By Stan Friedman
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.
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.
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.
