Our History

God inspired our Founder, Crystal Sutherland to write her journey of healing from childhood sexual abuse. Kregel Publications took on her project in 2014 and the first Journey to Heal Women’s group was born from her book launch team in the summer of 2016, just after Journey to Heal: Seven Essential Steps in Recovery for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse was released that year. 52 women participated online across the country and in the UK. In September of that same year, Crystal led her first in-person group at Port City Community Church in Wilmington - where we continue to offer Journey to Heal Women’s groups today.

As the interest in Journey to Heal grew it became apparent that God was leading our Founder to equip other women to help facilitate the study in their local church and community. In 2018, Crystal gathered a team of seven survivors to form a nonprofit board, and Journey to Heal Ministries was born!

Journey to Heal Ministries is a volunteer run 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, NC. Our mission is to help survivors heal from past sexual trauma by leading them to hope in Jesus Christ through providing support, education, and a life-giving community.

In the summer of 2018 we developed our Mentor Training Program and trained up our first team of volunteer mentors - many of whom are still serving with us in some capacity today. In 2019 we launched a prevention education campaign called #END1IN10 to foster awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse nationally. That same year, as a part of that effort we hosted our 1st Annual Hope Run event to help raise awareness and support for survivors. We have hosted a race each year since, with this year’s race taking place April 26th, 2026 - locally and virtually!

Our vision is to see Journey to Heal Groups available to women in every local church and community.