lame and now I am a little embarassed about my zeal on this topic. I don't think I was completely off-base, but my outlook needed adjustment. As a journalist, I've always loved Proverbs 31: 8-9: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” I still love this verse, but now I see that speaking up for someone is different than speaking for someone.

Besides, observing someone who cannot speak for themselves is much different than saying that someone is voiceless. No one is voiceless. The deaf have a voice. The disabled have a voice. The poor, the uneducated, the marginalized have voices. Whether anyone listens is a different story. People may speak in a still, small whisper (oddly enough, just like God did with Elijah), but they are still speaking.

I see my job now as making a platform for this type of speaking. I can interview people, get their stories on paper. I can teach them tools to to write their words and speak their mind. Sure, I still speak up for people, but I would not claim to be their voice. I am a little white girl from South Carolina. My voice is strong and is my own, but it cannot possibly be the voice of everyone. As Shane Claiborne points out in Irresistable Revolution: "Perhaps we are too quick to assume folks cannot speak for themselves."

Here at Warren Village, we have amassed in my nearly two years of service, a wealth of resident stories. Over time, I want to share them on this blog. We have permission to share these stories, although there are many more stories that cannot be shared due to the safety concerns of our residents. Some of these shared stories are transcribed from the resident's words. Some are written by the residents themselves. They prove that everyone has a voice--if we only listen amidst all our noise.

1 Kings 19:11-13

The LORD said,

"Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"