In 2013 the ministry began to hear stories of women who were living in horrific conditions with their children in the communities surrounding Abaana’s Hope. These ladies had suffered at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during the war that raged across Northern Uganda for over 20 years. After the war, many of them had been abandoned and left to fend for themselves in the middle of the bush with no land to call their own and no way to care for their children. Each of them was suffering tremendously because of extreme poverty and lack of sufficient resources. 

Through God’s providence the ministry was able to acquire a little over 12 acres of land near Abaana’s Hope and the Women’s Refuge Center was born. Since that time, seven traditional homes have been built, along with a piggery and garden space to accommodate up to five families at a time, and as of March 2024, 13 women have graduated the program. The WRC program is a 3-year program designed to disciple these women and their children, to instill foundational biblical truth and provide counseling for the families living there through Living Stones Community Church. The program’s sole purpose is to teach them to rely and depend upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, and the provisions and sustainment of life. Each woman is given vocational training in animal husbandry and taught responsible money-management skills that will help them throughout their future. The ministry hopes to empower these women to be able to purchase their own land, build a safe and secure home for their families, and use the skills and wisdom they have acquired to provide for their futures. 

Ultimately, this program exists to help care for these destitute families both spiritually and physically. Our single-minded focus is to demonstrate the amazing love of Jesus Christ with these families who have suffered so much pain and rejection throughout their lives and to share with them the eternal hope that can only be found in Christ. Additionally, we hope and pray, as women graduate they will use their testimonies of God’s grace in their lives to mentor and encourage other people within their communities for His glory and for the advancement of the Gospel among the hard to reach people of Northern Uganda and to the ends of the earth.