Set Free: God's Healing Power for Abuse Survivors and Those Who Love Them

I like the author's direct and passionate style. She holds nothing back and speaks about her own abuse. I am using the book and the journals for prison ministry, and Set Free has touched the hearts of its participants. Set Free begins by helping women feel worthy to call on God, and it encourages them to believe God has plans to give them a future. It's powerful but gentle and soothes hearts that are full of hurt. Author, With Great Mercy

Jan Coates knows what it's like to hurt. In this book she talks about that awful topic of sexual abuse. She does it with fine writing and because she knows the issues faced by abuse survivors. The many stories in the book display a wide variety of responses to abuse. This is worth reading

Jan Coates is an accomplished writer and speaker who has weathered one of life's most tragic experiences--the loss of her only child to a drunk driver. Years prior to that life-altering event, though, Jan wrestled with the shame and guilt that plagues victims of child abuse. Jan handed her life and her past over to Jesus Christ in 1983, and has witnessed his gentle, restorative work in her heart and life. SET FREE is her gift to the world: a collection of touching, powerful stories by real women who were abused, yet rose above the pain and sense of hopelessness, with God's help. This book encourages those who have lived the nightmare of abuse; those who have found their way out; and those who need to understand that Jesus provides a way through any situation, no matter how grim. He is able to rescue us and heal us to the core. Eleven chapters are followed by well-researched statistics, sources of help, discussion questions for implementing the book as a tool for group support, and more. My hat's off to Jan Coates for allowing God to mold her, use her, and share his love through this excellent book.

Abuse--no one wants to mention it. But if you've been the victim or love one of the survivors, you hope for answers. Set Free may just be what you're looking for. Jan Coates writes candidly about the struggles of abuse in Set Free. She threads her own story along with six other women in an honest journey to be healed with God's power. Coates does not snap her fingers to invoke spontaneous healing. On the contrary, sometimes the road is long. Jan admits the struggle, explores the road to recovery, and provides resources--all strengths in Set Free. It's not easy to read about abuse, but in this fractured age there are generations of walking wounded who need to know there is hope. Jan Coates and others have been Set Free to speak to the pain.

There is a crushing ache in every fiber of some women that longs to be set free from the grips of bondage of childhood abuse. Things like simple love, compassion, communication, and friendship are what these women long for but can't seem to access. Abuse from childhood doesn't stop the second a child or adult is lifted out of an abusive situation. Jan Coates, author of Set Free, shares stories of women who not only hit rock bottom from abuse but literally were set free from being a victim of torment and degradation. In each story the woman blossoms into a completely new person reborn to a life of love, hope, and a future. Set Free is a book for everyone who has been a victim of physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse. Whether you've been abused or live with someone who has been abused, you will be encouraged as you read the stories in Set Free and become part of someone's healing recovery.