October 2025 Highlights
God’s sovereignty on display
With our annual Gala behind us, we are looking towards the holiday season - a season often filled with grief for the women we serve. As we prepare for our annual Christmas Party to love on these ladies, we remember God’s Sovereignty on display in October.
Re:Storing Futures
A Recipe for Success
Dinner time can be stressful for our women, especially when they are cooking for children as well. Making sure to cook meals that are simple, healthy and affordable is not something that comes easily to everybody. This past month, our Client Advocate, Robin, taught Re:Store Meal Planning with the help of one of our wonderful volunteers, Jane. Jane has a background in Health Coaching and, after going through Side-by-Side Training, decided she’d love to use her skills to coach our women on health challenges they are facing.
Robin and Jane went over all the basics of meal planning, including how to grocery shop efficiently, make cooking fun and plan around your schedule.
“The meal planning class has given me tangible tools and a new outlook on mealtime. I’ve learned how to create a healthy environment around food—whether that means letting the kids help cook, choose what to eat, or simply enjoying upbeat music while preparing food with love. I’ve also realized that sometimes it’s okay to have a night of frozen corn dogs or chicken tenders, and that planning ahead—like cooking ground meat or chicken in advance—can make busy days easier. It’s about setting your family up for success, whether that’s at dinner or at breakfast when the kids are in their best mood and you’re setting the tone for the day.” - Class Attendee
Theory Becomes Reality
One of our ladies was able to actively use tools and knowledge she learned in our Re:Store Safety Class taught earlier this year. She had met someone at work and started texting with him a little bit. It looked like they may go on a date, but because of 431's Trustworthy Tool that the Safety class taught, she realized this guy may not actually be a safe person. She cut contact with him and did not go out with him.
This is just a small example of what our classes really do. The things we teach are never just theory. They are real tools our women can use in daily life that help them make decisions to keep stability in their lives. We equip them to not end up in crisis situations over and over again. Instead, they can grown and thrive!
Annual Christmas Party
On December 8th, we will be having our annual Christmas Party for engaged clients and Side-by-Side Program Participants. This year, we have partnered with our literal neighbors: Our Savior Lutheran Church. We will be hosting the party in their space and are excited to work together!
Volunteer signups are now live! Come join the team and love on our ladies & their children during this season that's so hard for many ❤️
Re:Building Confidence
A Transformative Bible Study
The past few months, a group of our clients have gone through the Jesus and Women Bible Study by Kristi McLelland. What we as staff are really excited about is that they started this group by themselves, it’s not something 431 is hosting or initiated.
One of the attendees said: “[The] group has been a huge blessing. We prayed together each week, watched a video that goes along with our book, and discussed what we learned. It gave us time to get to know each other with more time to talk about our lives, prayers needed, and what we were learning. The study was directed from a woman's perspective and I could see how it aligns with the grief class. I felt that I made closer friends in the group. We have a dinner get together planned now that our book is done, so we are all excited about that and are discussing what we could do for our next study!”
This Bible study contributes to building confidence by making these women more comfortable sharing about their lives with others, talking about their faith and committing to a several week-long study. It sets them up for success when signing up for a group or Bible Study at their local church and engaging with others there. The Bible Study leader will also feel more comfortable to lead a study in the future.
An Updated Journey
This new Client Journey graph shows all the different steps our clients take from their initial request for help to their graduation from the Side-by-Side Program. The process behind this enables our clients to always know their next step as well as manage capacity for staff in every stage.
Re:Newing Hope
Impactful Insights
When going through the grief journey in our Re:New Emotional Health class, many different emotions, beliefs and expectations come up. This past month, several of our clients had “aha-moments” where they were able to connect a destructive behavior in their lives with a piece of their grief story. It helped make sense of why they act in that way. One client’s insight showed her that, because of being sexually abused in the past, she has been in a cycle of rebellion by taking control of who and where and how she would have sex with someone right now. Understanding that this behavior is a trauma response can positively impact her decisions in the future regarding sex.
THE IMPACT IN OCTOBER
Want to be part of this impact? Your faithful giving allows 431 Ministries to keep touching the lives of women around you.
She could be who you sit next to in church, your neighbor or maybe a mom dropping off her child at daycare. She could be anyone. You can fuel hope in their lives today!