Exile International

Volunteer Opportunities: Yes

HISTORY:

2008 — WHERE WE BEGAN

EI’s founder, Bethany Williams, is a counseling psychologist whose life began taking a radically new direction in 2008 when EI was founded.

Bethany’s path to becoming a psychologist had been colored by her own journey through trauma, depression and disappointment. But God is in the redeeming business.

It was Bethany’s own healing process that led her to relationships which would later introduce her to the lives of rescued child soldiers and children orphaned by war.

It was in June of 2008, on a short-term service trip to help facilitate a program for victims of sexual abuse in DR Congo, that Bethany would encounter a darkness unlike any she had ever seen before — women who attempted to give over their children, child soldiers who asked her to be their mother, victims of repeated sexual violence, and children so traumatized they no longer displayed emotion.

Visiting with men, women and children living in displacement camps led to a realization that these people were not only living in geographic exile, but in emotional exile as well.

Compelled by the urgent needs she had witnessed and inspired by her faith, the seeds for Exile International had been sown. In 2008, Bethany Williams founded Exile International to provide healing to war-affected children through art therapy and holistic rehabilitative care programs.

FROM VISION TO REALITY

In response to the urgent needs Bethany had witnessed and research on the devastating wars in Uganda and D.R. Congo — where more than 100,000 children have been abducted — Exile International was born.

Since 2008, EI has provided life-changing care to over 4,300 war-affected children!

Through holistic care programs addressing the needs of the mind, body, and spirit — rescued child soldiers and orphaned children are being restored. Additionally, young survivors are being empowered to become leaders for peace through education, discipleship, and leadership development.

Program graduates include university students, skilled professionals, and community leaders — some of whom are now leading care programs in their own communities.

No longer constrained by the traumas of their past — they are becoming the leaders who will heal and transform communities.

MISSION:

Restoring rescued child soldiers and children orphaned by war to become leaders for peace through art therapy and holistic, rehabilitative care. 

Action: 

    Restoring hope and empowering survivors through comprehensive rehabilitation programs, equipping local leaders and counselors to provide quality care programs, and providing a sponsorship program for children orphaned and abandoned by war.

Advocacy:   Amplifying the voices of war-affected children. We are committed to raising awareness of war-affected children, child soldiering, and those oppressed in Africa by sharing their drawings, letters, and stories with national and international government representatives.

Awareness: Raising awareness of the wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda — wars that have oppressed millions. By introducing new audiences to the effects of these conflicts, we inspire action and promote involvement that will restore and empower war-affected children.

VISION STATEMENT:

Youth in EI’s care programs are not only healing their wounds, they are being educated and empowered through leadership development programs. Why? Because these youth, these survivors, should have every opportunity to excel.

Through this — graduates have been empowered to become leaders. Today, graduates include university students, business owners, and community leaders.

No longer constrained by the traumas of their past — they are becoming the leaders who will heal and transform communities.