Meet Lisa Schafer

We recently connected with Lisa Schafer and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

A few years ago, after working in healthcare for almost 3 decades (off and on), I believed God was calling me, and even felt a burden to quit my job in order to start writing. This is significant, because I’m not a writer. I’ve never been a writer. I don’t even like writing. Although my adult children would tell you that I was the grammar queen when I homeschooled them. But I digress. I quit my home health job and went home. Since it had been years since I turned in a writing assignment, I decided to take a short writing course to jog my memory.

And then I sat and stared at a blank screen on my computer. Not because I didn’t have anything to write about. As a parent of prodigals, homeschooler, product of a dysfunctional family, someone who dealt with addiction, I had all kinds of choices regarding what I should write about. But I wasn’t sure which of those God was calling me to explore. And then one day a question was posed to me in the middle of my prayer time; where had I seen God redeem me the most? Where had I seen his grace and mercy heal me? And then the direction was chrystal clear.

Over the course of four decades, God had not only shown me how to forgive my father’s abandonment and my abuser’s victimization of me when I was a child, He had given me a genuine love for both and helped me develop gratitude for my painful past. And the ministry to help others do the same was born.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Mine is a personality of “muchness”—loving attention, being the life of the party, always cracking a joke, launching radio programs and podcasts, and a fairly obnoxious wellness advocate. But all to hide the brokenness that accompanies childhood sexual abuse and the trauma of abandonment.

After working in the medical field off and on since 1985, God gave me the deep (and almost terrifying) desire to write. Now, I’m not a writer. I’m a talker! But as a woman who battled infertility and adopted three children, becoming an interracial family and homeschooled them 25 years, I assumed He wanted me to write about some of those “travels;” maybe the trek from urban to rural living. Or maybe He was calling me to write about the church hurt we experienced at the hand of the ministry we had worked with for several years.

But no—none of those. In the middle of seeking His direction, He made it clear the place to begin was where I’d seen Him redeem my life the most—in His breaking the bondage of bitterness in my life and giving me a heart that not only forgave my abusers, but gave me a supernatural love for them. And the Bible Study, “DISCARDED,” was born.

That launched my mentoring program, “Freedom Through Forgiveness,” enabling me to walk others through the process of finding purpose for a painful past. And the second Bible study called, “The Christian Victim’s Guide to Forgiving the Unforgivable,” is also available.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Like many victims, I allowed my self-worth to determine my choices for decades. I brought more guilt and fear into my already shameful decisions. Those dark days were part of the journey, and I have a strange fondness for their impact.

The Scriptures have become my lifeline. That’s how I have come to understand the nature and personality of Jesus. As a victim, I asked over and over again why God would allow my suffering. Understanding Who He is and how He feels about me, as well as my abuser, is priceless when you’re looking for answers.

The hurting people in our churches have been taught—perhaps by accident or implication—that they should keep the ugliness of their suffering hidden; that they should just “let it go,” or digest other simplistic Christian platitudes. I encourage the suffering to go through a process to find genuine freedom and a peace about what they’ve gone through. That process must be walked through before we can just “let it go.” Is it easy? NO! But the ends literally justify the means.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Over and over again I hear people say, “I’ve never heard this message in the church,” and “What a powerful and much needed message this is.” So I believe the Lord is calling me to teach more in person on this subject. After all, I am a personality of “muchness,” and certainly know how to talk. I am looking for other people in ministry who know the Lord wants to provide healing, but maybe those folks haven’t been through that pain and don’t know how to help victims find their way. Perhaps they already minister through God’s Word and need me to help provide value to their clients, parish, congregation or followers. Those are my peeps!

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