Detroit Michigan Ministry Focuses Women Strip Clubs

DETROIT, MI (December 28, 2011) – Eve’s Angels,

an outreach ministry to women working in strip clubs, has been offering

support to six children of an exotic dancer who was apparently abducted

several days after Thanksgiving.

The ministry, which partners with Citadel of Faith Covenant Church,

has offered a $1,000 reward for information that helps authorities find

Kalisha Madden. The funds are part of a $6,000 reward now being

offered.

Anny Donewald (left) and Harvey Carey praying for women on the streets of Detroit

The probability of finding Madden alive is considered small,

authorities say. In the last several days, the bodies of three escorts

in Detroit have been found in car trunks, and police believe the women

were victims of a serial killer.

Anny Donewald, the founder of Eve’s Angels, says the violence is just

another reason the church needs to minister to prostitutes and women in

the adult entertainment industry.

Donewald lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but considers Citadel her

church. The congregation commissioned her and the ministry in October.

Donewald started the ministry because she knows personally the toll the

industry can exact.

Donewald was a 19-year-old college student when a couple approached

her at the school and told her she could make a lot of money dancing at

clubs. Her life eventually fell apart.

She became addicted to drugs and alcohol and dropped out of college.

Donewald worked in Chicago, Detroit, and other cities across the

country. She eventually turned to prostitution, working in Las Vegas and

several locations in California.

Over the years, Donewald was the victim of violent crime that

included being robbed and raped. She was married and then divorced.

There were numerous abortions.

Finally, she cried out to God asking for his help. She made five

different appointments to have another abortion, but all were cancelled

for various reasons.

Volunteers assemble Christmas gift baskets

A month after her son was born, Donewald says, there came a moment

when she suddenly knew that Jesus was real. She understood that God

forgave her and would enable her to have a promising future.

At age 30, while fasting to seek God’s purpose for her life, Donewald

sensed God guiding her to start the ministry. She thought churches

would be excited to help her.

They weren’t. In an interview with Michigan Public Radio, Donewald

recalled, “I got the left foot of fellowship at the church as they told

me, ‘we don’t really have any room for you and your little so-called

ministry.’ “

Carey and the people of Citadel were eager to be part of the

ministry, however. The Detroit chapter is run by Donewald and Citadel

members Patti Radzik and Patti Salvatori.

Others involved with the ministry include women from Faith Covenant Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and Dearborn Covenant Church. In January the group will be expanding to include more of the Covenant churches in the Detroit area.

The women pray for the workers in the strip clubs. They also go into

some of the establishments and take gift bags to the dancers as well as

spend time talking with them. They brought special baskets to dancers

for Christmas.

Donewald says it is important for sex workers to know they are loved unconditionally. They hear too much condemnation, she says.

She also wants to start a home where women desiring to leave the sex

industry can find support and discover the same new life she has

experienced.