dlvr.it
A Global Movement of Esthers
Inner Healing and Transformation in Indonesia
By LORI SNUGGS
Women in Ministry (WIM), A3
At A3, our mission is to identify, equip, and release leaders to build up the Kingdom of God across the globe. Through our Women in Ministry (WIM) network, this vision takes a powerful, targeted shape: creating a Global Movement of Esthers. We intentionally invest in women leaders so they can discern their God-given callings, lead with biblical conviction, and design local solutions to the challenges facing their communities.
Because leadership can often feel isolating, WIM provides a vibrant, trusted learning community where women can grow together. A foundational pillar of this journey is Spiritual Formation. We believe that to sustainably pour out into others, a leader’s own heart must first be tended to, pruned, and filled by the Holy Spirit.
Women in ministry are frequently the first responders to the pain and brokenness in their congregations, but who ministers to the minister?
Recently, a WIM cohort session held in Indonesia focused on the vital theme of inner healing. When women leaders are given a safe space to confront personal wounds, process accumulated stress, and encounter the secure love of the Heavenly Father, the trajectory of their leadership changes. They are freed from the baggage of the past and empowered to lead from a place of health and wholeness.
Below are two beautiful, unedited testimonies from this session, capturing the raw and profound ways God is moving to restore, strengthen, and equip His daughters in Indonesia.
Dosni's Testimony
Hello, my name is Dosni. I would like to share how the WIM (Women in Ministry/Movement) sessions have deeply blessed my life, especially through Module 3 on inner healing.
Since the age of 12, I experienced a deep sense of rejection because my parents allowed me to live with relatives which is far away from my hometown. Almost every night, my pillow was wet with tears as I cried over the circumstances of my life back then.
My family background was also far from easy—my father was a drunkard and a gambler, which meant he did not fulfill his role effectively in providing for our family's needs. To cut a long story short, I grew into a teenager who appeared tough on the outside, but carried deep-seated bitterness toward my father.
During the prayer session for parental blessing and forgiveness—where Mr. Juserdi represented the father figure and Mrs. Lori represented the mother figure—I felt as though I was being embraced and strengthened directly by my own father in the spirit.
My heart, which for so long had been filled with judgment and disappointment toward my parents, slowly began to soften. I learned to accept them just as they are. Renewing the Mind and Building Resiliency was another part of the program that blessed me immensely that Carol taught.
In the past, relatives and people around me often spoke negative words into my life, saying things like, "Dosni, why is it that everything you touch breaks?" or "You can't do it, you are hopeless." Without realizing it, I began to believe those lies and even started repeating them to myself.
Through the tools shared by Carol, I learned to overturn every lie I had believed about myself and replace it with the truth of God's Word.
I learned to speak acceptance statements based on my identity in Christ—that I am loved, accepted, valuable, and created by God with a beautiful purpose. Today, I can see myself more clearly—as a person who is simple, yet deeply precious.
WIM has also equipped me in my ministry and my profession as a high school teacher. Currently, I am facing several teenagers who remind me of my past self, with all their various misbehaviors and struggles. Through WIM, I have learned to look deeper into the root causes of my students' behavior. I now realize that what is visible on the surface is often just a small fraction of the trauma, inner wounds, and bitterness accumulated over the years that shape a person's character.
Therefore, I now choose to approach struggling students with love, empathy, and a counseling mindset, rather than simply focusing on their misbehavior or handing out punishments.
I believe that the Lord Jesus is able to restore every broken heart, just as He has restored my life. Through WIM, I have not only been personally healed, but I have also been equipped to become a channel of healing for others.
Rere's Testimony
At the end of Session I on Heavenly Father’s Secure Love, Mr. Juserdi prayed as a father and Lori as a mother to their daughter. At that moment, every word spoken touched my heart deeply. It was as if my own father—who passed away in August 2019—were speaking directly to me. My father had never prayed a blessing like that over me before. Hearing the blessing spoken by Mr. Juserdi and Lori made me cry a lot. I affirmed every prayer spoken by Mr. Juserdi and Lori.
Those prayers greatly strengthened me and deepened my faith that God longs to restore me.
Then, in Session II and Session III, we covered Releasing Prayer and stress-release techniques. This was something new for me. I realized that it is essential to practice these every day. Because negative thoughts can easily arise in our minds, we need to release those negative things, confessing them before God, and listen to what God is personally speaking to us. Every night I try to practice these techniques while speaking God’s Word.
As Carol said, if our stress level is at a 4 that day, it can drop to zero by doing the stress-release techniques (repeating the words). I also practice these techniques with my 5-year-old daughter—she turned 6 a few days ago. While we were doing stress-release techniques she gradually got sleepy and fell asleep. It was cute to see her repeating words of blessing and all that is good and true.
In the final session before we left, Lori also led us in prayer; there, I felt led to pray for women whose hearts are wounded, unappreciated, and in need of God’s love. I told God, “Use me, Lord, to meet the women who need healing, who need God’s love, because God is the only one who can heal every broken and wounded heart.” Amen.
Leading from the Overflow
These stories beautifully illustrate what happens when we reduce leadership isolation and invest in the spiritual depth of Women In Ministry. When a leader experiences the healing touch of God, her ministry shifts from a place of heavy, weary obligation to a place of rich, vibrant overflow.
As Dosni and Rere return to their respective classrooms, churches, and families across Indonesia, they do not just carry new theoretical leadership frameworks. They carry a restored sense of identity, practical tools for building personal resiliency, and a burning passion to see other wounded hearts made whole.
Dosni is looking past the surface behaviors of her high school students to minister to their deeper traumas, while Rere is already passing these stress-release and blessing techniques down to the next generation through her young daughter.
This is the ultimate goal of A3’s Women In Ministry network: accelerating the Gospel by changing the lives of the women who lead.
When you equip a woman leader, you transform a community.
Join Us in Raising and Empowering Women Leaders
The work of equipping a Global Movement of Esthers relies on the vital support and intercession of our global community. We invite you to join us in lifting up these incredible Indonesian leaders as they step forward with courage, clarity, and integrity to transform their culture for the glory of God.
LEARN
» To learn more about how you can support, pray for, or partner with women leaders in our WIM cohorts, please visit a3leaders.org/wim
GIVE
» Give to Women in Ministry: a3leaders.org/give2wim
Together, we are equipping women to follow Jesus deeply and lead with Christ-centered courage: changing the few who will change the many.
DISCOVER MORE A3.WIM IMPACT STORIES
*
*
*
* Selvi Rajiv » From Bud to Blossom
* Aporna L. Sarkar » A3 has Shaped My Life & My Purpose
* Thara Cherian » Pouring out our hearts, learning together
* Rady Chan » Training targets 75% of the Cambodian Church
* Carol Christopher » A3.WIM: Learning to Depend on God in Every Season
---
Women In Ministry (WIM) is a leader development initiative within the A3 movement that equips Christian women leaders across Asia with transformational training in spiritual formation, leadership, and mission through small, cohort-based learning communities. The program helps participants grow as disciples of Christ and as influential ministry leaders by fostering strong relational support, addressing challenges like isolation and burnout, and encouraging Spirit-led change in their lives, families, churches, communities, and nations. Ultimately, WIM focuses on raising up “Esthers”—women who are empowered to contribute meaningfully to the building of God’s Kingdom and to lead with increased vision, character, and competence.
